Country members/Belgium/news
COUNTRY NEWS BELGIUM MARCH 2010
National
To respond to a federal law, both regional associations (AE and VE) started a census of all the OT in Belgium to prepare the future approval process. This accreditation process will give the Belgian OT an official approval by the Belgian health ministry, which will be required into the future to practice OT in our country.
Since March 2010 a new law has been voted in favour of elderly people, to enhance individualized quality care in home health and residential care. OT is also included for 30 sessions/year mostly in regional service centers (included are housing adaptations), but also insurance companies have been involved (through agreements).
In the national health care system, the reimbursement of multidisciplinary (also OT) services for people with reuma is being considered.
Care pathway pay more and more attention to interprofessional platforms where different disciplines (also OT) have to cooperate and have to specify their identity (eg PT-OT)
Guidelines for fall prevention are being developed. Fall prevention in home health is now being extended to residential care.
The function profiles for OT in nursing homes and geriatric wards are being translated in French.
Regional
Dutch speaking region
East Flander gets regional financial support for project ‘AMBE’, which stands for implementation of outpatient OT at home for inhabitants of East Flander older than 65 years. These OT representatives of participant partners of the network are mainly connected with the local insurance companies, but also public health, family care organizations are involved. More info in Dutch (not translated) on the website www.ergothuis.be The regional association Vlaams Ergotherapeutenverbond (VE) organizes the mandatory education of the OT’s of this network. The 3rd module of the course has been given for 26 participants.
The VE also implements a specific OT part to the course for reuma specialists.
Another regional project conducted by universities produces didactic films to promote OT at home by local physicians. Reactions are very positive; however reimbursement of services remains a problem.
French speaking region
After the annual AE member assembly, our last president Olivier Ferrali has decided to resign. We want to thank him for his work and involvement into the OT destiny in Belgium. We also wish him good luck into his new position in his institution. Due to some other resignation a new board was elected. We are pleased to introduce you our new president Marc-Eric Guisset. The new board is composed of: Mathieu Louiset as vice-president, Ann Vandevoorde as secretary and Cecile Arpigny as treasurer. We wish them a successful work in our regional association.
For our next annual publication in French (RAE), we have begun a collaboration and text exchange with the French OT association (ANFE).
This document has been produced by Marlies Suetens and Mathieu Louiset.
COUNTRY NEWS BELGIUM February 2009
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From 2008, the 3-monthly OT journal Acta Ergotherapeutica Belgica - AEB is replaced by an annual publication. It is published by each regional association and given to all their members. The annual book is also for sale for non-members.
The annual book is entitled “Jaarbook Ergotherapie 2008” for the Vlaams Ergotherapeutenverbond (all texts in Dutch) and “Recueil Annuel d’Ergothérapie” for the Association des Ergothérapeutes (all texts in French).
At this moment articles are being collected in both region and languages (Dutch and French) for the next edition.
A new national agreement between the federal government and the regional government regarding a reconversion of nursing home beds allocate 20 % of the budget to alternative care. This resulted from December 2008 in various projects including occupational therapy intervention in domiciliary care for: elderly, Alzheimer, fall prevention, quality of life,…
Within our health insurance system there is more consensus about the quality improvement due to OT intervention in home care but we are still fighting for refunding.
OT schools federation is an informal association meeting once a year to compare planning and evolution of the profession between the two regional associations of schools. The 8 Dutch-speaking schools are meeting on a regular basis and have also organised a brainstorming in November 2008 with teachers, students and invited guests to create an action plan for the next 5 years.
The 7 French-speaking schools have been working last year on the scientific aspect of our profession and the third year final work (TFE- Travail de Fin d’Etudes)
Both regional associations have agreed to share the work of preparing profiles of the profession in various settings: mental health, prisons, psychiatry,….
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In the Dutch-speaking region:
- In April 2009 the exhibition “REVA 2009” will be organized in Gent. This event is taking place every 2 years and VE organize a study day on “executief functioneren”.
- Specialisation courses organized this year: rheumatology in collaboration with nursing, AMPS, OT in community care. More information on the VE web site
- The convention fall prevention has been approved by the Ministry of Health and Wellbeing for 3 years. Being pluridisciplinary, OT is also involved, supported by organizations, institutions, professors, specialists, physical therapists. A course about fall prevention is being prepared in a working group, using guidelines regarding this problem.
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In the French-speaking region:
- Specialisation courses are no longer organized by AE but promotion of courses proposed by schools and federations are available on the website and special prices are offered to their members.
- An annual presentation of the 2008 TFE (third year Final Work) took place in February 2009 and various awards are given to the new colleagues. More details on the website of AE
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For more information on courses and publications please look at the regional associations websites: AE = www.ergo-ae.be and VE = www.ergotherapie.be
Belgian Delegates: Anne Dalebroux and Marlies Suetens
From 2008, the 3-monthly OT journal Acta Ergotherapeutica Belgica - AEB is replaced by an annual publication. It is published by each regional association and given to all their members. The annual book is also for sale for non-members.
The annual book is entitled “Jaarbook Ergotherapie 2008” for the Vlaams Ergotherapeutenverbond (all texts in Dutch) and “Recueil Annuel d’Ergothérapie” for the Association des Ergothérapeutes (all texts in French).
At this moment articles are being collected in both region and languages (Dutch and French) for the next edition.
A new national agreement between the federal government and the regional government regarding a reconversion of nursing home beds allocate 20 % of the budget to alternative care. This resulted from December 2008 in various projects including occupational therapy intervention in domiciliary care for: elderly, Alzheimer, fall prevention, quality of life,…
Within our health insurance system there is more consensus about the quality improvement due to OT intervention in home care but we are still fighting for refunding.
OT schools federation is an informal association meeting once a year to compare planning and evolution of the profession between the two regional associations of schools. The 8 Dutch-speaking schools are meeting on a regular basis and have also organised a brainstorming in November 2008 with teachers, students and invited guests to create an action plan for the next 5 years.
The 7 French-speaking schools have been working last year on the scientific aspect of our profession and the third year final work (TFE- Travail de Fin d’Etudes)
Both regional associations have agreed to share the work of preparing profiles of the profession in various settings: mental health, prisons, psychiatry,….
In the Dutch-speaking region:
- In April 2009 the exhibition “REVA 2009” will be organized in Gent. This event is taking place every 2 years and VE organize a study day on “executief functioneren”.
- Specialisation courses organized this year: rheumatology in collaboration with nursing, AMPS, OT in community care. More information on the VE web site
- The convention fall prevention has been approved by the Ministry of Health and Wellbeing for 3 years. Being pluridisciplinary, OT is also involved, supported by organizations, institutions, professors, specialists, physical therapists. A course about fall prevention is being prepared in a working group, using guidelines regarding this problem.
In the French-speaking region:
- Specialisation courses are no longer organized by AE but promotion of courses proposed by schools and federations are available on the website and special prices are offered to their members.
- An annual presentation of the 2008 TFE (third year Final Work) took place in February 2009 and various awards are given to the new colleagues. More details on the website of AE
For more information on courses and publications please look at the regional associations websites: AE = www.ergo-ae.be and VE = www.ergotherapie.be
COTEC NEWS FROM BELGIUM September 2008.
The collaboration between the schools and the national and regional associations continues to be very efficient:
° The leaflet on “Ergothérapie today and tomorrow” has been printed in our two main languages French and Dutch. This leaflet is aimed at the promotion of our profession among the public: potential clients and doctors.
° Job descriptions in different fields are being established with the wish to work on a national level. It is rewarding to answer members’ inclination to have such a tool for the profession.
° Masters in Occupational Therapy are being developed in cooperation with the universities in both regions. We hope that the suggested programmes will be accepted by the government.
° Our young dynamic groups are full of projects for 2008 and among them:
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The wish to let the public know about the profession through a specific website,
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A survey concerning the job situation of occupational therapists in Belgium
° Our National bulletin (AEB) will from this year be replaced by a “year book” published at the end of 2008 in French and Dutch.
° Our collaboration between Belgium and neighbouring countries continues. The French speaking countries of Europe are planning some new common projects that we are looking forward to share in the next news.
° Websites of both Regional Associations have been updated, adding links and names of experts. These are real tools of active communication with the members.
The websites have become a common way of exchanges with our members and they are revised regularly. For the latest happenings, please consult:
www.ergobel.be National Association FNBE-NBFE
www.ergotherapie.be Regional Dutch-speaking Association-VE
www.ergo-ae.be Regional French-speaking Association-AE
February 2007
2006 has been a very special year for the Belgian Occupational Therapists.
We have been celebrating many events:
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50 years of our first school of Occupational Therapy “Haute Ecole Ilya Prigogine”, previously called ISCAM. On this occasion, a symposium was organized to give an overview of the profession and to compare the “old education system” with the ECTS requirements.
Education is well developed in Belgium as we have 15 schools approved by WFOT, 8 in the Dutch-speaking region and 7 in the French-speaking region, for a total population of 10 million inhabitants. -
35 years of the regional associations: The Vlaams Ergotherapeutenverbond (VE) set up a symposium on “Autonomy and Participation”. It was another opportunity to promote Occupational Therapy in Belgium presenting flashbacks of OT in the past, its evolution and vision for the future. Please refer to the VE website for more information.
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10 years of EDITh and GRApE: regional groups developing home care. EDITh celebrated this anniversary with the VE and it was an opportunity to involve politicians to inform them about our profession.
The collaboration between the schools and the national and regional associations has been fruitful and a new leaflet on “Ergothérapie today and tomorrow” is being printed in our two main languages French and Dutch. This leaflet is aimed at the promotion of our profession among the public: potential clients and doctors.
Collaboration between Belgium and the Netherlands or France: The links between the Belgian Dutch-speaking OTs and the Netherlands are the milestone of the collaboration of Belgian Dutch-speaking authors to the publication in the Netherlands on new developments of Occupational Therapy coordinated by Astrid Kinebanian and Mieke Legranse.
Exchanges between France and Belgium are also very productive for our members: exchange of information, reduced fees for continuing education, support for the “Premières Journées européennes et francophones d’Ergothérapie” in Paris on June 4-5, 2007.
Masters in Occupational Therapy are being developed in cooperation with the universities in both regions. More information will be available on the web.
A job description for Occupational Therapists working in nursing homes has been prepared by VE and approved by the inspection services in charge of nursing homes. Other job descriptions are being in preparation.
Websites of both Regional Associations have been updated, adding links and names of experts. Their design has been refreshed and there is a new logo for AE. These are real tools of active communication with the members.
The web sites have become common way of exchanges with our members and they are revised regularly. For the latest happenings, please consult:
www.ergobel.be National Association FNBE-NBFE
www.ergotherapie.be Regional Dutch speaking Association-VE
www.ergo-ae.be Regional French speaking Association-AE