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NEWS FROM GREECE:

September 2008

On the 10^th of May 2008 was a critical day for the General Assembly of our Association. The new Board, through an interactive workshop opened for all our members, students and other professionals, concluded to the basic principles of the Action Plan. The Hellenic Association of Ergotherapists Action Plan is an initiation of the board for our country and proposes actions for the below areas:

1. Management – Organization – Finances

   1. Managing the offices

   2. Function of the board

   3. Managing information

   4. Members

   5. Financial affairs

2. Promotion of the Profession

   1. Political actions

   2. Journal

   3. Public Relations

   4. Promotion to organizations and other agencies

   5. National Affairs

   6. Celebrating the Day of Occupational Therapy

3. Professional Practice

   1. Professional standards of practice

   2. Education

   3. Research

Aim of the HAOT Action Program is to coordinate our activities and support decision making procedures in all areas of our actions.

According to the proposed action plan for 2008-2009:

• The Organization Committee for the National Conference has already been established. Their initial meeting is expected to conclude to the central theme of the conference.

• A workshop on “Inclusive Design” will be held on the 6^th of December 2008 by Kate Sheehan

• A workshop on “Movement Assessment Battery for Children – Movement ABC” will be held on 17^th of January 2009 by A.Milioti.

• A Continuing Professional Development Program for New Professionals is organized for next year 2009. This program was developed the last 10 months as an initiative of new dynamic members of our Association. The program is based on expressed needs of new practitioners that joined this group and its aim is to establish activities towards research, continuing professional education and promotion of the profession.

As the Board of our Association puts a great effort to be more proactive towards ministries and other organizations, more work is done for developing documents, establishing political dialogues and creating alliances. Under this spirit, on the 5^th of October 2008 a new meeting with the North Greece Association of Ergotherapists and the Crete Association of Ergotherapists will take place in Athens.

Next General Assembly will be on the 22^nd of November 2008.

For more information about Hellenic Association of Ergotherapists visit our NEW WEB-SITE:

www.ergotherapists.gr

Contact at: info@ergotherapists.gr

 Spring 2008

At the beginning of February 2008 Hellenic Association of Ergotherapists held the National elections (every 2 years).  The synthesis of the new board is:

President:  Kyriaki Keramiotou

Vice-President: Maria Kouloumpi

General Secretary: Soula Zacharaki

Special Secretary:  Sarah Kantartzis

Treasurer: Fotini Zografou

Members:  Mary Karambetsou & Christos Sarantopoulos

 During the last one year great emphasis was given to the preparation and implementation of our 4^th National Conference, as well as to the continuation and support of our Special Interests Groups.  More specific:

-         Hellenic Association of Ergotherapists organized the 4^th National Conference of Ergotherapy on the 2^nd and 3^rd of February 2008.  The conference was a major event that attracted the interest of almost over 300 occupational therapists and occupational therapy students.  The program included pre-congress workshops on pediatrics, ergonomics and neurological ot.  The main program had several sessions such as mental health, elderly, neurological ot, splint making, pediatrics, politics, education.  Next conference is plan to be in 2010.

-         The International Affairs Group has implemented the Standing Orders of the group.  This is planned to be presented for voting to the next General Assembly in May of 2008.

-         The Evaluation Tools Group has managed to prepare and distribute a questionnaire to our members in order to explore how often ot’s in Greece use assessment in their practice and what kind of tools they consider more useful.  Their experience was presented in the 46h National Conference of Ergotherapists in Athens.

-         The Neurological OT Group was working very hard those last months and managed to create special guidelines for ot’s working in neurology.  This is going to be published soon and be distributed to our members.  More members are interested in joining this specific special group.

-         A new group focusing on CPD for new practitioners is under development.  This new group will be typically formed in the next general Assembly and is expected to implement a special educational course for the year 2009. 

The attempt to unify the three different OT Associations in Greece will be again in the new agenda of the Associaton.  This is a central aim for the new Board for 2008-9, as there is an urge to be more involved in the political matters and promote a respectable profile between other disciplines.

For information about Hellenic Association of Ergotherapists:

www.ergotherapists.gr

Contact at:        info@ergotherapists.gr

Maria Kouloumpi

COTEC delegate for Hellenic Association of Ergotherapists

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