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News from Austria, September 2011

• Ergoaustria recently became the biggest provider for OT vocational training in Austria for the first time.

• In terms of the EU’s year of volunteering, ergoaustria’s last journal proudly presented a photomosaic of OTs working as a volunteer for the Austrian NA. Furthermore all executive committee members posted their statement about volunteering and its relevance.

• OT- Day 2011

On the 27th of October the ”Day of OT” will be celebrated throughout  Austria with a focus on presenting Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. For detailed  information visit www.ergoaustria.at/oeffentlicher-bereich/aktuell/tag-der-et-2011/

• Starting in March 2012, Occupational Therapists from a WFOT accredited education have the opportunity to follow a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy programme (120 ECTS, part-time) at the school of applied sciences “fh gesundheit Tirol” in Tyrol, Austria (www.fhg-tirol.ac.at). This is the second master programme in Austria and offers a deepening of occupational therapy- and occupational-science-related knowledge and the acquisition of research and leadership skills, and prepares for new expert tasks. Particular attention is given to the mutual enrichment of practice, theory, and research in regards to occupational therapy. The dynamic interaction of occupation, participation, and health, community based practice, other current professional developments, clinical/professional reasoning, and reflective practice are essential modules. Occupational therapists who may want to update and deepen their knowledge and expertise, without working on a Master thesis, can follow a six semester course for only four semesters, and get a certificate for further education (“Academic expert for occupation, participation, and health”; 80 ECTS). If you are interested in any further information, please contact ursula.costa@fhg-tirol.ac.at (head of master curriculum/fh gesundheit Tirol, Austria) or have a look at the website at http://www.fhg-tirol.ac.at/page.cfmvpath=master_lehrgaenge/ergotherapie

• In November 2011 the Austrian strategic plan for research in health professions will be presented, following the new national strategic plan for research, which passed the council of ministers in June this year. The aim is to become one of the international ”innovation leader”. This strategic plan should support all health professionals interested in a research carreer as well as considering cooperations with established research facilities, forming new research groups and getting access to funding.

• If you are interested in a short review and the abstracts of the first (german speaking) symposium on health promotion and prevention in Occupational Therapy, which took place in November 2010 in Innsbruck, please have a look at: www.ergoaustria.at/oeffentlicher-bereich/veranstaltungen--termine/archiv/2011--2010

• Ergoaustria is proud to welcome the 1500st full member, a historic maximum in the association’s history.
• A symposium on „ Professional Development in OT“ will take place on the 19^th of March in Linz, focusing on topics like quality of profession, code of ethics and evidence base.
• In October 2010 the process of academization of the OT education in Austria, which started 2006, was finished. The last colleges were transformed into Universities of Applied Sciences. Austria has now 7 UAS with approximately 500 bachelor students of Occupational Therapy and one OT Masterprogram.
• In fall 2010 the Austrian federal ministry of health placed an order to develop national research strategies for selected health professions (including OT, PT, speachtherapists, dietologists, biomedical scientists, orthoptist, radiological technologists, nurses, midwifery). GÖG (the national research and planning institute for health care and competence and funding centre of health promotion, (www.goeg.at) was entrusted with the project management. Main aims of this project are: power to compete of these health professions among other scientific disciplines; identified topics and societal benefit as well as defined general conditions of research. The call for collaboration within this project was forwarded to the national associations and to all Austrian education programs of these 9 health professions. So far members of these institutions did intensive work during: a kick off event, 4 thematic workshops, preparing and running an online survey (responses to the first draft version of the research strategy-plan) and a tuning session (evaluation of online survey). It is planned to publish the national research strategy in fall 2011.
• Representatives from several Austrian OT-Programs are members of a working group managed by IFZ (international research centre for social and ethical issues). Aim of the working group is a position paper “OT and sciences in Austria” which is well supported by national association of OT and all OT-Programs. The position paper should stimulate Universities and other research-institutions to assist OT Science and research and to involve it in the interdisciplinary scientific discourse (http://www.ifz-salzburg.at/). The working group is promoted by ErgoAustria.
• ErgoAustria is member of the “Österreichische Liga für Kinder- und Jugendgesundheit” (Austrian Liga for health of children and youth). The “Liga” is an interdisciplinary non-party non profit Organisation. Liga welcomes all persons and professional associations working in the area of health of children and youth as well as special interest groups of parents, clients, …
  Overall aim is a raised general awareness and the definite political responsibility of the worthiness of health among children and youth in our society
  Activities of the Liga are: active networking-and communication-platform; bridging between Education- Social- and health system in context of health related topics; developing joint position papers; initiating interprofessional concepts and projects, …
  Beside the association-membership, OTs are also represented in the scientific advisory board of the Liga. (http://www.kinderjugendgesundheit.at).