AOTI AGM 2015 – WFOT Report

World Federation of Occupational Therapists – AOTI Delegate Report 2014

2014was a particularly busy year, as the WFOT Delegate represented AOTI at the 31st WFOT Council Meeting in Chiba, Japan from 9th to 14thJune2014. The Delegate also attended the 16thWFOT International Congress, which was held in conjunctionwith the 48th Japanese Occupational Therapy Congress and Expo, at Yokohama Japan from 16thto 20thJune 2014. The Council Meetings are held once every two years and Congress is once every four years. The WFOT Delegate met with AOTI Council onher return to give feedback. As all AOTI members are now members of the WFOT, the Position Statements that were voted onin 2014 are available on-line, at as well as details of the various projects and collaborations that WFOT are involved in. The WFOT President’s letter for March 2015 outlines current WFOT projectsand can be found on the home page of their website.

The Delegate from Ireland was chosen as one of 30 delegates out of a total of 90 delegates to meet the Emperor and Empress of Japan at the Opening Ceremony of the WFOT Congress, which was an honour and a privilege for the Association and the Delegate. The Delegate also attended the Journal Editors Meeting with the Editor of the Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy during this Congress, and promoted the upcoming COTEC Conference to be held in NUIG in 2016.

The Irish Delegatewas chosen as a Project Lead on a 2 year project on ‘The Role of Professional Associations in Monitoring Practice’ together with a team of delegates from New Zealand, Macau, Japan, Australia, Romania and Bulgaria. The aim of this project is to develop a position statement on this topic for WFOT with the view of increased standardisation of monitoring practice internationally and endorsing the autonomy of professional associations.This issue is timely for AOTI with State Registration by CORU commencing on 31st March 2015.

The Delegate was the conduit of correspondence from WFOT with regard to the dissemination of data to AOTI Council, Accreditation Committee and AOTI members, and also sourcing data for the Executive Management of WFOT, as required. The Delegate also liaised with WFOT Executive Management with regard to urgent issues raised by AOTI Council, and made representation on behalf of AOTI members. Queries from OT’s and OT students both from Ireland and overseas were also dealt with.

The Delegate is looking forward, in conjunction with the newly elected Alternate Delegate, to continuing to work for members in the coming year.

Patricia Regan

WFOT Delegate6th March 2015

2015 AOTI AGM WFOT Delegate Report1 / 1