Pre Conference Workshops
Tuesday 28th June 2011
Crowne Plaza, Surfers Paradise
2807 Gold Coast Highway, Surfers Paradise.
It is just a ten minute walk to the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre
Carparking is complimentary to all attending but is subject to availability (and is in the hotel basement). If you miss out, then there is free parking around the perimeter of the hotel.
Download: Pre Conference Workshops
B
Using the evidence in working within indigenous and rural communities
Presenter: Jo Jackson King & Barbara Jackson
Full Day 9.00am – 4.30pm
Learn more about this Workshop
Target Audience
OT’s working in impoverished, Indigenous and rural/remote communities.
Aim / Purpose
Share skills, supporting literature, developed resources, successes and failures with other OT’s.
Discussion
Literature, evidence-based practice, ways and strategies to build relationships, stages of project development within communities – red flags, hopeful signs, next steps.
Conclusions
The central importance of relationships.
Learning Outcomes
- Clear overview of useful literature;
- Clear overview of project development
- Resource sharing
- Workshopping of issues within an OT’s own community – ideas to take away.
- Appreciation of risks and opportunities in putting together a project.
Please note: There will be a lot of sharing of written material. Please bring along a USB as you will be able to able to save the information and take it away with you. (Paper copies will also be provided). This will allow you to adapt what you’ve been given, to your own setting if required.
Registration Fees:
- Member
- $250
- Non Member
- $375
- Student Member
- $135
- Student Non-Member
- $190
C
OT assessment and interventions for impairments of visual perception and praxis in adults
Presenter: Deirdre Cooke
Deirdre Cooke, PhD is the Rehabilitation Coordinator for the Mater Private Hospital Rehab Unit in Brisbane. She also lectures in Occupational Therapy at the University of Queensland. Her areas of clinical specialty and research interest include neurological rehabilitation following stroke, acquired brain injury and Parkinsons’ Disease. Development of a new standardised screening tool for visual perception – The Occupational Therapy Adult Perceptual Screening Test (The OT-APST) was the topic of her PhD thesis.
Deirdre has worked in a number of acute care and rehabilitation settings since graduation in 1988. Her current job at the Mater Private Rehab Unit allows her to combine her many interests of clinical work, Allied Health team leadership, discharge planning and clinical research. Deirdre completed a Masters degree in Occupational Therapy at Boston University while in receipt of a Rotary Foundation Scholarship in 1990. During this time she worked as research assistant to Professor Catherine Trombly. Deirdre has had 16 journal articles published, and co-authored an OT text chapter on cognitive assessment. She was awarded the 2010 Mary Rankin Wilson Award by OT Australia Queensland for professional excellence.
Full Day 9.00am – 4.30pm
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Target Audience
Occupational Therapists working with adults with stroke or other forms of acquired brain injury in acute care, community and rehabilitation settings.
Aim / Purpose
Presentation of this one day course on visual perception and praxis will include terminology, assessment and intervention options, use of client videos for discussion of clinical scenarios, and clinical problem-solving for complex patient presentations. The day will conclude with an evidence-based practice summary in this area of treatment.
Discussion
Occupational Therapists working in stroke and acquired brain injury are frequently faced with complex clinical presentations including a range of neurobehavioural impairments impacting upon daily function and recovery. An opportunity to explore treatment options and outcome measurement for problems of visual perception and praxis in a workshop environment with video case studies will enhance clinical practice skills, and may inspire future research opportunities in this area of OT practice.
Learning Outcomes
Workshop participants will come away with enhanced knowledge of terminology, occupational therapy assessment and treatment approaches, as well as knowledge of up to date research evidence and international clinical practice guidelines in the area of visual perception and praxis.
Registration Fees:
- Member
- $250
- Non Member
- $375
- Student Member
- $135
- Student Non-Member
- $190
D
Implementing evidence-based upper extremity interventions through childhood and adolescence for individuals with cerebral palsy
Presenters: Christine Imms, Brian Hoare, Melinda Randall, Sue Greaves, Iona Novak
Dr Christine Imms, PhD., MSc, BAppSc(OT).
Christine Imms is a senior lecturer at La Trobe University and Senior Occupational Therapist responsible for research at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne. She has over 20 years of clinical experience with children and families and added research to her clinical load beginning in 1996. Christine has worked at the university and the RCH for the past 11 years. Her research focus is on evaluating paediatric intervention effectiveness, development of outcome measures and understanding and promoting participation of children and youth with physical disabilities. To date Christine has published 24 peer reviewed journal publications, three book chapters and one book.
Dr Brian Hoare; PhD, BOT.
Brian Hoare has been a full-time clinical occupational therapist at Monash Children’s, Southern Health for over 10 years. He is currently senior occupational therapist for the Victorian Paediatric Rehabilitation Service based at Monash Children’s. Brian completed his PhD thesis in 2010 which evaluated the effects of upper limb movement-based treatment following Botulinum toxin-A injection in young children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. He has a keen interest in promoting evidence-based upper limb rehabilitation interventions for both children and adults with neurological impairment.
Susan Greaves, MSc, BAppSc(OT), PhD candidate
Susan Greaves is a senior clinician at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne in neurodevelopment and is currently a PhD candidate. She has over 25 years experience working in paediatrics – with her main focus being children with cerebral palsy. Sue was involved in a RCT evaluating the effects of repeat Botulinum toxin-A injection in the upper limb of young children with hemiplegia combined with occupational therapy intervention versus stand alone OT intervention. Her PhD research involves the further development of the Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA) to a younger cohort of infants. In keeping with her trend to see younger and younger infants – Sue is currently working in the Neonatal Unit at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Dr Melinda Randall; PhD., BAppSc(OT).
Melinda is a paediatric occupational therapist who has worked with children with neurological impairment at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne since 1985. She has an interest in evaluating therapeutic outcomes in children with cerebral palsy and is co-author of The Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function. Melinda completed her PhD on “Modification and investigation of the construct validity of The Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function” in 2009. She is currently working in a both a clinical and research capacity with children with cerebral palsy and complex movement disorders at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Dr Iona Novak: PhD
Dr Iona Novak is the Head of Research at the Cerebral Palsy Institute, School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame Australia. She oversees the research activities of Institute and supports the Australian Cerebral Palsy Register. Her background is in occupational therapy with research interests in evidence based practice; home programs; and population studies.
Full Day 9.00am – 4.30pm
Learn more about this Workshop
Target Audience
Occupational therapists working with children and adolescents with any type and severity of cerebral palsy.
Aim / Purpose
In the last 5-10 years there has been a rapid expansion of high quality evidence for upper limb intervention for children and adolescents with cerebral palsy, such as constraint-induced therapy, and Botulinum toxin-A combined with occupational therapy and bimanual training regimes. Therapists and clients are now faced with many treatment options. This workshop aims to assist therapists with current evidence-based clinical decision making for the broad range of children with cerebral palsy seen in practice.
Discussion
In this workshop we will present an overview of current evidence including important clinical findings from RCTs conducted by the presenters and a conceptual model to support clinical decision making for the management of upper extremity outcomes for children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. We will also discuss important findings from recent studies of neuroplasticity in children and the implications for planning. Working in small groups using multiple case-studies, learning activities and discussion, participants will identify key upper extremity performance challenges for children from infancy through adolescence, and consider intervention choices, including those aimed at maintaining joint and skin integrity, promoting optimal hand function and enhancing engagement and success in activity performance. Participants will engage with case materials that illustrate children with varying severities and both unilateral and bilateral upper extremity presentations.
Conclusions
Optimizing activity performance and engagement in chosen and required occupations is the reason d’être of occupational therapists. For children and adolescents whose capacity to use their hands to engage with their worlds is impaired by a central motor disorder, targeted improvement of upper extremity capacity and performance through implementing current best practice will maximize their outcomes and enable us to continue to question, develop and learn new ways to improve the implementation of occupational therapy.
Learning Outcomes
- Enhance clinical reasoning and decision making about evidence-based upper extremity intervention for children and youth with cerebral palsy.
- Understand neuroplasticity in children and the implications for treatment planning.
- Critically appraise and apply evidence that supports intervention choices through case-study material.
- Use the key cerebral palsy classification systems and learn about a range of clinically useful outcome measures to measure change following intervention.
- Recognize key issues that arise at varying developmental stages through childhood & adolescence.
Registration Fees:
- Member
- $250
- Non Member
- $375
- Student Member
- $135
- Student Non-Member
- $190
E
Building research capacity: skills for qualitative research
Presenter: Mandy Stanley
Dr Mandy Stanley is a Senior Lecturer in occupational therapy at the School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia. Mandy completed her PhD in 2006 and since that time has developed her reputation as a qualitative researcher, and in particular as a grounded theorist. She has considerable experience in supervising qualitative research projects at both Honours and PhD level. She is a regular reviewer of journal manuscripts reporting qualitative studies for the American, British and Australian occupational therapy journals as well as other allied health and gerontology journals. She has published a journal article and a book chapter on grounded theory, and has a growing list of publications of her research activities all involving qualitative approaches.
Mandy was a key member of a team which was successful in securing an ARC grant from 2007-2009 exploring older people’s understandings of loneliness. Mandy led the team for the last 6 months of the project.
Mandy’s research interests and expertise focus on how older people engage in everyday activities and participate in community life, adapt to the changes associated with aging, and maintain well-being. She is known for her engaging presentation style and for her depth of experience as an educator.
Full Day 9.00am – 4.30pm
Learn more about this Workshop
Target Audience
Those with a beginning level of knowledge of qualitative research methodologies and interested in increasing their skills in conducting qualitative research.
Aim / Purpose
The aim of the workshop is to increase participants’ knowledge and skills in qualitative research to build research capacity.
Discussion
There has been a growing interest in and use of qualitative research methodologies within occupational therapy research over the last ten to fifteen years. Indeed, Kielfhofner as long ago as 1982 argued that qualitative research is of particular relevance for occupational therapy researchers because of the need to study of human engagement in occupation within the natural context. For any research study to be taken seriously it needs to be rigorous, but this particularly applies to qualitative research, which is still regarded by some with suspicion. In this workshop participants will explore some of the challenges in doing high quality qualitative research that is epistemologically sound.
Participants will engage in interactive exercises to expand their skills and knowledge. Topics to be covered include: positioning of the research theoretically, matching the research question to the research problem, and choosing appropriate sampling, data collection approaches and ways of ensuring rigour. There will be a focus on in-depth interviewing as one of the most commonly used approaches to data collection within qualitative studies. Examples from current and published research will be drawn on during the workshop.
Conclusions
Participants will be inspired to pursue the increasing demand to producing qualitative research which is of a high quality and which makes a contribution to the profession of occupational therapy.
Learning Outcomes
- On completion of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Develop a question guide for a semi-structured interview for interpretive studies
- Demonstrate skills in in-depth interviewing
- Demonstrate an understanding of research methods that are congruent with the particular qualitative research design
Reference
Kielhofner, G. (1982). Qualitative research: Part two Methodological approaches and relevance to occupational therapy. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 2: 151-164.
Registration Fees:
- Member
- $250
- Non Member
- $375
- Student Member
- $135
- Student Non-Member
- $190
F
The Science of Seating, Posture & Pressure Care for 2011
Presenters: Florence Clark, Jillian Swaine & Michael Stacey
Florence Clark, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA
(Professor and Associate Dean of the USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy) currently serves as President of the American Occupational Therapy Association. A widely published and noted scholar, her research and pedagogical interests over the past two decades have largely centered on the relationship of activity and lifestyle to health and wellness. Her recent scholarly activity centers on the design of lifestyle interventions for various populations such as independent-living older adults, business executives, persons with weight concerns, and individuals with spinal cord injury. Appointed as a charter member of the Academy of Research of the American Occupational Therapy Association, Dr. Clark has served as special consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General, been on the board of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research and been the recipient of an Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship. In 1999, the American Occupational Therapy Association honored her with its Award of Merit and in 2001 she received a lifetime achievement award from the Occupational Therapy Association of California. In 2004 she received the Presidential Medallion from the University of Southern California, its ultimate honor, awarded to those who have brought distinction and honor to the University.
Jillian Swaine
Jillian Swaine is an occupational therapist who graduated from Queen's University in Canada. She went on to do postgraduate training at McGill University in Montreal. She has worked in the fields of assistive technology for 25 years and specialised in posture, seating, mobility and pressure care for the last 15 years. She migrated to Australia in 2006 and lectured at Curtin University in the School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work for 3 years.
She is presently an Associate Professor in the Wound Healing and Occupational Performance Research Group in the School of Surgery at University of Western Australia. Her research includes biomechanical factors associated with the development of sitting-acquired deep tissue injuries in individuals with spinal cord injuries. The factors include posture, postural control, stress and strain in the soft tissues of the buttocks, comfort and participation in occupation. She is a chief investigator for a 1.6 million dollar grant awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia entitled: The AusCAN Risk Assessment for Sitting Acquired Pressure Ulcers. It is an international multisite prospective study also funded in Canada by the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation. She is very pleased to have become an Australian citizen in June 2010!
Professor Michael Stacey
Professor Michael Stacey is a vascular surgeon at Fremantle Hospital. He also leads the Wound Healing and Occupational Performance Research Group in the School of Surgery at University of Western Australia which employs a number of occupational therapists as researchers. He is the founding President of the Australian Wound Management Association and the First Chairman of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies. His research interests include: risk factors and treatment for venous leg ulcers, genetics of venous leg ulcers and sitting acquired pressure ulcers. Professor Stacey is the lead Chief Investigator for The AusCAN Risk Assessment for Sitting Acquired Pressure Ulcers. Professor Stacey has published extensively and presented internationally. He is the co-author of The Calgary Interface Pressure Mapping Clinical Protocol.
Full Day 9.00am – 4.30pm
Learn more about this Workshop
Welcome
It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to a day of learning about the current science on seating, posture and pressure care and how best to translate that information into occupational therapy practice in your own setting. In addition, you will design client-centred handouts that extend your practice to families and carers. We invite you to introduce yourself to your tablemates, participate and share your own expertise and questions throughout the day.
There is a volunteer assigned to your table to facilitate the day. We wanted to take this opportunity to thank each of the volunteers for taking time to assist us.
Jillian Swaine,
Workshop Co-ordinator
Abstract
Individuals who use wheelchairs experience many barriers to participation that include accessibility problems (Sawatsky, 2006), low rates of employment (Kaye et al, 2000), social isolation (McClain, et al, 2000) and stigma (Cahill & Eggleston, 1995). In addition, individuals who use wheelchairs for their primary mobility are at higher risk for sitting-acquired pressure ulcers. When an ulcer develops, their barriers to participation increase exponentially.
This workshop is designed to assist occupational therapists in understanding the risk factors, prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. Divided into two components, the first half of the workshop will address the life circumstances that place individuals with spinal cord injury at heightened risk for pressure ulcer development and present an overview of a data-based, multi-faceted, context sensitive intervention approach that addresses these factors. The process through which the lifestyle intervention was manualized and an ongoing community-based randomized control study testing its cost-effectiveness will also be described.
In the second component, risks associated with sitting, per se, will be emphasized. Whilst treatment of sitting acquired pressure ulcers may not be a traditional role for occupational therapists in Australia, they are well positioned to be a key team member. The occupational therapist’s role in the wound care team relative to seating systems will be demonstrated using interactive case studies. In this component, an intensive review of the pelvis and spine as it relates to sitting will be provided. This content will be followed by an overview of fourteen outcome measures drawn from the literature for wheelchair interventions which are congruent with occupational therapy models that include participation. Among these, select measures will be applied in small interactive group exercises using case studies.
Through exposure to the two components, therapists will be provided with the opportunity to develop skills on how to translate new knowledge to their clinical practice in hospital, nursing homes, seating clinics and the community settings.
Therapists will learn how to design and implement handouts and training to families and carers on posture and pressure ulcer prevention to fascilitate optimal occupational performance of their client.
The workshop will be delivered through case studies, hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies such as interface pressure mapping, transcutaneous oxygen monitoring, ultrasound and a new material to check cushions that are designed to off-load bony areas such as the coccyx and ischial tuberosities. Handouts will include the case study exercises, outcome measures and an extensive reference list.
Learning Objectives
- Describe the confluence of lifestyle factors that lead to heightened pressure ulcer risk in persons with spinal cord injury.
- Describe the key principles that guide pressure ulcer prevention interventions in home settings.
- Describe the six modules that constitute the Lifestyle Redesign® Pressure Ulcer Prevention Program
- Become familiar with the science that undergirds this multi-faceted, holistic intervention approach.
- Intensely review anatomy of the pelvis and spine and how they relate to seating, posture and pressure care in sitting.
- Discuss wheelchair outcome measures in terms of current occupational therapy models that include participation.
- Design client-centred handouts and training for key seating, posture and pressure care evidence (e.g. best pressure off loading techniques, amount of time and frequency).
- Experience hands-on the cutting edge technologies such as interface pressure mapping, transcutaneous oxygen monitoring, ultrasound and a new material to check cushions that are designed to off-load bony areas such as the coccyx and ischial tuberosities.
Registration Fees:
- Member
- $250
- Non Member
- $375
- Student Member
- $135
- Student Non-Member
- $190
I
Supporting recovery to work in mental health
Presenter: Bonnie Kirsh
Full Day 9.00am – 4.30pm
Learn more about this Workshop
This interactive workshop will address key issues in supporting recovery to work in mental health. It draws on findings from the Canadian context to explore key questions and strategies for occupational therapists practicing in the area of mental health in Australia. The day will include: an examination of values, beliefs and assumptions underlying the relationship of work and mental illness; an appreciation of the different perspectives on work and their influence on service delivery; a review of research on evidence based practice in the area of work and mental illness; formulation of required training and competencies for practitioners addressing work integration and workplace mental health; and an opportunity to apply these perspectives and practices to occupational therapy practice environments. The workshop will include multiple formats for conveying information and promoting discussion.
Learning Objectives
On completion of the session, attendees will be able to:
- Identify their own values and beliefs regarding work and mental health, and appreciate those of others.
- Increase their knowledge of evidence-based practices in supporting recovery to work
- Consider the application of evidence based practices to their own context and population served
- Set goals for improving outcomes in the area of work and mental health for individual practice and for the profession
Registration Fees:
- Member
- $250
- Non Member
- $375
- Student Member
- $135
- Student Non-Member
- $190
To register for the Occupational Therapy Australia 24th National Conference and pre Conference workshops, please click on link below.
If you have already registered for the Conference online but would like to attend a pre conference workshop, you can either
Register here,
Scroll down to the “Previously Registered” field. Then enter the access key that was given to you in your original registration confirmation. It will then take you to your registration where you can edit your booking to include the pre Conference Workshop.
OR
Email your request to the Conference Office: ot2011@thinkbusinessevents.com.au.