Scientific Program - Keynote Speakers
Rebecca Allen
Sylvia Docker Award Lecture 2008
Biography
Rebecca started her career as an occupational therapist in 1976 at the (now decommissioned) Heathcote Hospital in Perth. She has worked in mental health services in Perth and Melbourne. Case management and service coordination roles in community mental health in the 1980’s sparked her interest in organisational issues influencing service delivery. She became active in the restructuring of mental health services in Victoria and undertook postgraduate studies in organisation behaviour.
Her academic career began in 1990 at the La Trobe University Department of Occupational Therapy. She subsequently worked at the University of Melbourne, Department of Psychiatry, Charles Sturt University School of Community Health and her current position is in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Monash University, Melbourne.
Rebecca received the OT AUSTRALIA National Award in 2001 for outstanding service and the Betty S. Cameron Award in 2000 for outstanding voluntary contribution to the occupational therapy association in Victoria. She began voluntary work with the Association in the 1980’s. Rebecca was National President of OT AUSTRALIA from 1997-2001. Other roles have included Convenor of the Victorian State Convention; State Elected Councilor for Victoria; Manager of the National Professional Development & Research Program; Coordinator of National Research Awards; Steering Committee member for the development of the Mental Health Competency Standards and for the review of the Entry-Level Competency Standards. She helped establish both the individual and course accreditation processes used by OT AUSTRALIA and she is currently Chairperson of the National Assessor Panel for accreditation of entry-level occupational therapy courses.
Presentation Title
“Trust me- I’m an occupational therapist”. The profession’s role in setting and upholding standards of practice.
Overview:
One of the best things about being a member of a professional group such as occupational therapy is that membership of the profession transcends membership of any particular workplace. In addition to this, in Australia, the demand for occupational therapists has for many years outstripped the supply. These two factors afford us a great deal of autonomy in our practice - despite the increase in regulation of health and social care systems - and gives each of us, as members of the occupational therapy profession, a particularly privileged position in our society. To deserve and retain this privilege, we must be sure that as individuals, and as a collective profession, we set and uphold very high standards of practice.
This paper aims to stimulate discussion: firstly about the standards we expect of ourselves and of each other; secondly, about what we believe the collective profession’s role is in upholding these standards; and thirdly, about the way the profession needs to respond to changing notions of professionalism. The paper will draw on some of the national and international developments in entry-level and continuing professional education programs to highlight some of the controversies, challenges and opportunities for the occupational therapy profession in establishing and maintaining acceptable and relevant professional standards.
