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The history of our profession is well documented and sometimes differs depending on the perspectives you read. However, the intrinsic relationship between occupation, health and well-being is unive...

Background World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) member organisations comprise 77 national occupational therapy organisations across the world. Each national organisation interacts with its members and the public using diverse methods. Increasingly, national organisations are broadening their communication methods. Objective The objective of this study was to examine if and how occupational therapy organisations are using social media for communication, and if so, the types of concerns or barriers they experience and what role they anticipate social media might play in the near future. Methods An online survey was developed; 57 of 77 WFOT member organisations responded. Findings This study identified that WFOT national organisations are using social media, to varying degrees, with or without an individual formally assigned to manage social media. Respondents reported that they used social media to: communicate with members, promote the organisation and promote the profession. Commonly expressed needs included assistance with guidelines for ethical social media use, developing technical expertise, and recognition of limits of time and competing priorities. Recommendations arising from this research are at the global, national, local and individual levels and incorporate active dissemination and pure diffusion approaches. Taking steps to increase the use of social media could indirectly impact occupational therapy practice through enhancing organisations’ abilities to support practitioners to enhance their practice. Limitations and recommendations for further research Although 57% of WFOT member organisations returned usable responses, there may be some additional perspectives that were not captured. It would be helpful to contact non-responding organisations to explore their social media use and plans. Further research could examine how future initiatives put in place by WFOT impact social media use by member organisations.

WFOT’s operational activities are guided by its Strategic Plan which is review and updated every 6 years. The WFOT Council, which is made up of the Delegates from each of the WFOT member organisations participate in this process as part of the Focus Day at the beginning of the Council meeting. Feedback is gathered about the organisational and programme area priorities and this is then translated into the organisation’s operational plan which is review annually. The following is the WFOT Strategic Plan 2013–2018 which was updated during the 2010 and 2012 Focus Days.

WFOT Council Meeting Focus Day in 2006 focused on long term plans which aim at ensuring that WFOT continues to meet the needs of the member associations and the occupational therapists they represent. Council members reviewed the existing WFOT Strategic Plan, vision and priorities and discussed them in relation to a range of key strategic documents. Results of discussions were collated and compared against the WFOT Strategic Plan 2000–2006. Organizational objectives and priorities within the strategic plan were updated as an outcome of this Focus Day.

WFOT responded immediately and proactively to the major disaster that occurred in the Indian Ocean region on December 26, 2004. This report notes the actions that WFOT have taken already and recommendations for future actions for occupational therapists locally and internationally for improved preparedness for emergency response. As noted in the Report of the WFOT Response to the Tsunami (www.wfot.org/document_centre/), for the future, priority occupational therapy emergency response needs are for orientation, preparation and understanding of coordination requirements and skills in post traumatic stress management and in particular through meaningful and productive occupation and sustainable livelihood

Date Presented 3/30/2017 This study used a mixed-methods survey to explore World Federation of Occupational Therapists member organizations’ use of social media. It found that although social media tools are well utilized by many organizations, enhancement of technical skills and resources would be beneficial. Primary Author and Speaker: Anita Hamilton Additional Authors and Speakers: Susan Burwash, Karen Jacobs, Merrolee Penman Contributing Authors: Angela Hook, Sarah Bodell, Ritchard Ledgerd, Marilyn Pattison

The theme of this Bulletin issue is on Human Rights and I commend the authors of the articles in this edition. WFOT has a strong commitment to Human Rights evidenced through the establishment of an International Advisory Group (IAG): Human Rights, the development of a Position Paper on Human Rights1 and WFOT’s commitment to embed the principles of Human Rights and Social Justice into the fabric of its documents and publications. In June 2011, WHO released the World Health Report2 which for the first time examined the inequities around disability. The WFOT Position Statement on Human Rights demonstrates the WFOT position in relation to human occupation and participation. WFOT believes that occupational therapists have the knowledge and skills to support persons who experience limitations or barriers to participation in occupation. Occupational therapists also have a role and responsibility to develop and synthesize knowledge to support participation; to identify and raise issues of occupational barriers and injustices; and to work with groups, communities and societies to enhance participation in occupation for all persons. Achieving this is to achieve an occupationally just society. One of the main outcomes from the United Nations Conference Rio+20 (2012)3 was the agreement by member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and converge with the post-2015 development agenda.

The WFOT Bulletin is the international voice of the organisation and its members and the editorial team constantly strive to seek and provide information that is topical, challenging and thought provoking. Over the years the Bulletin has grown from a “newsletter” to a well read and circulated journal that attracts submissions from a broad range of occupational therapists covering a wide range of experience internationally. It gives me great pleasure to be writing this editorial in what is the first publication of the Bulletin by Maney Publishing – an internationally respected publishing house. Maney bring with them the wind of change which I am confident will lead to growth. They have committed to supporting the expansion of the WFOT Bulletin’s status and scope in the online literature with the aim of increasing to 3 issues per year by 2017. I congratulate them and WFOT looks forward to working with them over the coming years. The organisational objectives for WFOT are outlined within its WFOT Strategic Plan (WFOT, 2012) and supported by the current organisational priorities which focus on: 1. WHO and the global health agenda shapes the major focus of the WFOT’s involvement as a NonGovernmental Organization (NGO) with the UN. 2. Education is the core business of the Federation and its most recognised area. 3. Professional promotion and development of the profession in the global arena is an overarching priority that requires strengthened communications with professional constituents, external agencies and organisations and the public.

Over 2,000 Occupational Therapists came together in Sydney as part of a celebration of occupational therapy and to be part of that vision for the future. The organising committee — Team Oz — worked tirelessly with the Meeting Planners to make this Congress — WFOT’s premier educational event — a huge success. The overwhelming feeling from the Congress was one of leaving behind our self doubts and preoccupation with our efficacy (or lack of it) and striding forward as highly valued and powerful contributors within the health arena. The clear challenge was that occupational therapists need to take control of the profession and its ongoing development toward an exciting future and most importantly — the clear response was that they are ready and willing to do just that.

This article gives the philosophy behind the formation of the Education Team in a geriatric service and lists its specific objectives. The latter include the development and evaluation of educational programmes, the establishment of an information centre, clinical teaching, the orientation of new staff and in-service training, an advisory service, and the evaluation of equipment. The elderly population in this region is already higher than the national average and the team promotes positive attitudes in their care. The authors consider that the role and workload of the team will' continue to expand in the foreseeable future.