October is Occupational Therapy Month and A Message from Our CAOT Board Director

  

October is Occupational Therapy month!  Give our profession your support by posting to your social media account using #OT365!

Here are greetings from your CAOT Board Director, Donna Drynan:

The Board has been extremely busy since March 2020 being responsive to the national needs of all CAOT members. 

Here is a recent update from the September 2020 Board meetings. 

Please reach out at any time to connect!

At its September 17^th meeting, the Board of Directors approved a provisional budget and operations plan for 2020-21. Within the budget is funds earmarked in anticipation of the forthcoming plan from the Truth and Reconciliation Task Force, to be received at the next meeting of the Board, so that activities can be promptly initiated. The Board also approved:

·   Terms of Reference for the OTA & PTA Standard Review Sub-Committee. Standards for the education of OTAs and PTAs were last approved in 2012; this committee will review and revise standards 1 to 5.

·   Report from the 2020 Professional Issues Forum “Services for people with autism spectrum disorder across Canada: Initial step to mapping a shared voice.” The report will be available shortly on the CAOT website.

·   The revised Governance Manual, the document that outlines the responsibilities and processes for Board function.

 

In addition, a variety of reports and updates were shared:

·   Awards and certificates have been sent to all CAOT award recipients; these had been delayed as a result of canceling the conference and awards ceremony. Award recipients have been highlighted in social media postings and are listed on the Awards page on our website.  

·   CAOT is collaborating with COTF as they develop a new strategic plan and consider alternative business models for achieving their goals. In the meantime, the current partnership agreement remains in place.

·   The recent meeting of the Alliance of Canadian Occupational Therapy Professional Associations (ACOTPA, the provincial, territorial, and national associations) included agreement to share strategies and work together across organizations to advance anti-racist, anti-oppression, and social justice goals. 

·   Portions of the public awareness campaign will be tested during the fall. With a focus on aging in place, plus the value of occupational therapy in three practice areas (mental health, return to work, long term care), stories will be posted on multiple digital media platforms. This “soft launch” will inform future media campaign and sharing with the provinces. The Ontario Society of Occupational Therapists tagline, Making the Everyday Possible, will be used nationally.

#OT365