Tagged / occupational therapy

Third Edition of the EU Falls Festival in Amsterdam (8-9 May 2017)

Student Engagement


Natalia Adamczewska and Yolanda Barrado-Martín represented the Psychology Department and Ageing & Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at the Third Edition of the EU Falls Festival in Amsterdam on 8th and 9th May 2017. The theme of the congress was: Developing Collaborations across Professions and throughout Europe.

This festival brought together over 200 professionals from multiple disciplines (such as Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Medicine, Psychology and Technology) working under a common target: The prevention of falls amongst older adults. It was a great opportunity to see how different countries in Europe, but also researchers in America, represented by Dr. Robin Lee, US Lead Home and Recreation Team; and Australia, represented by Kim Delbaere, Falls Balance and Injury Centre, NeuRa; are working under this objective, the resources different countries invest on this and the different approaches used from different disciplines. A variety of interventions were presented from educational to exercise, and a debate was organised regarding the relevance of the role of technologies to prevent falls and support research.

Falls are the first external cause of death amongst older adults which explains the importance of researchers, practitioners and policy makers working together.​ Members of the World Health Organisation and the European Commission were also attending this meeting and sharing their views on the relevance of falls prevention.

Yolanda’s PhD project looks into the acceptability and adherence of participants living with dementia to a Tai Chi exercise intervention. Adherence to falls interventions was one the main concerns of the congress, however, the experiences of those living with dementia remain mostly under-explored.

Natalia focuses on the psychological adjustment to falls in her PhD project and she looks at fall-related PTSD. Various interventions presented at the festival could possibly be applied in order to enable participants to cope with psychological consequences of falling, such as virtual reality treatment presented by Jeff Hausdorff that he originally developed for fall prevention in idiopathic fallers.

BU to host International Occupational Science Conference on 3 and 4 September

On 3rd and 4th September this year, BU will be hosting the prestigious Occupational Science Europe conference, which we have entitled Health and Wellbeing through Occupation. We will welcome delegates and speakers from North America, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Mainland Europe, Ireland and the UK. This is the first time that BU has hosted such an event and we have compiled an innovative and exciting programme. Keynote presentations will focus on how to achieve health and wellbeing through what people do, the rights and justice of health, the daily activities of gypsies and travellers and also on what research into the well elderly tells us about promoting health and wellbeing through occupation.

Occupational science is the study of what people do in everyday life and is influenced by a range of disciplines, including anthropology, human geography, psychology, sociology, public health and is one of the underpinning sciences for the profession of occupational therapy. BU is proud to host the conference with world-renowned keynote speakers that will challenge and discuss the research that informs occupational science.

As well as welcoming a range of international and national speakers, a number of BU academics and PhD students from different disciplines will present at the conference on a variety of topics such as the lifestyle of adults with low vision, sexual well-being for adults with physical disabilities, post-bereavement occupations of those bereaved by suicide, everyday life with a long-term condition, older people’s involvement in community exercise programmes, public health and wellbeing practice, craft practice for new mothers, enhancing well-being through arts-based research  quilting as a meaningful reflective tool in research  the role of volunteering, health and wellbeing at home and the symbolic construction of health in Roman Britain.

There are still a few places available at the conference, although registration closes on Friday 28 August 2015. For more information, please e-mail occupation@bournemouth.ac.uk and go to:

https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/oseconf/conference-details/programme/

If you are passing Kimmeridge House on 3rd and 4th September, please feel free to visit the sandpit of ideas and occupational science patchwork installations!

Presentation from Paula Kersten ‘Supporting strategies for self-management of rehabilitation in the home: a feasibility study’

You are cordially invited to a lunchtime presentation being delivered by Paula Kersten the Associate Professor of Rehabilitation at Auckland University of Technology and Visiting Professor with HSC. This is an hour long presentation entitled ‘Supporting strategies for self-management of rehabilitation in the home: a feasibility study’.  This talk would be of interest to health professionals working in health and rehabilitation.  We very much hope you will be able to attend this informative presentation.

For Paula Kersten’s Biography, please follow link below:

http://www.aut.ac.nz/profiles/paula-kersten

Thursday 16th May 2013

‘Supporting strategies for self-management of rehabilitation in the home: a feasibility study’

Presentation by Paula Kersten, Associate Professor Rehabilitation, Auckland University of Technology

12.00-1.00pm

BG11, Bournemouth House, Lansdowne Campus, BH1 3LH

 

Hosted by Clinical Research Unit