OTASA Congress 2024

Whenever I read or hear about artificial intelligence, I reassure myself that its impact will not be felt in my lifetime. Seems I am wrong.
Dr Karen Jacobs shared with us insights as to how AI will / should / could impact our practice.
Interestingly, Dr Jacob’s presentation was not the only paper on AI.
AI is apparently here and happening.

Dr Enos Ramano is a home-grown occupational therapist of whom we are very proud. He knows well the social ills which challenge our country and the inequities which exist in our current healthcare system. He urges us to interrogate our vision of the profession through a different lens and address our professional identity by considering a range of relevant topics.

Samantha Shann, President of the World Federation of Occupational Therapy, shared with us important information on the very recent World Health Assembly’s resolution on rehabilitation – and called on us to be more actively involved on the rehabilitation agenda.

And then, of course, there was the prestigious Vona du Toit Memorial Lecture presented this year by Dr Tania Rauch van der Merwe – another home-grown occupational therapist of whom we are immensely proud. Tania is a deep thinker on the philosophical aspects of our profession – and a change agent. Thank you for sharing your thinking with us and for encouraging us to utilize our collective wisdom more resolutely in practice.

Based on what we have heard and seen during the Congress, I would like to share with you just a few broad thoughts and insights which have come to me and which I consider to inform us about the current state of occupational therapy in South Africa.

• The presentations inform us that, while not abandoning traditional health practice domains, occupational therapists are now working in a wide range of different contexts.
In the latter regard, we have heard papers discussing work in urban and rural communities; in well and in poorly resourced settings; in factories, and in playgrounds, to name but a few.
There is clearly much work being done to address the issues which the COVID pandemic brought with it.
All of this speaks, amongst other things, to the profession’s responsiveness to a multitude of different challenges faced by the people we serve.
• The focus on research which is increasingly evident in the papers presented at this congress, is encouraging. It attests not only to the commitment of practitioners to lifelong learning, but to the desire to better understand the many factors which impact on occupational performance, how and why occupational therapy makes a difference and the outcomes which can be expected if we apply our skills and expertise in particular ways.
• Close attention to the papers which have been presented reveals clearly that occupational therapy’s ethos – the innermost and distinctive features of our profession – endures.
It is something of which we should be proud and which we should guard fiercely.

I am sure many more highlights could be extrapolated from the presentations we have heard. While we cannot be complacent, suffice to say that occupational therapy is alive and well in South Africa.

As I was finalizing this brief address, I had something of an AHA moment (although I concede that I am often a bit slow and it may have been such a moment for me only; the Congress Committee having had this vision in mind when they were planning the congress.)

The theme and sub-themes of a congress are intended to provide a focus, stimulate thinking and shape the scientific program. Fact is, the theme and sub-themes of this congress will remain highly relevant as we leave this platform, get on with our professional lives and contribute to making occupational therapy everything it can / should / could be.

South African occupational therapists are facing a highly significant shake-up in the context of health care provision in South Africa. Whether we like it or not, the National Health Insurance Act has been passed and is here to stay. We will have to start thinking differently about our services and the manner in which they are provided. If we do not ensure that occupational therapy is at the forefront of discussions, planning and implementation of NHI, we will only have ourselves to blame. We are no longer a Cinderella profession. We have never been better able to articulate what and how our beloved profession can contribute to health for all.

I learned recently that there are a number of occupational therapists already very involved in planning for this new health care system – and we thank them for their work in this regard. BUT, each of us has a role to play – Let it happen. Let it matter.

The first sub-theme, ‘beyond all limits’, urges us to think outside of the box; to challenge ourselves; to be innovative as we consider how occupational therapy will fit into the complex and unfolding understanding of universal health care.

The second sub-theme tells us to ‘Spread the word and to tell our story’. I personally think that this is an area where we have much work to do. We have to use every opportunity which comes our way, every platform available to do just that – spread the word and tell our story.

Finally sub-theme ‘together towards tomorrow’, reminds us that, in addition to the role we may play as individuals, we must band together and embrace the power of the collective in framing our tomorrow. We have an unprecedented opportunity to ensure that our profession is afforded the recognition it is due; and, more importantly, to ensure that the population of our country are better able to access and benefit from our services.

We have to claim our space!

Many people have been involved to the planning and hosting of this congress – they know who they are and I thank them. I trust that you, as a delegate, will go away refreshed and renewed, inspired and invigorated.