updated February 17, 1999

January 1999
Table of Contents

Health Budget only a first step

Ottawa - February 16, 1999 - The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) congratulates the federal government on its reinvestment into the health of Canadians. CAOT applauds the announcement of additional monies which will be available for health services as well as for research and health information.

The new health funding in the federal budget will begin to address the acute health care crisis confronting Canadians. CAOT is hopeful that the federal government's renewed commitment will result in a healthy collaboration with the provinces to ensure that Canadian's needs for a continuum of health services - from prevention - to institutional care - to home care - are not overlooked.

"It's a good start but we were hoping for additional money to specifically address community health care needs, which if ignored, will place even greater strain on the acute care system," stated CAOT Executive Director Claudia von Zweck. "Canadians should be able to receive the care they need and want in their own community and environment. We are concerned that without additional directed monies for programs such as home care, community services will continue to be inadequately funded."

Judy Threinen, the Director of Client Services at the Ottawa-Carleton Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) identifies a substantial increase in the demand for occupational therapy services. "Clients being referred to the CCAC for services are being discharged from hospitals more quickly or in many instances, may not be admitted at all. In addition, most people with long term disabilities prefer to stay at home as long as possible."

According to Ms. Threinen, the combination of these factors has increased demand for services generally and it has been most striking in the area of occupational therapy. There are long waiting lists for occupational therapy services and managing the volume of referrals has required a well developed priority coding system for new referrals in order to ensure that they reach the most urgent cases first.

Occupational therapists believe that because illness and disability takes place within the context of a person's family or community, that recovery is done best at home. Thousands of Canadians are healthy and participating actively in their community because of the assistance of occupational therapists. For example, occupational therapists can:

Canadians need and deserve a comprehensive range of services to meet their health needs. Monies from this budget must be directed towards the realization of this goal.

The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists and its provincial affiliates represents over 10,000 practicing occupational therapists in Canada, 50% of whom work in community care.

For further information:

Claudia von Zweck
CAOT Executive Director
1 (800) 434-2268, ext. 224
e-mail: cvonzweck@caot.ca

Mary Clark Green
CAOT Communications Consultant
1 (604) 536-4575
e-mail: wpc@istar.ca

Budget highlights relating to health can be viewed at http://www.caot.ca/pages/budget.html.

New web site launched for Multiculturalism Week, February 14-20, 1999.

www.healthtrans.org
The Translated Health Education Materials Web Site houses brochures in 10 different languages: Chinese, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Gujarati, Hindi, Farsi, Spanish Portuguese, French and Italian. All brochures include the original English version so health care providers know exactly what is the content of the material they are giving to their patients. Currently, the site includes about 100 brochures on a range of health care topics, including heart disease, women's and children's health, cancer, diabetes, health care system and rehabilitation medicine.

The projected was funded by the B. C. Ministry of Health, Canadian Heritage, The Vancouver Foundation and the project's participating agencies.

Vancouver occupational therapists sign with Slack

Canadian occupational therapists continue to lead the way in client-centred practice. Ginny Fearing and Jo Clark will co-edit and author, along with other contributors throughout North America, a new book which will focus on the Occupational Performance Process Model (OPPM) as seen in Enabling occupation: an occupational therapy perspective published by CAOT Publications ACE. The book will be a practical, user-friendly guide on the "how to" of bringing client-centred practice to life. Discussions will include enabling environments, leadership and the OPPM.

This new book is scheduled for release by Slack Inc. for the Tri-Joint Congress in Toronto, in June, 2000.

If any occupational therapists are using the OPPL, the editors would be interested in hearing from them. Please e-mail Ginny Fearing at gfearing@vanhosp.bc.ca or Jo Clark at mjclark@vanhosp.bc.ca.

B.C. Strike Action
Strike action was avoided by the appointment of a mediator. Mediator Brian Foley presented his report on January 27, to the B.C. Health Sciences Association (HSA), recommending terms of settlement for a paramedical professional collective agreement. The HSA Board of Directors and the Paramedical Professional Bargaining Association are recommending acceptance of the report. Members are now reviewing the report and ratification votes will take place from February 22-25. Occupational therapists are among 13
different professions represented by HSA. For details of the settlement report, see http://www.hsabc.org.

CAOT to launch two new publications in 1999
CAOT Publications ACE will publish Programme evaluation in everyday practice: A workbook for occupational therapists. With increased emphasis on evaluation, accountability and efficiency in health care practice today, this publication will provide practical information to assist occupational therapists in evaluating the effectiveness and benefits of their programmes. It was researched and written by faculty at McMaster University, Lori Letts, Mary Law, Nancy Pollock, Debra Stewart, Muriel Westmorland, Angela Philpot and Jackie Bosch. Funding from the Canadian Occupational Therapy Foundation (COTF) helped to support this important publication.

In addition, a team of writers headed up by Dalhousie University Professor Elizabeth Townsend are writing Spirituality in enabling occupation: A learner-centred workbook. This second companion workbook for Enabling occupation: An occupational therapy perspective, deals with spirituality, an important yet difficult aspect of practice. The publication will be available in the Fall of 1999 and authored by Elizabeth Townsend, Denise DeLaat, Mary Egan, Rachel Thibeault and Alan Wright.

News to tell across Canada? E-mail Mary Clark Green, OT Now Managing Editor at wpc@istar.ca