October 15th, 2006
Dear Friends,
The summer is over and our friends in Egypt are celebrating the Ramadan festivities.
In July WFOT had three major events in Australia. It started of with the annual Executive Meeting in Melbourne, the Council Meeting in Newcastle followed and as a highlight in the end the WFOT Congress attracted many professional visitors to Sydney.
The elections during our council meeting resulted in a change of my position. I am no longer the WFOT Vice President but together with Madeleine will continue to be co-leader of the WFOT Egypt Project and the WFOT Mongolia Project.
The new Vice President is Dr. Anne Carswell, a very dear and capable colleague from Canada who will support us in our efforts. Congratulations to Dr. Carswell to her new position!
Greetings from Zurich
Christiane Mentrup
Head of Institute for Occupational Therapy
Zurich University of Applied Science Winterthur
Switzerland
WFOT
After the WFOT events in July 2006 in Australia Sharon Brintnell, the Vice President Finance took the opportunity to visit Cairo and to meet up with several dignitaries and project members.
The Ain Shams University as well as the 6 of October University in a mutual effort invited the World Federation to hold its next Executive Team Meeting in Cairo. The invitation was graciously accepted by the WFOT Team and the members are looking forward to a meeting with the Egyptian partners in April 2007.
Congratulations to all members of the Egypt Project Team. Well done!
There will be lots of work lying ahead to prepare for 9 WFOT representatives to come to Cairo and to meet there for a full week. It will give the WFOT officers an opportunity to support the Egypt Project by meeting up with relevant persons in the political, educational and health care field and by presenting papers or leading workshops.
Abbassiya Hospital
The occupational therapist Gillian Barrett generously offered an OT assessment for the geriatric client group at the Abbassiya Hospital in Cairo. After a meeting with the medical staff she reported her results to Professor Ashour. Gillian pointed out that that she was amazed by the high level of motivation among the personell and the warmth they showed towards their patients (clients). She was concerned about the lack of interaction among clients and some problems within the environment. She recommends some environmental changes and activities for the clients based on a general screening and individual assessments.
Following individual discussion with clients, four of them have been referred to the rehabilitation department to participate in specific groups. There are still a significant number of patients to be interviewed, but this is an ongoing activity which will take some time to complete.
Forms have been devised (translated from forms used elsewhere in the hospital) to record both the aims/objectives and the individual patient observations for each of the groups to be initiated.
Regular short walks have commenced for a large group of patients (between 20-30 each time) and two specific weekly walking groups have also started for 4-6 patients each time. These groups are more specifically focused at increasing sensory stimuli, promoting interpersonal contact and providing an opportunity for staff to discuss patients personal background and interests.
An art group has been commenced on the ward. Although numbers to attend are currently very low, it is hoped that further patients who wish to attend will be identified.
Work is ongoing regarding the arrangements for the exercise groups.
A big “Thank you” to Gillian for all the work she invested. We are sure it will make a big
difference for the clients at Abbassiya Hospital.
Ain Shams University OT Curricula update:
Professor Ahmed Hassan, Associate Professor Ahmed El Kahky and Susan Hartshorne reported that progress is continuing with the development of two occupational therapy education programmes in Egypt. Both the undergraduate degree proposed by October 6 University and the post graduate diploma proposed by the Institute of Postgraduate Childhood Studies at Ain Shams University are based on the WFOT Revised Minimum Standards.
Approval from WFOT will be sought for each curriculum in the early stages of implementation. Approval will ensure that Egyptian occupational therapy services are staffed with occupational therapists who meet world standards in education and would enable Egyptian graduates to compete for positions internationally with graduates from other WFOT approved programs.
Thanks is given to all those colleagues who have offered their insights during the curriculum development process.
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