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IntroductionDespite the profound burden of disease, a strategic global response to optimise musculoskeletal (MSK) health and guide national-level health systems strengthening priorities remains absent. Auspiced by the Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health (G-MUSC), we aimed to empirically derive requisite priorities and components of a strategic response to guide global and national-level action on MSK health.MethodsDesign: mixed-methods, three-phase design.Phase 1: qualitative study with international key informants (KIs), including patient representatives and people with lived experience. KIs characterised the contemporary landscape for MSK health and priorities for a global strategic response.Phase 2: scoping review of national health policies to identify contemporary MSK policy trends and foci.Phase 3: informed by phases 1–2, was a global eDelphi where multisectoral panellists rated and iterated a framework of priorities and detailed components/actions.ResultsPhase 1: 31 KIs representing 25 organisations were sampled from 20 countries (40% low and middle income (LMIC)). Inductively derived themes were used to construct a logic model to underpin latter phases, consisting of five guiding principles, eight strategic priority areas and seven accelerators for action.Phase 2: of the 165 documents identified, 41 (24.8%) from 22 countries (88% high-income countries) and 2 regions met the inclusion criteria. Eight overarching policy themes, supported by 47 subthemes, were derived, aligning closely with the logic model.Phase 3: 674 panellists from 72 countries (46% LMICs) participated in round 1 and 439 (65%) in round 2 of the eDelphi. Fifty-nine components were retained with 10 (17%) identified as essential for health systems. 97.6% and 94.8% agreed or strongly agreed the framework was valuable and credible, respectively, for health systems strengthening.ConclusionAn empirically derived framework, co-designed and strongly supported by multisectoral stakeholders, can now be used as a blueprint for global and country-level responses to improve MSK health and prioritise system strengthening initiatives.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives, health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities worldwide. The last message I wrote for the previous Bulletin was to be my la...

The history of our profession is well documented and sometimes differs depending on the perspectives you read. However, the intrinsic relationship between occupation, health and well-being is unive...

Yesterday, I attended a memorial service for a very dear friend of mine and the comments opened with ‘who would have thought 12 months ago we would be meeting here today for this event?’ Well who w...

Background World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) member organisations comprise 77 national occupational therapy organisations across the world. Each national organisation interacts with its members and the public using diverse methods. Increasingly, national organisations are broadening their communication methods. Objective The objective of this study was to examine if and how occupational therapy organisations are using social media for communication, and if so, the types of concerns or barriers they experience and what role they anticipate social media might play in the near future. Methods An online survey was developed; 57 of 77 WFOT member organisations responded. Findings This study identified that WFOT national organisations are using social media, to varying degrees, with or without an individual formally assigned to manage social media. Respondents reported that they used social media to: communicate with members, promote the organisation and promote the profession. Commonly expressed needs included assistance with guidelines for ethical social media use, developing technical expertise, and recognition of limits of time and competing priorities. Recommendations arising from this research are at the global, national, local and individual levels and incorporate active dissemination and pure diffusion approaches. Taking steps to increase the use of social media could indirectly impact occupational therapy practice through enhancing organisations’ abilities to support practitioners to enhance their practice. Limitations and recommendations for further research Although 57% of WFOT member organisations returned usable responses, there may be some additional perspectives that were not captured. It would be helpful to contact non-responding organisations to explore their social media use and plans. Further research could examine how future initiatives put in place by WFOT impact social media use by member organisations.

(2012). Excerpts from the Bi-Annual Report January 2010–December 2011. World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin: Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 6-13.

‘Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale. Achieving health equity within a generation is achievable, it is the right thing to do, and now is the right time to do it’ (WHO, 2008) and occ...

WFOT’s operational activities are guided by its Strategic Plan which is review and updated every 6 years. The WFOT Council, which is made up of the Delegates from each of the WFOT member organisations participate in this process as part of the Focus Day at the beginning of the Council meeting. Feedback is gathered about the organisational and programme area priorities and this is then translated into the organisation’s operational plan which is review annually. The following is the WFOT Strategic Plan 2013–2018 which was updated during the 2010 and 2012 Focus Days.

WFOT Council Meeting Focus Day in 2006 focused on long term plans which aim at ensuring that WFOT continues to meet the needs of the member associations and the occupational therapists they represent. Council members reviewed the existing WFOT Strategic Plan, vision and priorities and discussed them in relation to a range of key strategic documents. Results of discussions were collated and compared against the WFOT Strategic Plan 2000–2006. Organizational objectives and priorities within the strategic plan were updated as an outcome of this Focus Day.

The WFOT comprises of 52 member countries each of whom are represented on Council by an elected delegate. There is also an elected Executive Management Team comprising of President, Vice President, Executive Director, Vice President Finance and four Programme Coordinators (PCo’s). In addition there are delegates from a number of non-voting Contributing and Associate Member countries. Full Council Meetings take place every two years and the Executive Team meets every year.

WFOT responded immediately and proactively to the major disaster that occurred in the Indian Ocean region on December 26, 2004. This report notes the actions that WFOT have taken already and recommendations for future actions for occupational therapists locally and internationally for improved preparedness for emergency response. As noted in the Report of the WFOT Response to the Tsunami (www.wfot.org/document_centre/), for the future, priority occupational therapy emergency response needs are for orientation, preparation and understanding of coordination requirements and skills in post traumatic stress management and in particular through meaningful and productive occupation and sustainable livelihood

Date Presented 3/30/2017 This study used a mixed-methods survey to explore World Federation of Occupational Therapists member organizations’ use of social media. It found that although social media tools are well utilized by many organizations, enhancement of technical skills and resources would be beneficial. Primary Author and Speaker: Anita Hamilton Additional Authors and Speakers: Susan Burwash, Karen Jacobs, Merrolee Penman Contributing Authors: Angela Hook, Sarah Bodell, Ritchard Ledgerd, Marilyn Pattison

The theme of this Bulletin issue is on Human Rights and I commend the authors of the articles in this edition. WFOT has a strong commitment to Human Rights evidenced through the establishment of an International Advisory Group (IAG): Human Rights, the development of a Position Paper on Human Rights1 and WFOT’s commitment to embed the principles of Human Rights and Social Justice into the fabric of its documents and publications. In June 2011, WHO released the World Health Report2 which for the first time examined the inequities around disability. The WFOT Position Statement on Human Rights demonstrates the WFOT position in relation to human occupation and participation. WFOT believes that occupational therapists have the knowledge and skills to support persons who experience limitations or barriers to participation in occupation. Occupational therapists also have a role and responsibility to develop and synthesize knowledge to support participation; to identify and raise issues of occupational barriers and injustices; and to work with groups, communities and societies to enhance participation in occupation for all persons. Achieving this is to achieve an occupationally just society. One of the main outcomes from the United Nations Conference Rio+20 (2012)3 was the agreement by member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and converge with the post-2015 development agenda.

The WFOT Bulletin is the international voice of the organisation and its members and the editorial team constantly strive to seek and provide information that is topical, challenging and thought provoking. Over the years the Bulletin has grown from a “newsletter” to a well read and circulated journal that attracts submissions from a broad range of occupational therapists covering a wide range of experience internationally. It gives me great pleasure to be writing this editorial in what is the first publication of the Bulletin by Maney Publishing – an internationally respected publishing house. Maney bring with them the wind of change which I am confident will lead to growth. They have committed to supporting the expansion of the WFOT Bulletin’s status and scope in the online literature with the aim of increasing to 3 issues per year by 2017. I congratulate them and WFOT looks forward to working with them over the coming years. The organisational objectives for WFOT are outlined within its WFOT Strategic Plan (WFOT, 2012) and supported by the current organisational priorities which focus on: 1. WHO and the global health agenda shapes the major focus of the WFOT’s involvement as a NonGovernmental Organization (NGO) with the UN. 2. Education is the core business of the Federation and its most recognised area. 3. Professional promotion and development of the profession in the global arena is an overarching priority that requires strengthened communications with professional constituents, external agencies and organisations and the public.

Although they are healers, physicians are not themselves immune from "secondary stress." In fact, they may be more susceptible to it because they tend not to acknowledge the fact that it exists. In this article, the author, a hospice physician who is a former nurse, explains her personal strategy for combating secondary stress: increased emphasis on maintaining a healthy personal spirituality. Her approach includes morning reflection during her morning fitness activities, making time for family and leisure activities, and, most importantly, incorporating spirituality into her daily work. Bringing her spiritual self to the office and invoking spirituality at the "right" time--not just at set, convenient times--has helped her deal with today's challenges: time pressures, the threat of litigation, reimbursement issues, and misaligned incentives.

The WFOT Executive Management Team (EMT) attended the Interim Executive Management Meeting (IEMM) in Trinidad and Tobago, 23rd to 28th May 2011.The WFOT President Sharon Brintnell, Vice President Anne Carswell, Vice President Finance Samantha Shann, and Programme Coordinators Alfred Ramukumba (Education and Research), Suchada Sakornsatian (International Cooperation), Ritchard Ledgerd (Promotion and Development), Nils Erik Ness (Standards and Quality) and Jenny Pascoe (Executive Assistant) met face to face in Trinidad and Tobago. Executive Director Marilyn Pattison joined the meeting via Skype.