The Top 10 Things AOTA Did for You in 2011!
1. Achieved advocacy victories. AOTA advocacy resulted in victories with the Therapy Cap extension, autism insurance reform legislation in several states, and health care reform. The health care reform implementation ad hoc committee works to ensure that occupational therapy is at the table for discussions about the changing health care system.
2. Trained future AOTA leaders in the second Emerging Leaders Development Program (ELDP) and first Leadership Development Program for Middle Managers, which included formal mentoring and leadership training.
3. Encouraged members to be volunteer leaders by applying to the new Coordinated Online Opportunities for Leadership (COOL) program that tailors interests, expertise, and availability. More than 500 members created COOL profiles, which connects AOTA with a wide range of potential volunteers with varying levels of expertise and experience
4. Spread the word of OT to the public by advertising the Occupational Therapy: Living Life To Its Fullest® brand on a New York Times Square billboard with descriptive photos and captions. AOTA also helped facilitate news about occupational therapy that appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, CBS Radio, and many more publications.
5. Got more social with members. Whether we're interacting and conversing with you on Facebook or Twitter, or facilitating conversations about the profession on OT Connections' forums and blogs, AOTA aims to include you in conversations about the profession.
6. Made it easier to be evidence based. We launched the AOTA Evidence Exchange on the Web that provides a central repository for evidence-based literature reviews and related resources. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT) is also available online, including archives that we recently transferred and made digital—you can now view AJOT issues from 1980 to the present.
7. Developed new resources for your practice. AOTA continues to provide you with the resources you need for your practice including 6 new official documents, 8 new practice guidelines, 12 new fact sheets, and 10 "Practice Perks" in OT Practice.
8. Made research a priority. We provided grant opportunities, research resources, and training information to members by monitoring federal agencies. A new section on AOTA's Web site provides information for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships. AOTA was awarded a conference grant to develop an "Accelerating Clinical Trials and Outcomes Research (ACTOR)" Conference.
9. Provided excellent education and networking at the 2011 Annual Conference & Expo, Adult Cognition and Autism West specialty conferences, and Student Conclave to meet the professional development needs of practitioners, educators, researchers, and students.
10. Published high-quality content in textbooks, a practice guideline, continuing education courses, 22 issues of OT Practice, 44 issues of the Quarterly newsletters, 6 issues of AJOT, and 26 issues of the 1-Minute Update, the Scope of Practice Issues Update, State Policy Update, and Federal Issues Update that link research, education, and practice.
Learn more about the many things AOTA did for you in the 2011 Annual Report.
