29 April 2011
Global experts gather in Dundee for rehabilitation & participation conference
Experts in health and social sciences from across Europe and the USA will gather in Dundee next week for a major conference exploring the latest developments in rehabilitation and participation research and practice.
Healthcare across the developed world is seeing a general shift in how rehabilitation and renewed participation in society is delivered to recovering patients.
The conference will look at how this shift has occurred, how more community-based practices can be best adopted, and how the research that underpins delivery should be focused.
The conference is being co-hosted by the Social Dimensions of Health Institute (a collaboration between the Universities of Dundee and St Andrews), NHS Tayside, the Alliance for Self Care, and the School of Nursing & Midwifery at the University of Dundee.
'Patients recovering from accidents, strokes, cancers and other long-term conditions traditionally received a lot of rehabilitation in hospitals and the emphasis was firmly on the medical treatment of the condition,' said Dr Thilo Kroll, of the University of Dundee.
'What we continue to see is a general shift towards more treatment through outpatient facilities and in the community. That is being driven by a number of factors, from cost of delivery to patient demand to increased communication and information provision enabled by the internet.
'We are looking at the whole area of how people receive rehabilitation services and follow-on services designed to get them back participating in their everyday lives.
'It is not just about the physical rehabilitation and the view of the clinician. We are looking at this also from the vantage point of the individual in the community, what works best for them and what they are wanting from healthcare and social services.'
Dr Jacqui Morris, Allied Health Professions Research Lead in NHS Tayside, who is also a research fellow at the University of Dundee, said, 'As a clinical academic, I was keen that a key purpose of this conference should be to build bridges and generate dialogue between clinicians, academics and service users. I am very pleased that the programme represents all of these groups. This should generate exciting new ideas with important implications for the lives of people living with long-term conditions.'
Around 85 delegates are expected in Dundee for the conference, which takes place on May 4th and 5th at the Hilton Hotel in Dundee.
The welcome address to the conference will be given by Mr Sandy Watson, Chairman of NHS Tayside. Mr Watson said, 'The joint planning dimension of this conference gives me a great deal of personal pleasure, because we in NHS Tayside are fully committed to working with our university partners to build on our common approach to excellence in the tripartite mission of research, education and, above all, patient care.'
On the evening of the 4th May Lord Provost of Dundee Mr John Letford will host a civic reception for delegates at Discovery Point before a dinner and ceilidh at the Hilton Hotel.
Keynote speakers at the conference include:
- Professor Dave Gray, Professor of Occupational Therapy and Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA
- Professor Jerome Bickenbach, Department of Health Sciences & Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Switzerland
- Dr. Annalu Waller, School of Computing at the University of Dundee, Scotland
- Olivia Giles OBE, founder of '500 miles' charity, Scotland
- Professor Vikki Entwistle, Social Dimensions of Health Institute, Scotland
- Dr. Jacqui Lunday, Chief Health Professions Officer, Scottish Government, Scotland
- Professor Koen Putman, Interuniversity Centre for Health Economics Research, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
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