Register your interest in this event NOW.

NZAOT Conference 2010

8-10 September 2010 (Wed – Fri)

Nelson, New Zealand

"Shifting sands: Creating our place"

 Subthemes:

• Practice & changing demographics
• Occupational science
• Addressing and creating change
• Occupational experiences and rights
• Technologies and innovations

The deadline for abstract submissions is 1 March 2010

Keynote Speakers

Frances Rutherford Lecturer 2010 Grace O'Sullivan

Wendy Wood, PhD., OTR, FAOTA

Wendy Wood is Professor and Head of the Department of Occupational Therapy at Colorado State University in the United States. Dr. Wood became an occupational therapist in 1975 upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from Tufts University. She earned a Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy in 1988 and a Ph.D. in Occupational Science in 1995, both from the University of Southern California. Her doctoral work examined relationships among environmental opportunities for occupation and the wellbeing of zoo chimpanzees.

Dr. Wood joined the Division of Occupational Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995, where she studied environmental influences on the occupations and quality of life of people with dementia. From 2005-2008, she was an Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy and Research Associate Professor in Geriatrics at the University of New Mexico, as well as a home health practitioner. Dr. Wood served as Associate Editor of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy from 2004 to 2008. She has authored over 40 articles and chapters in referred publications. In addition to being a passionate advocate of occupational therapy, Dr. Wood enjoys playing her guitar, gardening, biking, hiking, and skiing with family and friends.

Matthew Molineux, PhD

Matthew Molineux, an Associate Professor in the School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy. After working in Brisbane for a short time he moved to the United Kingdom where he worked for 16 years before returning to Australia in early 2009. 

He has worked in occupational therapy education since 1996 and prior to moving to Perth he established the UK’s first Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy academic group.  He completed a Master of Science in occupational therapy at the University of East London and it was around that time that he discovered occupational science.  Since then he has been passionate about encouraging, and sometimes challenging, occupational therapy students and practitioners to engage in occupation-based practice. 

Matthew’s interest in occupation carried over into his Doctor of Philosophy in occupational therapy at The University of Queensland when he gathered oral histories of men living with HIV in the UK and analysed them narratively to explore issues such as occupational identity and an occupational, rather than biomedical, trajectory of living with HIV. 

Matthew has edited Occupation for Occupational Therapists and has numerous book projects in development; Occupational Therapy and Physical Dysfunction: Enabling Occupation (co-editor), Occupational Narratives (editor), Dictionary of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy (editor / author).  He is a member of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists International Advisory Group: Occupational Science.