An inaugural lecture and discussion, and part of the 3rd annual Reddihough Symposium

Synopsis

Creating a preferred future implies vision, thoughtfulness and actions. It requires knowledge and skills that are developed over time. To craft a future for ourselves or to contribute to the crafting of another’s future, means we need to think and act creatively and thoughtfully.  In the context of our work, it means we need to ask ourselves: What is my role as a health professional, in the crafting or creating of a preferred future for those living with disability?  In this presentation, I will consider how participation-focused research provides a lens for considering how our work contributes to supporting young people and their families to live a good life: that is, one that contains happiness, good health and longevity and positive development towards a preferred future.

Speaker

Professor Christine Imms is the newly appointed Apex Australia Foundation Chair of Neurodevelopment and Disability. The Apex Chair is a joint initiative of the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne, The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation and Apex Australia Foundation. Christine is an occupational therapist with 17 years of clinical and 20 years of academic experience. Her research foci are (i) effectiveness of occupational therapy and allied interventions particularly in the field of child-onset disability; (ii) development and testing of valid, reliable outcome measures pertinent to childhood disability; (iii) longitudinal follow-up of participation, health and well-being outcomes for children and families; and (iv) conceptual work about ‘participation’ that resulted in the publication of the family of Participation Related Constructs.