Message from chairperson
Focusing on the Mechanism of Things
—As a Clue to Solving Problems in Occupational Therapy—
Nowadays, matters of public concern include the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a new way of
life
coexisting with
COVID-19, the impacts of successive natural disasters, the continuing political turmoil, and skyrocketing
prices, all of
which have made us feel tense and exhausted. To make matters worse, these situations do not seem to
improve in a short
period of time. The occupational therapy industry has also suffered heavily from restrictions due to the
coronavirus
pandemic in its clinical sites and educational settings. Some of our Congresses had to be held online
using ICT. By now,
most of you may have realized that many conferences and training sessions are being held remotely.
We take interest in matters not only because they are interesting, but also because we
perceive that
they
might
influence our daily lives. We feel that an environmental change that relates to ourselves is more
important than a
change that we do not have direct relation to, considering the former change an issue to be addressed
immediately.
Although such a judgement may seem quite selfish, that is definitely a reasonable judgment in terms of
maintaining our
individual lives. We must place the greatest importance on our own survival. We need to protect ourselves
first in order
to take care of others. Subjective experiences play the key role in deciding human behavior. By being
conscious of such
“mechanisms to live,” we can understand the behavior of others. Everything has its own mechanism.
Unfortunately, though,
not all mechanisms have been solved yet. Moreover, there are situations where a mechanism is understood
but you don't
know about it. When you notice a mechanism that you didn't know about before, you may find a
countermeasure. If you
don't know about the mechanism, you may end up continuing a trial-and-error cycle forever, or you may feel
uneasy and
become unable to take rational actions.
At the upcoming Congress, we would like to provide an opportunity that can help solve problems
in
practicing
occupational therapy by focusing on such mechanisms of things. We hope you will perform occupational
therapy by taking
into account not only people's characteristics and activities, but also their living environment
(including tools and
equipment, theories and systems) as things with mechanisms.
Based on the above ideas, the theme of this Congress has been decided as “Focusing on the
Mechanism
of
Things—As a Clue
to Solving Problems in Occupational Therapy—.” Focusing on the “mechanism of things” as far as possible,
we plan to
offer keynote lectures, educational lectures, symposiums, and various seminars to promote occupational
therapy and
provide a place for our members to study. Most of all, I expect that many of the general presentations
(oral and poster
presentations) will also include the theme of “mechanisms.” I sincerely hope that the Congress will be a
place for
awareness.
The Japanese Occupational Therapy Congress had been held in September for a long time.
However, this
57th
Conference
will be the first to be held in November. This is an attempt to reduce the risks associated with the
participation of
members due to possible torrential rains and typhoons. Through this effort, we aim to minimize the impact
of the
environment. Actually, this initiative has been enabled by the Japanese Association of Occupational
Therapists, which
focused on a known mechanism whereby typhoons are more likely to occur around summer, and formulated a
countermeasure to
reduce its problematic effects.
- The 57th Japanese Occupational Therapy
Congress & Expo in Okinawa 2023
ChairpersonToru Nagao
（Department of Rehabilitation Science
Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences ） 