The 8th Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Conference took place in November, in the beautiful city of Sapporo in Japan. While this was a fantastic opportunity to learn about Occupational Therapy innovations globally and connect with international colleagues, I was delighted to attend the conference on behalf of the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland (AOTI) for a very exciting reason… The launch of a project and international collaboration that has been three years in the making.
In 2019, the AOTI proudly published LGBT+ Awareness and Good Practice Guidelines for Occupational Therapists. The document received very positive feedback from the Occupational Therapy community in Ireland, however in more recent years, it has also received increasing international attention. Several countries have sought to translate the guidelines into their local languages, to help make the guidelines accessible to more Occupational Therapists. We were delighted to support a Greek translation in 2021, assisted by the Panhellenic Association of Ergotherapists. Now, in 2024, we are delighted to support a further translation of the guidelines, this time into Japanese (in association with the Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists).
Given that the Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Conference (APOTC) was taking place in Japan this year, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to launch the newly translated guidelines. Arriving in Sapporo, I finally got to meet the local project team who I have been working closely with over the last three years, over multiple Zoom meetings and back and forth emails. I was delighted to be accompanied on the trip by Jane Freeman, a fellow co-author on the original guidelines.
To celebrate the publication of these translated guidelines, we delivered an interactive workshop on the final day of APOTC entitled “Supporting our LGBT+ Clients: Developing LGBT+ Good Practice Guidelines for Occupational Therapists in Ireland and Japan”. Despite it being scheduled for the last slot on a Friday evening, we were delighted that over fifty Occupational Therapists from a variety of countries and continents joined us to participate in the workshop. The full room and enthusiastic discussions were a testament to the appetite and interest within our profession to learn more about this area, and shows a commitment to provide the best service possible for the LGBT+ people we work with, across all clinical areas.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Japanese colleagues, who have worked tirelessly to translate and adapt these guidelines to make them suitable for the Japanese national context. It has been a pleasure working together with them on this project, and I hope we will have the opportunity for further collaborations. This project also represents a fantastic international collaboration between the Association of Occupational Therapist of Ireland (AOTI) and the Japan Association of Occupational Therapists (JAOT). It was a pleasure to meet members of JAOT while in Sapporo, and my thanks to President Yamamoto for the warm welcome he extended to us.
Finally, my sincere thanks to Odhrán Allen (CEO) and the management team of AOTI. They have shown unwavering support for this project since its inception in 2016, and their continued support enabled my attendance at APOTC.
The life and impact of these guidelines continues to evolve, which is a joy to see. If there are further countries or associations who would be interested in creating a local translation, please do not hesitate to reach out ([email protected])
Niall Kirrane
Niall is Chairperson of the AOTI’s Gender & Sexuality in Occupational Therapy Advisory Group (GSOTAG), and a Co-Author of the AOTI’s LGBT+ Awareness and Good Practice Guidelines for Occupational Therapists (2019) (available here).
Samantha Shan (WFOT President) with members of the Irish and Japanese project group: L-R: Niall Kirrane, Masanao Ikeya, Aiko Hoshino, Takeshi Matsumoto, Risa Takashima, Yosuke Suzuki, Jane Freeman.
Members of the project group, along with JAOT President, Shinichi Yamamoto
