Annual AOTI Conference
The AOTI Annual Conference 2025 took place at the Mullingar Park Hotel on the 3rd and 4th of October, bringing together two dynamic days of shared learning, inspiration, and connection. It was a truly memorable event for our Occupational Therapy community, with delegates, presenters, and guests alike offering overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Professor Priscilla Harries’ inspiring talk, “Building Your Occupational Therapy Career: Expertise Development, Visibility, Collaboration, and Mentorship,” set the tone for a truly enriching conference. She offered invaluable insights into navigating and advancing a clinical career, highlighting the vital role of collaboration and mentorship within the profession.
One of the key highlights of the Conference was the official launch of the new AOTI Member Resources Hub. This dedicated area of the AOTI website has been developed to support therapists in both their professional development and everyday practice, providing access to a wide range of resources including CPD opportunities, guidance documents, case studies, e-learning materials, and research links.
Award Winners
Dearbhla O’Reilly received the Eva Duggan Award 2025 at the AOTI Conference for her innovative project — a Child-Directed Video Resource to Support Self-Regulation. The Self-Regulation Video Project is designed to help primary school pupils in Ireland understand and manage their regulation in an engaging, accessible, and child-friendly way. Its goal is to promote participation in learning, play, and daily routines.
Building on an existing prototype, the project is now being developed into a professional, child-directed video resource. It will feature engaging visuals, child-friendly storytelling, and neuro-affirming language. Narrated by Irish primary school pupils, the video is being designed for universal use across schools and homes. Reflecting the Irish school context, it aims to provide a sustainable resource that extends beyond one-to-one therapy https://ow.ly/mixJ50X7Mho
The Ann Beckett Award 2025 was presented to Catherine Daly for her remarkable project Yellow Days – a poetry group and published collection created by the Harbour Poets. This year’s award held special significance as it marked the 21st anniversary of the Ann Beckett Award, which celebrates excellence and innovation in Occupational Therapy in Ireland.
Catherine, known for her trademark energy and enthusiasm, drew inspiration from her own experiences of writing and performing poetry. What began as a conversation about creativity and brain health evolved into a funded programme in collaboration with published poet Grace Wilentz. Together, they supported clients with memory impairment to write poetry, fostering a nurturing environment where participants could explore brain health, enhance executive function, and build friendships through meaningful occupation.
Within this reflective and supportive space, participants wrote and shared their own poems, expressing the full spectrum of human emotion and discovering new perspectives on themselves and their lives. The project beautifully embodies the core values of collaboration, inclusion, and empowerment that lie at the heart of Occupational Therapy.
Yellow Days was a collaborative initiative between the Memory Service at Clonskeagh Hospital and the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Arts Office. A copy of the Yellow Days poetry collection can be downloaded here.
The Ann Beckett Award is kindly supported by O’Neill Healthcare.
Occupational Therapy Week
#OTWeek was celebrated by the occupational therapy community across Ireland with the #OTInAction campaign
One highlight was this article discussing the work of occupational therapists helping breast cancer survivors to return to work. Professor Deirdre Connolly outlines the CanWork programme and the potential benefits for women who have been through cancer treatment which was published on the RTE news website.