Occupational Therapy Day was first launched on 27th October 2010. Since then, it has become an important date in the occupational therapy calendar to promote and celebrate the profession internationally.
What is World Occupational Therapy Day?
The World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) is the international voice of the occupational therapy profession which globally comprises of 111 national occupational therapy professional organisations. World Occupational Therapy Day is the opportunity to heighten the visibility of the profession’s development work and to promote the activities of WFOT locally, nationally, and internationally.
When is it? Annually on October 27th
The aim is that the WFOT World Occupational Therapy Day will be integrated with other national celebrations and promotions of the mission and goals of occupational therapy. Many countries hold occupational therapy week or month in October. If this does not fit with your country or time frame then individual events can be scheduled to suit any local time frames. This will help to increase the awareness of occupational therapists and society of the truly global impact of occupational therapy.
There are many ways to promote and celebrate World Occupational Therapy Day 2024. The theme for this year is “Occupational Therapy for All". The theme reflects the important role of the profession to facilitate the ability of individuals, communities and populations to participate in the activities that they want, need or are expected to do in their daily lives.
The World Occupational Therapy Day theme and logo is available in multiple languages.
The WFOT will also be providing a range of other resources that you can utilise to help promote the event. Many of these items will be designed exclusively for World Occupational Therapy Day 2024 and will be available to download from the WFOT website Resources. These resources will include:
- Guide to World Occupational Therapy Day 2024 – A useful resource to help you plan and organise the event together with links to exclusive promotional offers.
- Media Packs with official logo, artwork for Facebook and Twitter and banner advertisements, available in different languages free for you to download and use.
- Join the Occupational Therapy International Online Network (OTION) and network with people around the world to share news and ideas about World Occupational Therapy Day.
WFOT is partnering with https://www.bu.edu/promotingot/ to support Occupational Therapy Global Day of Service (OTGDS).
The Occupational Therapy Global Day of Service (OTGDS) will take place on Tuesday 27th October 2024.
Who can participate? Occupational therapy practitioners and students who would like to volunteer community service to an individual or organisation.
Who will benefit? Everyone who receives volunteered community service benefits by the generosity of the participating occupational therapy practitioners and students. This is also a unique opportunity to unite the global occupational therapy community and share experiences with occupational therapy practitioners and students around the world.
How can I help? Service is not always about direct action—it can be providing free professional, creative and organisational services which can have an equally profound effect on the programs and causes that need your help. Basically, when you engage in an unpaid activity intended to benefit others, that is service.
What kinds of things can I do? A list of examples can be found via this link.
Where do I register?
Follow this link to the registration page.
Where do I complete the post-event survey? After completing your service, follow this link to tell us about it.