Throughout the month of February we celebrated Recreational Therapy Month internationally, with numerous organisations publicly acknowledging the essential role of Recreational/ Diversional Therapists across aged care and health. It was truly uplifting to see our profession celebrated and recognised across various platforms, enhancing our visibility. A big thank you to NSW Health, Southern Cross Care, and many of our members for helping to promote our profession online.
We also participated in the International Knowledge Exchange throughout Recreational Therapy Month. This has been the first year we aligned both
Recreational Therapy month and the International Knowledge Exchange together. There was well over 100 participants registered for each of the online presentations, with those registered also receiving a recording if they could not attend at the designated time. Emma Preston did a fabulous presentation on First Nations People for ARTA. Thank you to everyone who attended, and you should have also received a certificate of attendance which can count towards your CPD due before the end of June.
We’re thrilled to announce that the Australian Recreational Therapy Conference 2025, themed ‘Recreating the Recreation Revolution,’ will be held virtually on Thursday, 18th, and Friday, 19th September. With our goal to offer affordable professional development that allows broader participation, and allowing for global engagement with attendees and presenters. A call for abstracts has gone out and is also in this newsletter, and we look forward to receiving your submissions for the National Conference by May 15th.
Congratulations to Tracy Beck and her colleagues at Lismore for having another Journal article published based on the highly successful ‘Unconditional
Stories’ study that commenced in 2020. The title of the article is ‘Visual Art and Medical Narratives as Universal Connectors in Health Communication: An exploratory Study’ has been published open access in the current edition of the Journal of Health Communication.
Our ARTA board members continue to advocate externally on behalf of the profession, participating in the National Aged Care Alliance and Allied Health Assistants National Association (AHANA). We’re also working with Western Sydney University (WSU) to develop some strategic goals together.
As a member-based organisation, we are always looking for members to engage with and support our board through communities of practice or in working groups to provide industry feedback. WE NEED YOU TO ASSIST IN DRIVING THE PROFESSION FORWARD. If you are interested in any of our portfolios or communities of practice, please don’t hesitate to contact the office to ask questions or register your interest.
In March, we will begin processing membership renewals. Please ensure your details are up to date on MemNet and you can upload your CPD as you complete it (20 hours per year) or contact the office if you experience any issues with our online portal.
Finally, thank you for your continued patience as we navigate the evolving environments in which our members work. We appreciate all the hard work
from our board members and the office team for their ongoing support.
Renée Smith
ARTA President