Why International Connections & Culture Matter to Me

By Dr. Tam Humbert

There are many things that I love about attending the WFOT Congress, but the most valuable reason for me to attend is to network with other occupational therapy practitioners from around the world. I have been inspired to think about practice from various perspectives and had the opportunity to listen to many authors who I have read and admired. There is a type of synergy that happens between the presenters and the audience and connections that could never be fully realized except in direct conversation with others.

One such example happened this year in Japan. I had the opportunity to hear Daniela Castro, a Chilean OT who is currently studying and writing in Sweden. Her topic of interest is on culture. While I did not have an opportunity to speak to her directly after her presentation, I did bump into her later in the day and I expressed my appreciation for her perspectives. (She posed and challenged a traditional versus a critical perspective of culture within the field). As we were chatting, she looked at my name tag and said “Oh, I referenced your work from the Australian OT Journal in my article”.  I was very surprised and quite flattered. The article she referenced actually came from the presentation that I made at the WFOT Congress in Chile in 2010. Daniela was at that conference as well. Daniela’s work has informed my thinking about culture and will certainly influence my own future research and writing about the topic.