The organising committee have yet to hold our final de-briefing session. However, Easter provided an opportunity for me to relax at the beach and reflect personally on this 5th Pacific Rim conference. The theme of this conference was the changing face of paediatrics and how families and professions could participate and adapt to the changes. Several of the keynote speakers provided their insight into the changes and the significance of the hospital play specialist role within child health care teams. However, they also placed challenges before our profession.
The symposium on Family Centred Care facilitated by Chris Brown with a panel that brought the perspective from both a family and professional view and Dr Robin Youngson’s keynote on leadership in healthcare validated the fundamental need for child health services to be within a model of family centred care and the need for families to be a part of the management of healthcare facilities. The value of the parent/ professional interface was evident and highlighted the benefits of Family Advisory Committees. To my knowledge there is no hospital in New Zealand that has such an advisory board
The breakout sessions highlighted that New Zealand hospital play specialists are increasing their confidence and skills in sharing their knowledge and innovations. I feel that there was greater intensity and greater participation across the whole conference on discussions on the future of this profession and future directions in Child Health.
The conference planning committee made a decision to try and maintain conference registration costs close to 2008 costs while maintaining quality in the professional programme. In this year conference evaluations, there were a number of responses that identified that the location of the venue inhibited sightseeing and shopping excursions, and I acknowledge that this was a factor with this location. From my perspective however, this isolation was a contributing factor to the dynamics of this conference and a positive influence. At this conference there was increased networking at breaks and in the evenings and greater participation at all sessions and this added to the dynamics of the conference. I observed that people were increasingly utilising opportunities to strengthen their participation in what is happening within our profession and to critically consider how to effectively strengthen opportunities for professional development and service delivery. The networking and participation by those new to the field was a highlight and one that hopefully will continue. However, I did see the need for networking within regions and between the national tertiary referral and regional services between the bi-annual conferences.
For me, the most noticeable aspect of the 5th International Pacific Rim conference was the commitment to actively be part of the direction of the Hospital Play Specialist profession that strengthened in individuals. Kia Kaha – it was re-vitalising to be with you all and I look forward to visiting some of you within your services. For those who will present in 2012 start networking now – share your practice. Ka kite ano /see you again (in 2012).
- Carol Bolton, Conference Coordinator |
© 2010