By Shree Thaker, Director of Communications & Partnerships
Amputee Coalition Director of Communications & Partnerships, Shree Thaker, and Chief Strategy & Programs Officer, Ashlie White; Powers Law Managing Partner, Peter Thomas; Hanger Clinic Area Clinic Business Manager, Maggie Baumer; and Powers Law Principal, Leela Baggett.
The American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists hosted their 50th Annual Meeting and Scientific Symposium at the beginning of March in Chicago. Tagged on social media as #AAOP24, there were many incredible sessions and networking opportunities geared towards students, residents, clinicians, researchers, advocates, and professionals serving the limb loss and limb difference community. This year, five Amputee Coalition staff members attended, with the goal to connect with partners, educate both clinicians and researchers about new resources available for their patients, and learn from panelists. We hosted a table in the exhibit hall with samples of several materials from the National Limb Loss Resource Center and met with many fellow exhibitors and attendees throughout the week-long conference.
Popular discussion topics at our table included our newest resources published last year: Hip Disarticulation/ Hemipelvectomy Amputation Guide and the Sex & Intimacy Guide. Both are available to order via the storefront, in addition to all other material offerings. We soft-launched the new Prosthetist Orthotist Finder at our table inviting clinicians to create their profiles and provide their feedback. The tool has been updated, migrated, and redeveloped onto the Community Connections platform, providing an improved user experience with more search criteria than ever before for people who have limb loss and/or limb difference to locate a clinician based on their needs and goals. Clinicians, if you have not already, we request you to create your profile and beta test the new features throughout the month of April. Site visitors can now create events based on location zip code and activity type within the Community Connections platform as well. New events will be approved by an admin after submission and automatically archived after the event date. Check out Community Connections and let us know your thoughts at nllrc.amputee-coalition.org.
The sessions themselves included a variety of topics including ‘So Every BODY Can Move’*, ‘Understanding Health Equity’, ‘Pregnancy Considerations for the O&P Community’*, ‘The Road to Running’, ‘Racial Bias in Orthotics and Prosthetics’, ‘Skin Assessment on Darker Skin Tones in Orthotics and Prosthetics’, and that only skims the full offerings from the first day. The sessions marked with an asterisk were at capacity with many attendees standing or even sitting on the floor as the topics were of high interest. That first evening we attended the So Every BODY Can Move mixer, which was a fantastic networking opportunity with leads from many states as well as students, residents, and professionals from across the profession who are interested in getting involved with grassroots advocacy and legislative efforts – if you are interested in our next cohort of the Lead Advocate Certification Training, contact advocacy@amputee-coalition.org.
On Friday, our External Evaluator, Dr. Graci Finco, presented her research on ‘Preferred Terminology of People with Limb Difference Compared to Healthcare and Research Professionals’ in a panel format. One of the final sessions of the day was ‘Global Collaboration in Development, Delivery, and Education in Prosthetics and Orthotics’ and on Saturday, our Chief Strategy & Programs Officer, Ashlie White, presented on a panel on ‘Mental Health Post Amputation’ alongside Dr. Veronika Hanko of Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, and John T. Brinkmann of Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center.
We enjoyed the opportunity to attend, exhibit, and connect with colleagues and will be covering in-depth session recaps in the May/June inMotion publication. Congratulations once more to the Academy for 50 years!