Summer 2020 (Volume 30, Number 2)

The Arthritis Health Professions Association (AHPA) at the CRA/AHPA Annual Scientific Meeting

By Sue MacQueen, PT, BScPT, ACPAC, Past-President, AHPA

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The 12th annual AHPA pre-course was held on February 26th, 2020, in conjunction with the CRA/AHPA Annual Scientific Meeting in Victoria B.C. With more than 95 participants and eight educational sessions, the day was a great success! Topics such as the cervical spine in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), vasculitis, the impact of arthritis in the workplace, hand therapy in the age of biologics, update on JAK inhibitors, and sports involvement in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) were nicely balanced with a session on yoga for arthritis and information from the Canadian Spondylitis Association. The day was capped off with a fun review of the sessions in the form of “Family Feud.”

During the ASM workshops, we were pleased to have Christopher Hawke present the model of care used in the shoulder and elbow clinic at the University Health Network (UHN); and the team from the Mary Pack Arthritis Program at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) presented a workshop on multidisciplinary care.

At the AHPA Annual General Meeting (AGM) awards ceremony, Cara Kaup received the Clinical Innovation Award for her submission “3 Questions Tool in Pediatric Rheumatology.” The Carolyn Thomas Award was presented to Laura Passalent for her abstract submission “Axial Spondyloarthritis: Knowledge, Screening and Referral Practices Amongst Primary Care Providers.” Sabrina Cavallo was awarded the Barbara Hanes Memorial Award for “Exploring the Vocational Needs of Young People with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and the Provision of Rehabilitation Services in Transition Care.” We were pleased to have Trish Barbato, the new CEO and President of the Arthritis Society, present the Arthritis Society/AHPA Research Grant to Susan Bartlett for her study, “Delphi Survey to Assess Medication Side Effects and Concerns in People with Inflammatory Arthritis.”

At the ASM gala, the AHPA Extraordinary Service Award was presented to Lynn Richards of the Arthritis Society for her work in promoting and advancing the mission of the AHPA. The AHPA Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded posthumously to Barbara Stokes who, over her career, made tremendous contributions in the education of health professionals in the field of rheumatology.

AHPA also approved the new Board of Directors: Anne MacLeod, President; Sue MacQueen, Past-President; Kristin Dillon, Treasurer; Jill Hall, Secretary; Denise Jupp, Communications Chair; Jackie Williams Connolly, Membership Chair; Sameer Chunara, Professional and Career Development Chair; Raquel Sweezie, Research Chair; Angelo Papachristos, Sponsorship and Marketing Chair; Nik Harris, Eastern Member-at-Large; and Paul Adam, Western Member-at-Large.

The AHPA is pleased to collaborate with the CRA and we look forward to the coming year!

Karen Gordon accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award from Sue MacQueen on behalf of Barbara Stokes' family.

Sue MacQueen presenting Lynn Richards with the Extraordinary Service Award.

Sue MacQueen, PT, BScPT, ACPAC
Past-President, AHPA
Waterloo, Ontario