NEWS RELEASE
March 22, 2005

Contact: Laurie Jake, ATRA Communications Coordinator Phone (480) 460-1525 or Ann D Huston MPA, CTRS, ATRA Executive Director
Phone: (703) 683-9420

(Alexandria, VA) ATRA Communications Coordinator Laurie Jake brought the concerns of recreational therapists to key stakeholders attending the spring meeting of the Health Professions Network (HPN), held March 3–6 at the beautiful Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina in San Diego, CA.

The Health Professions Network (HPN) is a gathering of health care provider organizations, educators, accreditors and administrators all concerned with exploring current issues and advancing allied health professions. This organization was established as an interactive, cooperative group where the needs of allied health in general are put before the needs of any individual organization. HPN convenes twice annually to discuss issues essential to the allied health community, which represents over 60 percent of the entire U.S. health care workforce that deliver health care in the country.

The meeting attendees heard presentations from various public and private sector groups working to solve a variety of issues in allied health. Keynote speaker for the conference was Bram Briggance, Ph.D., from the University of California at San Francisco Center for the Health Professions, who presented information about the shortage of health care workers. Additional speakers included: Debra J. Stock, Vice President, Member Relations from the American Hospital Association, leading a discussion regarding workforce shortages; Donna B. Yurdin, AVP, Organizational Effectiveness from the Hospital Corporation of America, leading a discussion about funding priorities; and Mary Anne Kelly, Vice President of the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, who presented a video titled, "The Other Side of the Stethoscope” and shared information about the highly successful program. In spring, 2004, the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council partnered with the Chicago Workforce Board, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Math and Science Initiative, the Chicago Tribune and others to create a healthcare career awareness program for 7th grade students. "The Other Side of the Stethoscope" was an intensive "8-week blitz" of information targeted to students and their parents. Ms Kelly described the program design, implementation, results and plans for sustainability.

In addition to the invited speakers, much of the meeting was devoted to a strategic planning session to identify issues affecting allied health organizations. Although the attendees represented a wide range of Allied Health professions, key issues that were identified by the various organizations included Workforce development to address current and future workforce shortage issues, student recruitment, legislation and recognition of the individual professions, as well as Allied Health as a whole, and securing funding for education and research. The need for consistent and accurate data about allied health professions was identified as a top priority, since allied health is under-recognized by federal and state policy makers who determine the allocation of financial resources for the development of the allied health workforce. To address this issue, HPN has organized a data committee. Another identified top priority is to lobby for increased federal funding of allied health grants and initiatives. Other important areas were to develop more of a presence with federal agencies to assimilate best practice models addressing faculty shortages and to increase the number of organizations that actively participate in HPN.

Jake summed up the importance of the meeting stating, “This was a tremendous opportunity for ATRA to ensure that recreational therapists are included in the important discussions affecting Allied Health. I was extremely proud to represent ATRA and offer our input into the many discussions held during the meeting.”

For more information about recreational therapy or any of ATRA’s resources and opportunities, please contact the ATRA National Office at (703) 683-9420.

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The American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) was founded in 1984 to advance the profession of therapeutic recreation. ATRA is a non-profit, professional membership organization dedicating 100% of resources and efforts to promote therapeutic recreation professionals in health care and human service settings. For more information, please contact the ATRA National Office http://www.atra-tr.org/