2024 has been a very busy year for EOA!
- We had a new website built which is now multi-lingual and full of news and details of our members and we are now publishing a newsletter twice a year to keep our members up-to-date with all things that the Executive Committee are up to and feeding back important information that is relevant to our membership.
- On behalf of EOA, Maria Hass has was interviewed by a student of the Maastricht University for her Master’s thesis ‘Understanding participation and empowerment of Patient Organisations in European Healthcare: A qualitative interview study.
- In May, Caroline Bramwell stood in for Jon Thorkelsson as the guest speaker at the ECET conference (European Council of Enterostomal Therapy) in London. This event was held jointly with the European Wound Management Association Annual Conference, offering two full days of high level scientific and clinical sessions and workshops, networking activities as well as an excellent opportunity for the industry professionals to exchange knowledge and experiences with international colleagues. The presentation given by Caroline covered the work undertaken by EOA and its Executive Committee members and appealed for support from industry to help us achieve our endeavours.
- At the end of September, Jon Thorkelsson attended the ASCN/WCET conference in Glasgow, giving a talk on stage about the work of the EOA. This was a great opportunity to meet with Richard McNair of IOA and other organisations.
- Plans are now underway with Norilco, Norway, for the EOA Conference in May 2025 which is planned to take place in Bergen. There will be a full programme of important topics including:
– Masters in nursing: why is this important for a patient?
– Physical activity an hernia
– Follow-up of leaks in stoma
– Package progress home
– Pre-habilitation before stoma operations - Through our network, and sitting on the European Disability Forum,European organisations were invited to sign an open letter to the European Commissioner for Equality to update the EU Disability Rights strategy, which was launched in 2021 and runs until 2030. It has guided the Commission to important achievements such as the European Disability Card law, but there were only detailed actions until the end of this year.
- In October the Executive Committee of EOA held their annual meeting alongside a conference in Nairobi, Kenya, bringing together 10 African countries to share information about the activities they are carrying out in their country. There had never before been an African EOA conference and this event was highly celebrated and plans are now underway for the formation of a new African-wide association under the name of African OstomyAssociation. The energy and enthusiasm from all participants is moving this along very quickly. The news of the conference was very high profile in Africa and was featured on prime-time television.
- The Executive Committee are now focussed on the planning, management and promotion of the World Ostomy Award, which will be held through 2025 and the winners announced on World Ostomy Day.
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