The 6th meeting of the European Spinal Psychologists Association (ESPA) which is scheduled to last two days was opened today Thursday May 7 2015, at 9am at the Vienna Marriott Hotel. The meeting was headed by Professor Paul Kennedy, Chair of ESPA Stoke Mandeville Hospital and the University Of Oxford, UK and organized in cooperation with the Austrian Workers Compensation Board (AUVA).
It is approbated with DFP credits by the Austrian Medical Chamber and education points by the Professional Association of Austrian Psychologists (BÖP).
Dozens of professor, doctors and students from all over around the EU and Western countries attended the meeting, particularly from UK, Norway, Austria, Ireland, France, Spain USA and other countries.
The major theme addressed during the meeting was Fostering Coping and Psychosocial Adjustment Following Spinal Cord Injury. Three work-shops were held after the opening session in which the gathering discussed the subtle processes of coping, Developing a checklist to formulate psychosocial treatment goals in SCI and Managing challenging behaviour.
On Behalf of ESPA, Professor Kennedy thanked the Austrian Workers Compensation Board (AUVA) for their sponsorship of this meeting and he welcomed the attendance.
He said: “We have an interesting and comprehensive scientific and professional programme of speakers, papers and workshops exploring coping and psychosocial adjustment following spinal cord injuries.”
He added: “Peter Magnus and I on behalf of ESPA would like to thank our hosts Professor Wilhelm Strubreither and Amra Causevic (AUVA) for their support with the programme and the organisation of this meeting.”
He thanked Professor Charles Bombardier, Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine from the University of Washington, USA, for accepting our invitation to be our keynote speaker.
He said: “We are delighted that the Anette Johansen-Quale Scholarship Award has been given to Neus Rodriguez Corcoll from the Institute Guttmann in Barcelona, Spain.”
Professor Kennedy pointed that the meeting is being held on a very sad note to the memory of Mrs Linda Hall who was our founding secretary of the Association since 2005. She made a major contribution to the organisation of all of our meetings, including this one.
