12th IFSHT Congress 2022 London

The ExCel Conference Center in east London offered a locale unfamiliar to most attendees, as this was previously a site of wharfs known as the Docklands. The Thames dockland riverfront was for centuries the hub of British international trade. How appropriate that the IFSSH/IFSHT Triennial Congress, an international gathering of the best in hand surgery and hand therapy, would occupy this same venue.

Congratulations to Christy Fowler and her Local BAHT Organizing Committee members for their efforts in holding a successful hybrid Triennial Congress. Helen Buchanan and Fiona Sandford, Co-Chairs of the Scientific Program Committee, worked together with their Abstract Review Committee members, chaired by Lisa Newington and Donna Kennedy in creating a stimulating and informative programme.

523 therapists registered for the Congress. There were 31 session chairs and in addition to the invited speakers, 121 abstracts for oral presentations were selected from 132 submissions, of which 103 were presented as free papers. Of the 45 poster submissions, 40 were accepted. The programme also included 10 Hand Therapy Workshops; 10 Hand Therapy Free Paper Sessions; 20 Hand Therapy Invited Speaker Sessions and 8 Combined Therapy-Surgery Sessions. Leanne Topcuoglu coordinated the Silent Auction and its evolution into a successful web based bidding system.

Nicola Goldsmith President IFSHT and Peggy Boineau President Elect, had the honor of introducing the 10 new Lifetime Achievement awards recipients. The Lifetime Achievement Award can be granted to any person who excels globally, beyond what is normally expected in the field of hand therapy. Member societies were asked to nominate any individual that in their opinion qualify for such an award.

Lifetime Achievement Awards, London 2022
• Sandra Artzberger, USA
• Jennifer Ball, Australia
• Suzanne Caragianis, Australia
• Sarah Ewald, Switzerland
• Tracy Fairplay, Italy
• Kenneth Flowers, USA
• Paul LaStayo, USA
• Joy MacDermid, Canada
• Helene Parmentier, France
• Birgitta Rosen, Sweden

Cristina Alegri Innovation Award, London 2022
• Hayley Fay, UK was awarded the Cristina Alegri Award during the Congress in London. This award recognizes a therapist who has made an innovative contribution to the practice of hand therapy A blinded international evaluation committee selected Hayley’s innovative work on the development of a hand therapy prescription app for this distinguished award.