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AOTA INSPIRE 2025 Annual Conference & Expo
Philadelphia, Pa. | April 3-5, 2025

Join us in celebrating our 60th anniversary!

Join us in Philadelphia, April 3-5, 2025, and experience a transformative event that will empower you to:

  • Be inspired by diverse sessions on the latest practice trends, research, and best practices.
  • Connect and inspire each other through exclusive networking opportunities with thousands of practitioners, educators, and thought leaders.
  • Immerse yourself in the vibrant OT community and enjoy Philadelphia as the perfect backdrop for this must-attend event.

Foundation Friday, April 4, 2024 

Breakfast with a Scholar

7:00 – 9:00 am ET 
Philadelphia Marriot Downtown

A Journey Through Anxiety
David Anthony Rooney

Unprecedented exposure to the world around us is taking a toll on our mental health. Health polls indicate that U.S. adults are experiencing increasing anxiety, with young adults showing even higher trends. Drawing from his own 30-year journey, David will emphasize the importance of recognizing anxiety as a multifaceted experience that includes both emotional and physical dimensions.

He will teach us how to implement various self-protective mechanisms that can help people of all ages and backgrounds understand, mitigate, overcome, and manage anxiety. By providing a firsthand account, David aims to demystify anxiety, foster understanding and empathy, and pave the way for practical strategies to control its overwhelming effects.

The goal is to impart hope and illuminate the possibility of breaking free from the mental prison of anxiety, offering a roadmap to a life characterized by resilience, empowerment, and lasting calm. Acting as a guide and companion on the journey to mental well-being, David will inspire positive change in the lives of those dealing with anxiety or caring for others who do. Through authentic storytelling, validation, practical insights, and community building, he hopes to be a catalyst for healing and support.

Speaker Bio:

David RooneyDavid Anthony Rooney is an Emmy-winning filmmaker and Guinness world record-breaking musician from Dublin, Ireland. He has spent the last decade captivating audiences with his residency at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. His documentary, "An Irish Story: This Is My Home," explores the American Dream from an Irish immigrant perspective and has millions of views on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV. He performed 60 shows in all 50 U.S. states in 40 days. Voted Best Irish Singer/Songwriter of the Year, he won an EMMY for outstanding achievement in a documentary and the Beloit International Film Festival's People's Choice Award.  

Beyond music and film, Rooney advocates for mental health and authored "Journey Through Anxiety," detailing his 30-year struggle with anxiety. Known for his honest and humorous approach, he is a respected musician, speaker, and author who regularly conducts talks on mental health and resilience and co-authored the TAP (Teen Anxiety Program), an evidence-based school curriculum utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy principles. 

In-person: $75- Add to your full AOTA conference registration 
Book available onsite - $tbd

State of the Science

3:00 – 5:30 pm ET 
Philadelphia Marriot Downtown

Long Covid

In-person: $60 - Add to your full AOTA conference registration
(Student in-person: $30)

Research Excellence Symposium

12:30 – 2:00 pm ET 

AOTF promotes and celebrates research excellence at various career stages with the vision of having a vibrant science that builds knowledge to support effective, evidence-based occupational therapy.  Hear from our 2025 Early- and Mid-Career Research Excellence Awardees along with our first Lifetime Achievement Awardee on their career journey and latest research. 
Included with your AOTA Inspire main registration.

Academy of Research Symposium

4:00 – 6:00 pm ET 

Hear from our newly inducted and current Academy of Research members on their career journey and latest research. Established in 1983, the AOTF Academy of Research in Occupational Therapy recognizes individuals who have made exemplary, distinguished, and sustained contributions toward the science of occupational therapy. Additionally, AOTF Early and Mid-Career Awards recognize and support investigators who are contributing and have promise to advance knowledge in the field of occupational therapy. 
Included with your AOTA Inspire main registration.

Plus, don't miss...

  • Awards & Recognitions Ceremony
  • STRIDE OT Research Fund Posters
  • Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture: Precision Occupational Therapy Through Data Driven Decision Making, Roseann Schaaf, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, AOTF Academy of Research Member
  • Visit our AOTF Booth:
    • View display of 2025 Grant and Scholarship recipients, St. Catherine Challenge Results and Award recipients
    • Relax in our Donor Lounge 
    • Pick up free AOTF swag
    • Celebrate our 60th Anniversary
    • And more!

Thank You Sponsors

Contact Lawrence Liff, development@aotf.org for AOTF sponsorship opportunities. 

Cancellation/Refund/Transfer Policies 

AOTF Conference Archives:

Research Excellence Symposium Archived Recordings

Helene Ross
/ Categories: AOTF Annual Conference

Qualitative Research Exchange

1997-2008

  • 2008 New frontiers in qualitative research.  Moderator: Cathy Lysack, PhD, OT(C). Speakers: Donald Fogelberg, PhD candidate, OT/L, (Exploring pressure ulcer risk through complex systems theory and the concept of habit); Jessica M. Kramer, PhD candidate, OTR/L, (A picture is worth a thousand words: empowering individuals with development/intellectual disabilities to access research production using visual strategies); Debbie Laliberte Rudman, PhD, OT Reg (Not), (Why deconstruct? Considering the potential contribution of critical discourse analysis to occupational science).

  • 2007 Emergence in a structured world.  Moderator: Virginia Dickie, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA. Speakers: Ruth Humphry, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, (Balancing: informed consent and the "I never anticipated" research process); Melissa Park, PhD, OTR/L, (Narrative trouble and ethical dilemmas: "Tussling" and "a kiss" in an ethnography of a pediatric occupational therapy practice); Melinda Suto, PhD, OTR, OT(C), (Working with ethical issues that arise during fieldwork); Jennifer Womack, MS, OTR/L, SCDCM, (Dynamics of community access and participant status in an ethnographic project).

  • 2006 The contributions of qualitative research to evidence-based practice.  Moderator: Virginia Dickie, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA. Speakers: Gary Bedell, PhD, OTR, (Appraising research evidence to inform intervention decisions: A heterarchical perspective); Janice Burke, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, (How therapists collect evidence during the assessment experience); Ellen Cohn, ScD, OTR, (How we use qualitative research evidence to inform our practice); Kathleen Lyons, ScD, OTR/L, (Using qualitative research to design and modify interventions for persons with cancer).

  • 2005 Experiences with mixed methods. Moderator: Virginia Dickie, PhD, OTR/L. Presenters: Loree Primeau, PhD, OTR, (The Community-Based Health Improvement Project); Grace T. Baranek, PhD, OTR/L and Virginia Dickie, PhD, OTR/L, (Managing mixed method madness: examples from the Sensory Experiences Project); Valerie Howells, PhD, OTR, (Making Art: examining the effects of participation in a community arts studio).

  • 2004 Reflections and emerging issues. Moderator: Betty R. Hasselkus, PhD, OTR, FAOTA. Panelists: Ellen S. Cohn, ScD, OTR, FAOTA, Virginia A. Dickie, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, Mary C. Lawlor, ScD, OTR, FAOTA, Kathleen Lyons, ScD, OTR/L, Ann Neville-Jan, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, Loree Primeau, PhD, OTR, Susan L. Spitzer, PhD, OTR, Elizabeth Townsend, PhD, OT(C), FCAOT.

  • 2003 New directions and new challenges in qualitative research. Peggy Neufeld, PhD, OTR/L, Tove Borg, Ann Neville-Jan, PhD, OTR, FAOTA.

  • 2002 Narrative in qualitative research. Elizabeth B. Crepeau, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, Diana M. Bailey, EdD, OTR, FAOTA, Toby B. Hamilton, PhD, OTR/L, Jeanne M. Jackson, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, Judith D. Ward, PhD, OTR.

  • 2001 The theory questions. Elizabeth Crepeau, PhD, FAOTA, (Theory and the interpretative process in qualitative research); Mary Lawlor, ScD, FAOTA, (Theory and the interpretative process in qualitative research); Jean Spencer, PhD,FAOTA, (Alternative theories in studying adaptation to hand injury); Cheryl Mattingly, PhD, (Odd theory).

  • 2000 Narrative: Whose story is it? How should it be written? Moderator: Susan A. Esdaile, PhD, OTR, SROT. Panelists: Betty Hasselkus, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, Sue Rosa, MA, OTR, Ellen Cohn, MS, OTR, Cathy Lysack, PhD.

  • 1999 Moderator: Susan Esdaile, PhD, OTR. Presenters: Colette H. Duggan, PhD, Ruth A. Hansen, PhD, FAOTA, Bonnie L. Kennedy, PhD, OTR, Wendy Wood, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA

  • 1998 Methodology issues in qualitative research: A focus on aging. Moderator: Susan A. Esdaile, PhD, OTR, SROT. Panelists: Mark Luborsky, PhD, Deborah R. Mandel, MA, OTR, Lena Borell, PhD, Virginia A. Dickie, PhD, OTR, FAOTA.

  • 1997 The meaning of family occupations. Moderator: Susan A. Esdaile, PhD, SROT. Janice P. Burke, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Elizabeth Francis-Connolly, MS, OTR, Judith A. Olson, MS, OTR, Elizabeth Larson, PhD, OTR, Mary Lawlor, ScD, OTR, FAOTA.
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