‘Challenge accepted’ was the motto of this year's occupational therapy congress organised by the German Occupational Therapy Association (DVE) in Würzburg, which was characterised by a diverse selection of current topics and a consistently positive atmosphere.
In mid-May 2025, the Congress Centre in Würzburg opened its doors to occupational therapists from all over Germany and beyond. Three days characterised by constructive lectures and workshops on complex topics such as environmental sensitivity in everyday occupational therapy work, humanity in occupational therapy, planetary health or mental illnesses of young people as well as forward-looking findings from current research, which are stored in detail in the DVE's new EBP database. Last but not least, the informal exchange between experts, practising and prospective occupational therapists provided a special setting.
Occupational therapy is a profession in the health, education and social sectors that aims to empower people in all their diversity to exercise their right to meaningful activity, to shape their everyday lives in a self-determined way and to participate in society.
The new definition, which was only published in April 2025 by a DVE project group, replaces the 2007 version and is intended to reflect contemporary occupational therapy practice and serve as a guide for the future. The expanded version also explicitly refers to the pursuit of a more evidence-based orientation, which is intended to contribute to quality assurance in therapeutic work.OTH Regensburg will be presenting its part-time study programme at the Occupational Therapy Congress in Würzburg - and is hitting a nerve in the occupational therapy community with its evidence-based approach.
Evidence-based practice as a central topic in patient care
With the extra-occupational Bachelor's degree course in Evidence Based Practice Occupational Therapy (B.Sc.), OTH Regensburg aims to take this objective into account and offer trained occupational therapists the opportunity to further develop their scientific skills and optimise their therapeutic practice on the basis of current research findings. In this way, the quality of care for clients can be ensured, the shortage of skilled workers counteracted and the future viability of the profession guaranteed.
The head of the degree programme, Prof. Dr Dorothea Thieme, and the programme coordinator Anne Rosenberger took part in the Würzburg congress with an information stand to present the degree programme and to network with (prospective) occupational therapists. ‘With our offer, we want to contribute to academisation and promote professional development in the field of occupational therapy,’ says Prof. Dr Thieme.
During the three days of the congress, it became clear that interest in (part-time) degree programmes is high and demand is far from being met. "Training in the healthcare professions has been taking place internationally at Bachelor's level for some time now. Many occupational therapists in Germany are aware of this and would now like to continue their education accordingly. Now it's up to the universities," emphasises Prof. Dr Thieme.
Interested parties can find out more about the degree programme in July
On 3 July 2025 at 5 p.m., an information event on the part-time Bachelor's degree course in Evidence Based Practice Occupational Therapy (B.Sc.) will take place on the OTH Regensburg campus. Occupational therapists will have the opportunity to find out more about the course content and talk to those responsible for the programme.
Applications are possible until 30 July 2025 - even without an A-level. The programme starts in the winter semester 2025/26.
Further information is available at https://www.oth-regensburg.de/weiterbilden
The contact person for all organisational questions relating to the course is the course coordinator Anne Rosenberger, e-mail: bb-ebp(at)oth-regensburg.de.
