Pre-conference workshops 

Thursday 28 August, 1.00pm - 5.00pm 

AI in Action: Practical Skills for Hand Therapists

Jess Francis, Occupational Therapist and Director of The Training Club

Cost: $350
Limited to 30 participants
Minimum of 15 participants required for this workshop to run

Curious about AI but not sure where to start? This beginner-friendly practical, hands-on workshop is designed specifically for busy hand therapists who want to explore how artificial intelligence can enhance everyday clinical practice. We’ll cover the foundations of AI, ethical considerations, and how to craft effective prompts to get the most out of AI tools. Through live demonstrations, real-world use cases, and guided activities, you’ll build confidence using AI for documentation, clinical education, and professional tasks. You’ll also get a glimpse into where AI is headed in allied health, and walk away with a simple, personalised action plan to start using AI immediately and safely in your own practice.

Outline:

  1. Foundations of AI. Understand what AI is (and isn’t), explore key risks and ethical considerations, and learn practical strategies for safe and responsible use in allied health.
  2. Crafting great prompts. Learn what prompts are, why they matter, and how to structure them to get useful, relevant outputs from AI tools.
  3. AI tools overview and demonstrations. Get familiar with commonly used AI tools through live demonstrations tailored to allied health practice.
  4. Use case exploration and hands-on practice. Apply your learning through guided examples and interactive tasks designed around real-world clinical scenarios.
  5. Future of AI in allied health. A brief look ahead at emerging trends and innovations that may shape the future of your work.
  6. Create your AI action plan. Develop a simple, practical plan for integrating AI into your daily work immediately, supported by peer discussion and shared reflection.

Jess Francis, Occupational Therapist and Director of The Training Club

Jess Francis is an occupational therapist and the Director of The Training Club. She helps allied health professionals build confidence with innovation and emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence, to deliver more effective, efficient, and empowering care. With experience in clinical, research, and leadership roles, Jess takes a practical approach to digital transformation. Her work is grounded in a vision of healthcare that is more accessible, equitable, and future-ready.

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Humanised Healthcare – Health Practitioners’ Toolkit for Trauma-Informed Care, Emotion Handling Skills and Workplace Wellbeing

Dr Martha Druery, PhD, Affil.MAPS, BSW(Hons), BA(Psych)

Cost: $350
Limited to 30 participants
Minimum of 15 participants required for this workshop to run

Research shows that health care professionals experience less burnout and stress in their work when they feel more confident in responding to their patients’ distress. Evidence also suggests that patients experience better outcomes when they receive empathy and ‘emotional resonance’ from their health care providers. Developing your confidence and competence in responding to patient distress and in emotion-handling skills can increase your job satisfaction and well-being as well as promote optimal patient recovery. This half-day workshop offers you a practical, evidence-based toolkit necessary to build that confidence and competence.

Learning Outcomes:

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • recognise the empirical impacts that trauma work can have on clinician wellbeing
  • apply Trauma-Informed Care principles in the ‘real world’ of contemporary healthcare challenges
  • leave with a practical toolkit for ‘emotion handling’ skills, supporting patients experiencing trauma, grief and loss, and engaging patients presenting with challenging behaviours including agitation and treatment avoidance.

Dr Martha Druery, PhD, Affil.MAPS, BSW(Hons), BA(Psych)

Dr Martha Druery worked as a Social Work Specialist in critical care and trauma hospital adult and paediatric settings in Queensland for 18 years, has run a group private practice providing adjustment to injury counselling and traumatic bereavement therapy for 12 years at Lumos Trauma Institute and completed doctoral research in the field of post-injury Health-Related Quality of Life outcomes. She is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, currently investigating various aspects of post-injury psychosocial recovery in collaboration with the Jamieson Trauma Institute. She has provided both in-person and online training for several years on ‘Trauma-Informed Care’ and ‘Grief and Loss’ to social workers, counsellors, allied health clinicians and injury lawyers in Australia and internationally. She is now launching an additional venture, ‘The Overflow Movement’, offering online programs focused on self-care, maximising wellbeing and preventing burnout in this post-COVID epoch.

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