Hundreds sign up to hear Professor Katrina Bannigan deliver 2024 Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture
More than 1,500 people have signed up to hear Glasgow Caledonian University Professor in Occupational Therapy Katrina Bannigan deliver the prestigious 2024 Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture on April 24.
The internationally-renowned occupational therapist, researcher and educator was invited to give the 2024 Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture because of her “impactful leadership which has greatly fuelled the growth of evidence-based practice in occupational therapy”.
The Royal College of Occupational Therapist (RCOT) only awards the lectureship to a member whose peers consider them to have made and be making a significant contribution to the profession’s development.
So far, 1591 people have signed up Professor Bannigan’s ‘The time is now’ Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture. To book a place click here - https://www.rcot.co.uk/2024-elizabeth-casson-memorial-lecture.
Professor Bannigan has more than 26 years’ expertise in the field. She works in the School of Health and Life Sciences (SHLS) and is a prominent researcher in the SHLS Research Centre for Health (ReaCH).
She was nominated to deliver the lecture by Janice McClymont, Glasgow Caledonian University School of Health and Life Sciences (SHLS) Honorary Fellow and occupational therapist at NHS Lanarkshire.
Janice said Professor Bannigan’s “expertise not only inspires students and colleagues but also the entire OT community to adopt evidence-based practices by merging research, practice and education for meaningful impact”.
The lecture is a memorial to Elizabeth Casson (1881–1954) in honour of her contributions to the profession of occupational therapy.
Elizabeth Casson was the first woman to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Bristol in 1929, and specialised in psychiatry and introduced occupational therapy in England, setting up the first school of occupational therapy, Dorset House, in Bristol.
Professor Bannigan said: “I was very humbled to have been nominated and was even more so to have been chosen to do the Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture.
“It is an incredible opportunity to play a small part in Elizabeth Casson’s legacy to the profession. I am looking forward to the challenge and will do my best to justify the faith that has been placed in me.
“I am grateful to the people who have signed up to watch the lecture and I hope they will leave it considering how ‘The time is now’ for the world to recognise that we are enacting one of the greatest ideas of the 20th century for the benefit of people and communities.
“Once others recognise the truth of the centrality of occupation in the lives of people and communities, we can stop being absorbed with how we are perceived as a profession and direct our energies towards our work with people and communities.
“We need to emulate Elizabeth Casson and harness the tools of our age - the Social Age - to ensure the centrality of occupation in the lives of people and communities.”
Last year, Professor Bannigan was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists in recognition of her "extensive contribution" to the profession. This is the profession's "highest honour" and Professor Bannigan was described as "outstanding".
Find out more about the lecture in a video message from Professor Bannigan - https://twitter.com/i/status/1780548064287039570.