International Surf Therapy Organisation’s Conference 2021
The International Surf Therapy Organisation’s 2021 conference was hosted by the Wave Project at the beginning of October in Cornwall, UK. The hybrid event catered for both in-person and online participation via the interactive Whova app, opening up the conference to a global audience. Recordings of all presentations available for participants post-event.
INCLUSEA were delighted to be invited to present and share our preliminary findings with international adapted and therapeutic surf communities.
The INCLUSEA team were represented by work package 2 (WP2) leader, Dr. Ronaldo Gabriel from Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro in Portugal and his fellow colleagues and surfers, Dr. Easkey Britton from Liquid Therapy in Ireland, and the director of Surf Clube de Viana in Portugal, Joao Zamith. The conference was full of inspiring and informative talks presenting current and new research, policy and practice in surf therapy, included adapted surfing, such as, Dr Jamie Marshall, Joe Taylor, Hugo Tagholm, Sachi Cunningham, Nick Hounsfield and ISTO CEO Kris Primacio.
The INCLUSEA team presented an overview of the project’s aims, followed by a presentation of preliminary findings from WP2 including key insights from our international survey of surf therapy organisations and the key characteristics of their programmes, and some emerging issues, trends and best practices for the long-term sustainability of adapted surfing from key informant interviews. The talk concluded with Joao Zamith sharing the impact and importance of this research for participants and practitioners in adapted surf therapy and para surf programmes like those offered at Surf Clube de Viana. The audience were invited to contribute directly to the project by participating in our online surveys and there was positive engagement and questions from the audience, recognising the need for greater knowledge exchange and the development of shared best practices and teaching methodologies across adapted surfing.
