The Amputee Coalition has opened its Call for Presenters for the 2022 National Conference. This year’s theme is “Growing Our Community to Shape the Future,” so you’re encouraged to offer presentation ideas that explore how to expand the limb-loss community, amplify its voice, and make society more receptive and responsive to amputees. Proposals are due by March 17, 2022. You can submit your ideas at this link.
The 2022 National Conference, which will be in person this year, is organized around three tracks: Living Well With Limb Loss, Limb Loss Is Not Uncommon, and No Amputee Alone. All three tracks will address how amputees can pressure health providers and government policy makers to tackle issues such as:
* Closing gaps in insurance coverage
* Reducing health disparities
* Lowering the cost of prosthetic devices and other health resources
* Bolstering preventive care to reduce limb loss
* Educating clinical practitioners about limb loss
* Improving mental health services for amputees and their families
* Creating better employment opportunities for people with limb loss
“We must ensure that all people living with limb loss and limb difference belong to and are represented in our community,” the Call for Presenters notes. “How can we think more critically about diversity and inclusion of amputees with different types of limb loss and limb difference, and that stem from a variety of causes? How can we balance the disproportion of people we currently serve to grow representation of diverse races and ethnicities as well as those living in urban and rural settings with limb loss and limb difference?”
Scheduled for August 10-13, 2022, in Palm Desert, California, the National Conference will be held in person for the first time since 2019.