SCO-OP QUARTERLY MARCH 2025 Archive
March 2025
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2025!
We all know that the world feels overwhelming at times. There's so much chaos and strife around us. While we can't solve all of these issues on our own, the power of small, consistent efforts is undeniable. When we work together, even in our own ICAN community, we can create ripples of change that eventually lead to something greater. As we step into a new year, we're excited to reconnect and share the latest updates, insights, and initiatives shaping our work. This edition marks the beginning of a new year ahead — one filled with opportunities to grow, collaborate, and make a lasting impact.
A key focus this year is our revised strategic plan — a renewed commitment to strengthening our vision, mission, values, and core purpose. As we adapt to the evolving needs of our community, this initiative will guide our efforts and set the stage for meaningful progress.
We're grateful for your continued support and look forward to this journey together.
Warm regards,
ICAN Office
To be featured in the next newsletter, please send an email at office@icancoop.onmicrosoft.com.
The ICAN board has been actively reflecting on and envisioning a future that best aligns with our goals and the evolving needs of our community. In collaboration with instructors, the Board has made significant strides in revising our strategic plan, ensuring that it remains relevant, effective, and responsive to the dynamic landscape in which we operate. Here are the revised mission, vision and value statements. We will be sharing further details in the upcoming newsletters. Thank you for your continued dedication and support as we work toward realizing our shared vision for the future.
OUR VISION
ICAN is dedicated to enabling people of all ages and abilities to succeed in performing the activities that are important and meaningful to them through cognitive approaches: to move from I CAN'T to I CAN.
OUR MISSION
ICAN will increase awareness and availability of the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) Approach by providing high quality education and other opportunities that produce competent and certified therapists and instructors who will enable people to move from I CAN'T to I CAN.
OUR VALUES
International collaboration, egalitarianism, excellence, integrity and diversity.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY GUIDELINE ON BRAIN INJURY (IN DUTCH)
In the newest version of the Dutch Occupational Therapy guideline, the CO-OP Approach is recommended as a valuable intervention for persons with Brain Injury / Stroke. Cochrane Netherlands conducted the systematic literature review. The project was funded by the ZonMw Programme Paramedical Care. The guideline is a revision of the Occupational Therapy Guideline CVA (2013).
The text in the guideline is as follows: "The CO-OP is a goal-oriented and client-centred approach. Due to the task-specific nature of this training and the use of cognitive strategies by the person with brain injury, the working group considers it a valuable intervention. CO-OP is effective for persons with brain injury who want to learn to solve problems on their own and have sufficient executive skills to improve their actions through 'guided discovery'."
If you are aware of any guidelines within your country or region that support CO-OP as an intervention with any population, please send to ICAN at office@icancoop.onmicrosoft.com so that we can collect these guidelines.
The ICAN website has some inspiring blogs outlining firsthand account of therapists, researchers and users on the CO-OP. Approach. Here is the latest blog:
Evgenia-Charikleia Lazari, MSc, shares a blog on using the CO-OP Approach with a child with mild intellectual disability, offering insights from both occupational therapy and neuropsychology.
We'd love to hear from you! If you have a (success) story or experience to share (with client permission, of course), you might be featured in an upcoming newsletter or on our website. To be featured, contact Jolien van den Houten and/or Deb Cameron.
"It fits perfectly with the philosophy of occupational therapy it differs from the bottom-up approach I have used other times. It was a cause for a lot of thought and reflection!"
"This seminar contributed significantly to my professional development, as it provided me with a structured and scientifically documented approach, which I can apply directly in my clinical practice, enhancing the effectiveness and accuracy of my work in a more systematic and targeted way."
Have you attended one of our courses or webinars?We'd love to hear about your experience! Your feedback helps us continue to grow and improve. If you'd like to share a testimonial, please send it our way—we may feature it in a future newsletter! Send them to Jolien van den Houten and/or Deb Cameron.
Board Opportunities for Summer 2025 Recruitment
We are excited to announce that we are recruiting two new members to join our team in the summer of 2025! We are seeking passionate individuals—one with experience in ICAN and the COOP approach, and another with expertise in IT or marketing. If you or someone you know would be a great fit, we’d love to hear from you!
Join Our Social Media Brainstorming Session
We want to hear from you! As we look to enhance our social media presence, we’re inviting members of our community to join a brainstorming session. This is a great opportunity to share ideas, provide feedback, and help shape our online engagement. If you're interested in participating, please fill out this form. We appreciate your input and look forward to collaborating with you!
We’re Fully Booked
We're thrilled by the overwhelming response to our upcoming webinar—it's now fully booked!
If you were not able to secure a spot, don't worry. The session will be recorded, and we’ll share the recording link in the next newsletter, so you won’t miss out. Thank you for your enthusiasm, and we look forward to sharing this valuable presentation with you soon!
International Cognitive Approaches Network
office@icancoop.onmicrosoft.com
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