HOUSE OF DELEGATES

Prior to setting out for Phoenix, Arizona all my thoughts were apprehensive and unsure about what to expect from the HOD. I was proud and excited about being able to represent North Carolina, but clearly nervous.  Much to my surprise and delight, I found that it wasn't anything to worry about.  They did such a good job of covering all the basics during the orientation on Wednesday night and making it fun as well; I actually felt like I could contribute in an intelligent manner.

Thursday afternoon we all got down to business and with a total count of 140 delegates, we heard the welcome speech, said the pledge of allegiance, had a moment of silent reflection for our troops, adopted the agenda, approved the rules of procedure and heard the reports from the operations committee chair, Maureen Hoock.  According to moderator, Dan Barrow, we managed to accomplish all that in record time.  This turned out to be a good thing as we had a full plate of items to review.  We had four Position Statements and four Recommendations to discuss.  For those who aren't familiar with these terms, I will attempt to define them.

Position Statements are research based statements that AMTA will use in documentation and public relations.  They must reflect the mission and goals of the Association.  These packages include background information, rationales, the statement itself and the research references that back the statement up.  I found that these were the most intimidating items to review, but realized that they are very important to our association.

Recommendations are changes to AMTA policy that are being put forth by any state chapter that feels like they can improve the way our association takes care of business.

This all seems very cut and dry, but what actually occurred was a lively, yet respectful discussion for each item put forward.  Each item was only given 20 minutes in total for discussion at which time we were asked to vote on them.  The electronic devices used in the voting procedure made it all very efficient.

The following summarizes the results of the votes:

Position statements:

• It is the position of the AMTA that massage has been shown to aid to aid in postoperative pain relief. - APPROVED
• It is the position of the AMTA that newborns (especially pre-term infants) may benefit from massage therapy. - APPROVED
• It is the position of the AMTA that massage therapy can be a valuable component of a wellness program. - APPROVED
• It is the position of the AMTA that massage therapy can be an integral part of health care. - FAILED requested that it be cleaned up and resubmitted

Recommendations:

• Indiana submittal:  Would like to allow chapter representatives to address National Board at open meetings. - FAILED
• Illinois submittal:  New requirement to be added to Professional Active Membership category that requires the member to hold a valid license, certification or registration required by the area in which they practice. - APPROVED
• Indiana's second submittal:  Removal of the delegate term of office - APPROVED
• Connecticut submittal:  Each chapter to decide on delegate's term of office - APPROVED

The HOD ended with the election of three new operations committee members and a brief discussion of new business regarding a request for a way to connect with others who want to write position statements.  I am so glad that I was a part of this amazing system.  Thank you for allowing me to represent North Carolina.