Dear Colleagues,
It is our pleasure to invite you to attend the 21st Annual Meeting of the European Academy of Childhood Disability (EACD) that will take place in Vilnius, 3-6 June, 2009.
21st Annual meeting of EACD will be held in Lithuania, country that historically has been on the crossroads of Europe - between East and West, North and South. As the other nations from former Soviet Union we had to overcome and are still struggling with a lot of myths installed by communist ideology. Lithuania also has long and rich history of culture and deep roots in pagan religion, which is still seen in prevailing interest in everything that is mystical and supernatural. There is a strong belief, that any healthcare problem including disability can be completely cured. In order to be cured patients try all possible means would they be evidence based or alternative. Most patients still use both the services of traditional medicine and of natural healers. Offers of new “most effective“ healing methods continue to emerge from the former Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries, while Problem-Based Learning, Evidence–Based Medicine is just being introduced.
Despite differences in healthcare, research and culture of European countries we see common challenges when questioning beliefs and medical legends. The programme of the Meeting will address the theme “From Myth to Evidence“. It is approached in several ways. We asked the scientists: how do we understand today such developmental disorders as cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, learning disabilities? What paradigm shifts have occurred and what are the limits in our knowledge, what are the future perspectives? We are very honoured to get responses from the leading experts. We also ask colleagues in the clinical teams: how do we measure different dysfunctions in children? Do we use those measures in clinical judgements? How do we evaluate efficacy of different, in particular, non-medical interventions? How do we study and understand alternative therapies? Principles of Evidence-Based Medicine, its history, application in practice and challenges met will be presented during the Meeting.
Despite differences in healthcare, research and culture of European countries we see common challenges when questioning beliefs and medical legends. The programme of the Meeting will address the theme “From Myth to Evidence“. It is approached in several ways. We asked the scientists: how do we understand today such developmental disorders as cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, learning disabilities? What paradigm shifts have occurred and what are the limits in our knowledge, what are the future perspectives? We are very honoured to get responses from the leading experts. We also ask colleagues in the clinical teams: how do we measure different dysfunctions in children? Do we use those measures in clinical judgements? How do we evaluate efficacy of different, in particular, non-medical interventions? How do we study and understand alternative therapies? Principles of Evidence-Based Medicine, its history, application in practice and challenges met will be presented during the Meeting.
EACD unites specialists of different disciplines. Traditionally, main focus has been on motor disorders, while this year main topics bring in deeper discussions on cognitive development of the child, neurocognitive, language dysfunctions, mental disability.
The Meeting is intended to promote collaborations between Eastern and Western European countries in the field of developmental disorders, in improving and unifying rehabilitation standards in Europe. Standards of care emerging in different therapy areas will be presented in the workshops. But we would like to encourage participants also to present studies on different therapies, on different models of rehabilitation systems used in Europe.
We look forward to welcoming you to Lithuania celebrating its Millennium in 2009, and to Vilnius, Cultural Capital of Europe 2009!
On behalf of the Organising and Scientific Committees
Dainius Pūras
President of EACD 2009
