Warm Welcome, Big Plans

Greetings! Thank you for the warm welcome and offers of support. Thanks also to all who attended the first-ever Town Hall Meeting at SAWC Fall. The Town Hall idea was brought to life through the efforts of creative staff and noble members of the AAWC Membership Committee (chaired by Anthony Tickner, DPM, DABPM, FACCWS, FAPWCA, FAPWH). A record-high number of AAWC members, as well as those looking to find out more about what the AAWC has to offer,  had a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with elected and volunteer AAWC leaders to learn and ask questions about AAWC programs and endeavors. Our “Press Secretary,” Mary Haddow, RN, CWCN, provides a full report of Town Hall activities in the AAWC Fall Newsletter. 

Town Hall program updates were provided by Eric Lullove, DPM, CWS, FACCWS (Healthcare Public Policy); Laura Bolton, PhD (International Consolidated Guidelines); and Lisa Gould, MD (Wound-care Experts/FDA-Clinical End Points Project). President Greg Bohn, MD, UHM/ABPM, MAPWCA, FACHM, announced the first-ever AAWC regional meeting, a Pressure Ulcer Summit scheduled for February 9–10, 2018; the goal is to assemble an international forum of leaders in wound care and pressure ulcer prevention and management to present the latest research and examine the evidence regarding the pathophysiology of pressure-induced tissue damage and ulcer development. Another highlight of the Summit will be the introduction of the Pressure Ulcer (Description) Tool, designed to assist caregivers in separating pressure ulcers from common conditions often confused as pressure in etiology. The tool will be content validated and reliability tested, with the ultimate goal to present it to regulatory and quality indicator organizations for consideration and/or adoption. To learn more about these initiatives, check out the AAWC News Section in this special issue of OWM.

Efforts such as the Town Hall and the Pressure Ulcer Summit are not the only changes to expect moving forward. Internally, the AAWC is examining operational policies to ensure the greatest efficiency, considering budget expansion to support the growing needs of the AAWC, and taking a hard look at our online presence (including aawconline.org and the AAWC social media outlets) in order to better promote the organization’s activities on behalf of its members and the profession of wound care. 

Be sure to follow the AAWC on Facebook, network with us on LinkedIn, and tweet at @myAAWC. We look forward to hearing from you and welcome your support and ideas as we continue to make the changes necessary in order advance the care of people with and at risk for wounds.  

This article was not subject to the Ostomy Wound Management peer-review process.