During the summer, the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North American (RESNA) announced that its 2025 conference would be part of RehabWeek Chicago in May.
In a Nov. 15 webinar with Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) professionals, RESNA shared additional details on how the event — involving seven rehabilitation-oriented organizations — will provide CRT and assistive technology content while also giving attendees the opportunity to learn from other societies’ presentations.
Andrea Van Hook, RESNA’s executive director, began the webinar by listing the other six RehabWeek organizations that would be participating: the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine; the International Consortium for Rehabilitation Robotics; the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society; the International Society for Virtual Rehabilitation; the International Industry Society in Advanced Rehabilitation Technology; Masterclass in Neurotechnology (MiNT); and MotusAcademy.
“We’re going to bring the assistive technology to RehabWeek,” Van Hook told webinar attendees. “That’s how we fit in.”
Shared and specific sessions
RehabWeek takes place every two years in venues around the world. RESNA previously co-located its annual conference with RehabWeek in 2019, when the event was held in Toronto.
The core of the 2025 RESNA conference will take place May 13-15, with pre-conference workshops planned for May 12, and clinic and lab visits scheduled for May 16.
Van Hook said there will be a single exhibit hall for all the conferences, as well as joint sessions, such as keynotes and social events.
But RESNA will also offer plenty of assistive technology-specific sessions, which will qualify for IACET continuing education units — 8.5 IACET hours in total.
The core of the conference will take place May 13-15. On Friday, May 16, attendees will have the opportunity to visit local labs and clinics, including downtown Chicago’s Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, which works with patients who’ve experienced stroke, spinal cord injury, limb loss, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and brain injuries.
Registering for RehabWeek will admit the attendee to all RehabWeek educational sessions, plus the exhibit hall — and attendees will be free to attend whichever sessions they choose, including sessions hosted by the other six societies, as well as the May 12 welcome reception. Some extracurricular activities, such as May 14’s RehabWeek Night reception, will have a separate fee.
RehabWeek registration will open in early December. The conference will take place at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk. Van Hook said a selection of conference presentations will be recorded and made available for on-demand viewing after the event finishes.
