The history of our fascination of the hand may be traced way back to our European forfathers… Their recognition of the hand's functional value and the major consequenses of dysfunction may be represented by this 3000 years old rock-carving from Tanum at the Swedish West Coast. The history of The European Federation of Hand Therapy is only dating back the time span of half a generation. After the formation of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy 1985, in which European member countries were well represented, it was agreed that there should be an opportunity for European hand therapists to meet more regularly and exchange ideas.

November 1989 France A Constitution for the European Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy was formulated between France, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

March 1990 Belgium
	At the first meeting of the executive of the EFSHT Jacques Otthiers, Belgium (left) was elected Founder President. Jean-Claude Rouzaud, France was elected Secretary General. Gwendolyn van Strien, Netherlands was elected Treasurer.	Annette Leveridge and Gwendolyn van Strien
Seven countries were represented on the Council:   Belgium - Paul van Lede, France - Alain Berthe, United Kingdom - Annette Leveridge, Netherlands - Gwendolyn van Strien, Italy - Mauro Serantoni, Poland - Marek Pieniazek, Switzerland - Anne Marie Serex.

May 1993 Belgium Plans were laid for the organisation of the 1st Congress of EFSHT to be held in 1993. This first congress took the form of a Hand Therapists satellite symposium at the 1st Congress of FESSH (the European Federation of Surgeons) in Brussels May 1993. On the first day there were symposia on Orthotics and RA and Burns, Evaluation, Tendons, Congenital hand deformities and Electrotherapy. The second day was made up of workshops on the topics of Burn Scarring of the Hand, the Musicians Hand, Functional Electrical Stimulation and Muscular Chains. There were good opportunities for delegates to network together and look forward to meeting again in Dublin the following year.

June 1994 Ireland
The 2nd EFSHT Congress was held in Dublin, co hosted by the Irish Hand Therapy Association with the British Association of Hand Therapists led by Lynda Gwilliam and Ann Birch, who was then Treasurer of EFSHT. 150 therapists attended the meeting. The guest speaker was Dr Kit Wynn Parry giving an historical account of the development of Hand Therapy.	Lynda Gwilliams and Ann Birch

April 1996 France The 3rd European Congress was held in in Paris, linked with the 3rd FESSH Congress. November 1996 Greece The Greek Society with its dynamic President Angelos Poulis (left) invited the executive officers and the Council to a primarily socializing and brainstorming weekend in Athens. Officers and delegates were accomodated in the homes of Greek collegues. In the atmosphere of the famous Greek hospitality many ideas of development were exchanged.

June 1997 Italy The following 4th Congress in Bologna was also linked with the following FESSH Congress. At the Council Meeting in Bologna the Founder President and Secretary of the EFSHT resigned. Sheila Harris, United Kingdom (right), was elected new President and Åse Lier, Norway, new Secretary.

March 1998 Denmark With the Council Meeting in Athens1996 as model, the Council met in Aarhus with the Danish Society as hosts. Long hours were dedicated to the revision of by-laws and planning the program of the next Congress. The rewarding social breaks were considered equally valuable for the purpose and outcome of the meeting. It was decided to run Council Meetings every year. April 1999 Greece The 5th Congress was held independently of FESSH, in Athens, hosted by the Greek Society. The theme was Upper Limb Dysfunction. Margreet ter Schegget, The Netherlands (left), was elected President Elect and Nickos Georgiadis, Greece (left), was elected new Treasurer.

June 2000 Spain In Barcelona again EFSHT linked with FESSH and held the 6th Congress. The theme was The Functional Hand. Margreet ter Schegget entered as new President of the Federation. Angelos Poulis, Greece, was elected new President Elect. September 2001 Germany This year The German Society hosted the Council Meeting in Sendenhorst. Apart from the long agenda, the program included a scientific morning, as well as warmly welcome cultural and social events.

May 2002 The Netherlands

The 7th Congress was linked with FESSH in Amsterdam. The Dutch therapists and surgeons had cooperated closely to offer a more complete fusion of scientific topics with focus on Evaluation and Neurological Diseases. With Birgitta Rosén, Sweden, as chairperson a Permanent Scientific Committee (PSC) of EFSHT had been established (right), and new standards for scientific papers developed. The EFSHT web site had been launched earlier in the Spring. Angelos Poulis entered as the new President, and Ragnhild Cederlund, Sweden, was elected President Elect and Nickos Georgiadis was reelected as treasurer.

The first PSC members rewarded

June 2003 Portugal

Two Presidents and a Delegate; Angelos, Antonio and Sotiria

The Council Meeting was this year hosted in Lisbon by the enthusiastic and youngest EFSHT society. It was held paralel to the FESSH Congress and combined with a national hand therapy course. Workshops inspired a survey on hand therapy education in Europe to be conducted by the President. Cultural and social nights (left) gave us the real European family feeling. Åse Lier, Norway, was reelected as secretary for a third period.

June 2004 Scotland

Matching the scientific congress of IFSHT, Edinburgh was chosen as perfect for this Council Meeting. Slovenia was welcomed as a new full member nation. Based on the hand therapy education survey, possible minimum standards and future certifications were discussed. The present formation of the PSCommittee was dissolved. Ragnhild Cederlund entered as the new President, and, Nicole Grünert-Plüss, Switzerland, was elected President Elect.

The new Executive Committee: Nickos, Åse, Nicole, Ragnhild

June 2005 Sweden

EFSHT and Swedish Society organisers' choir

The 8th Congress was made a joint therapy - surgery venture with FESSH in sunny Göteborg. The primary common subject was grip function including tendon transfers and a round table on “To grip or not to grip”. The new PSCommittee with chairperson Ton A. Schreuders was presented. Education was focused in the Council Meeting, model standards presented and a taskforce established. Glykeria Gounaropoulou, Greece, was elected as the new treasurer.

March 2006 Turkey

A happy team of colleagues in Izmir took full time care of their guests when the Turkish society realized its bid from years before to host a Council Meeting. To plan the meeting with more group work proved to be very fruitful. An Education Committee was decided. The exciting tastes of the area’s rich culture and history enhanced the good federation spirit. Nicole Grünert-Plüss entered as the new President. Roma Bhopal, UK, was elected President Elect.

Host Aysel and President Nicole enjoying Turkish coffee