Occupational Therapy Quake Response
A few days after the Christchurch earthquake on 22 February 2011, I made a couple of posts about my experiences as an individual going through this event, and how occupational therapy as a profession could support recovery.
This page is (hopefully!) the beginning of a conversation amongst occupational therapists nationally and internationally to share and develop ideas that can be implemented initially here in Christchurch, and hopefully elsewhere in the world.
My initial thoughts are:
- Ensure occupational therapists are involved in developing the local health board’s emergency preparedness planning, going beyond the “first aid” response and into the recovery period
- The focus in that period should be broader than addressing only the needs of people with disabilities, but have a role to support recovery of occupation – in other words, supporting all people to re-engage in daily routines and habits that maintain and promote wellbeing
- Occupational therapists could be present in the Assistance Centres to provide problem solving advice for people struggling to prepare meals and maintain hygiene without running water, power or sewerage
- Brief leaflets reminding people about how to re-engage in occupation and particularly healthy routines (consistent bedtime and wake time, maintaining mealtimes, exercising, relaxation, leisure and fun) could be printed/photocopied and distributed widely at Assistance Centres, supermarkets, petrol stations – the places people go when an event like this occurs
- It wouldn’t hurt to remind other health professions that occupational therapists can and do work in mental health and are skilled to provide support for people with acute stress responses (it’s not just mental health nurses and clinical psychologists)
What are your thoughts? If you have examples of leaflets or posters that might be useful, please drop me a line via my “About” page. I’m happy to provide links to any resources people point me to – but please be aware that my spam filter may inadvertently identify comments with links as spam, so it’s best to contact me and I’ll get back to you.
Here’s a link to the Japanese Occupational Therapy Association Disaster Management Committee – please remember them and if you have suggestions for how they might be able to help the people of Japan in the aftermath of their earthquake and subsequent tsunami, do let me know and I will pass your thoughts on.
my thoughts – and this is only from what I have gleaned from my twitter feed (which gives me some sense of how people are feeling).. and your posts Bronnie
I wonder about the needs of the children – I know that often they are more resilient, and also that their response in part will depend on how their parent’s responses…
Where are the corners of the welfare centres that are set up for play areas for the children – with OT’s who have come from outside the area and so can focus on the resident’s needs, not their own essential needs.
Could there be roving teams who check in on those families who are managing at home, but just need some toys or other types of creative activities – I hear the kids who have got back to school saying how much they were looking forward to seeing their friends, getting back into the routines etc etc…
http://opsafeintl.com/emotional-care-for-children-after-disaster/
Of course this is labour intensive -and so the balance is between I guess bringing in even more people into a city which is struggling to meet the needs of their residents, and yet having people who have not been involved in the disaster being fresher and more able to assist?
Here is the World Federation of Occupational Therapists resource on Disaster Preparedness and Response
Your initial thoughts are excellent. Occupational therapists should truly get involved in this. I hope you succeed in your plan.
I am keen to hear other occupational therapists looking at how we can respond and prepare for disasters. WFOT is presently developing an introductory online module on disaster management and are putting together a syllabus. If anyone is interested in contributing to it, I would welcome the input. Thanks, Kit Sinclair, WFOT Disaster Preparedness and Response project leader. admin@wfot.org.au