I thought I would start by telling you what the definition of disaster is in relation to occupational therapy.
Scaffa, Gerardi, Herzberg and McColl ( 2006) discuss that disasters can be classified into two categories: natural or technological (human-made). Natural disasters include floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis. Technological disasters include nuclear power plant accidents, mass transportation accidents, accidents involving hazardous materials (eg oils spills).
Fritz (1961, as cited in Scaffa et al., 2006) discusses that a disasters can cause loss of lives, physical injuries and also disruption to social structures. Disasters have a short or long term effect on the occupational performance of individuals and communities (Scaffa et al., 2006).
A disaster occurs when a hazard impacts on vulnerable people (http://www.ifrc.org/what/disasters/about/index.asp).
This is where occupational therapy comes in. The focus of occupational therapy is to facilitate engagement in occupation in order to promote health and well-being, and to enhance their quality of life (Scaffa et al., 2006). I will talk more about this and the role the occupational therapist takes later.
References
Scaffa, M. E., Gerardi, S., Herzberg, G. & McColl, M. A. (2006). The role of occupational therapy in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 60(6), 642-649.
Scaffa, Gerardi, Herzberg and McColl ( 2006) discuss that disasters can be classified into two categories: natural or technological (human-made). Natural disasters include floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis. Technological disasters include nuclear power plant accidents, mass transportation accidents, accidents involving hazardous materials (eg oils spills).
Fritz (1961, as cited in Scaffa et al., 2006) discusses that a disasters can cause loss of lives, physical injuries and also disruption to social structures. Disasters have a short or long term effect on the occupational performance of individuals and communities (Scaffa et al., 2006).
A disaster occurs when a hazard impacts on vulnerable people (http://www.ifrc.org/what/disasters/about/index.asp).
This is where occupational therapy comes in. The focus of occupational therapy is to facilitate engagement in occupation in order to promote health and well-being, and to enhance their quality of life (Scaffa et al., 2006). I will talk more about this and the role the occupational therapist takes later.
References
Scaffa, M. E., Gerardi, S., Herzberg, G. & McColl, M. A. (2006). The role of occupational therapy in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 60(6), 642-649.
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