Occupational Therapy &
Disaster Preparedness
Promoting disaster planning to prevent occupational imbalance and isolation in individuals, families, and communities.
Code of Ethics
The World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT) currently has a call to action, recognizing that OTs can be a major contributor to Disaster Preparedness and Response (DP&R). The WFOT suggests that occupational therapists should be involved in all stages of planning and preparation at local, district, and national levels for disaster management (4).
Occupational Therapy's Code of Ethics calls for occupational therapists (OTs) to uphold the principles of social justice. OTs have the ability to advocate for those individuals and communities who have limited opportunities and suffer social inequities.
Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics and Ethics Standards (2010) states Occupational Therapy Personnel shall:
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Make every effort to promote activities that benefit the health status of the community.
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Make efforts to advocate for recipients of occupational therapy services to obtain needed services through available means.
WFOT Call to Action
So what can OTs do?
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OTs can work alongside grassroots organizations to target populations of need for more effective disaster preparedness planning.
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The types of OT intervention that could be used in natural disaster preparedness include consultation, education, and advocacy (1). For example, OTs can recommend disaster evacuation strategies for residential communities related to accessibility.
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Intervention approaches include the maintain approach, which could include providing leisure activities for shelters and other constructive outlets (1).
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The prevent approach could also be used, which looks at individuals who are at risk for occupational performance problems to prevent the occurrence of barriers to occupational performance (1).
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OTs who work to become trusted members of a community can overcome barriers to effective preparedness planning for low socio-economic status communities.