Table 3 Summary of the workforce results
Title | Aims | Country | Disaster | Type of study | Target group | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Preparation, roles, and responsibilities of Filipino occupational therapists in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery [43] | To describe the roles, responsibilities and work of Filipino occupational therapists in disaster management | Philippines | Non-specific | Descriptive cross-sectional | 24 occupational therapists with experience working in disasters | The roles most frequently performed were encouraging social interactions among survivors, providing mental health services to survivors and attending trainings in disaster response |
Knowledge, practices and perceived barriers of physiotherapists involved in disaster management: a cross-sectional survey of Nigeria-based and trained physiotherapists [7] | To investigate the knowledge, practices and perceived barriers regarding the role of physiotherapists in disaster management among Nigeria-based and trained physiotherapists | Nigeria | Non-specific | Descriptive cross-sectional | 50 registered physiotherapists with at least 1 year of work experience | 68.7% of physiotherapists acknowledged their potential role in disaster management, but only 6.7% had experience, with 90% citing a lack of established government policies on the integration of physiotherapists into disaster management as a barrier. Involvement of physiotherapy during disasters is limited by financial, workforce, equipment, training, awareness and resource constraints |
Rehabilitation nurses’ opinions on disaster rehabilitation services, their training needs and perceptions of preparedness for disasters [44] | To assess rehabilitation nurses’ perceptions of disaster preparedness and response, and to identify rehabilitation nurses’ training needs | Turkey | Non-Specific | Descriptive cross-sectional | 50 female rehabilitation nurses | Participants mostly agreed that rehabilitation nurses have a role in disaster response, but 72% of them had no experience of disaster work and 94% felt that they need training in disaster rehabilitation. 90% were eager to receive training on this topic |
Occupational therapy role in disaster management in Bangladesh [45] | To investigate the numbers and role of occupational therapists who have worked in disaster management in Bangladesh | Bangladesh | Non-specific | Observational | 3 occupational therapists who had disaster response experience | There are very few OTs working in disaster management in Bangladesh. The 3 participants who respond reported undertaking preparedness activities such as community risk mapping, advocacy and providing assistive technology |
The Urgent Rehabilitation Technique Education Program for Wenchuan earthquake [46] | To describe the activities of the specialist forum for the patients injured in the earthquake | China | Wenchuan 2008 earthquake | Case report | 1500 hospital workers in the most earthquake prone areas | The short-term program developed covered the basic clinical technical trainings in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, prosthetics and orthotics to rapidly upscale rehabilitation service capacity for earthquake victims |
Physiotherapy in Haiti: A qualitative study exploring local clinicians' perspectives [47] | To describe the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the development of physiotherapy Haiti after the 2010 earthquake | Haiti | 2010 earthquake | Descriptive study | 4 physiotherapists and 1 rehabilitation technician | Respondents identified the lack of funding to be the main the profession's main barrier: funding to create employment opportunities for rehabilitation professionals, and for the population to be able to access affordable physiotherapy services |