While occupational therapy is often thought to be held in brick-and-mortar centers, community-centered initiatives are not yet as well-known. This is what the new book chapter entitled “Embracing Bayani-han: Navigating Occupational Therapy Practice in the Community” aimed to document and describe.
Authored by Occupational Therapy academic staff Karen S. Sagun, MSOT, MRS with co-authors Teresita C. Mendoza and Abelardo Apollo I. David, the article hinged on the Filipino concepts of pamayanan and bayanihan to “foreground the interconnectedness between individuals within communities.” The authors showed how the Filipino concepts can manifest in “selfless practice of [occupational therapy] as modern-day bayani.”
With an aim of widening access to occupational therapy services in adherence to the Philippine Universal Health Care Act, the authors discussed “the practical aspects of developing community programs, leveraging the authors’ leadership involvement in three different community programs.”
Sagun, apart from teaching at the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, is involved with the Quezon City Kabahagi Center for Children with Disabilities as its Director.
The book chapter is part of the new Routledge book entitled “Occupational Therapy in the Philippines: Theory, Practice, and Stories.” The book was edited by Michael Sy, Roi Charles Pineda, and Caroline Fischl.
