Mr. Gabriel C. Tan, an academic staff of the CRS Department of Physical Therapy, presented a paper titled “Barriers and Facilitators to the Participation of Physical Therapists in Disaster Response Following Natural Hazard-Driven Sudden-Onset Disasters” at the 2nd National Conference of the Philippine Academic Society for Climate and Disaster Resilience (PASCDR).
The conference theme was “From Discourses to Actions: Mobilizing the Academe for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.” It took place at the Atencio-Libunao Hall, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City from October 25 to 27, 2023.
In his paper, Tan emphasized the crucial role of Physical Therapists (PT) in disaster response, specifically in preventing long-term disabilities resulting from injuries. Research reveals that PTs are underutilized in this context. The study explored the factors that affect PTs’ involvement in disaster response and identified four key themes: personal and social factors, profession-related factors, organizational support, and operational considerations.
