Abstract:
The social work role in responding to disasters of both natural and human origin, in all the phases of planning and preparation, immediate crisis response, recovery and rebuilding of communities, has been developed and repeatedly reiterated within practice and research as a result of exposure to fresh events and challenges. The Pacific region, for example, has experienced major weather and seismic events such as cyclones, landslides, floods, bushfires, tsunami and severe earthquakes, as well as toxic spills, radiation contamination, transportation disasters and major construction failures. The predicted impact of climate change on Pacific communities reinforces the requirement that the social work profession further develops the capacity to respond to those dispersed and displaced by disaster. The imperative for social workers to engage with the communities and individuals in need after such events has generated a call for a disaster-informed social work curriculum that can optimize our preparation for the unpredictable and provide a sustainable knowledge base that can flexibly respond to the complex and variable demands of sudden and serious large-scale occurrences (Dominelli, 2013; Rowlands, 2013). What, then, do future practitioners need to know, and what perspectives, attitudes, skills and competencies can be embedded within our curricula to support these demands upon our profession and the communities in which we work? How best can curriculum development incorporate the dimensions of disaster-informed knowledge? This presentation summarises an extensive literature review of practice competencies, knowledge bases and skills development for social work in disasters, and explores models of curriculum development and delivery that can best support future practitioners in their response to disasters.
