Climate change requires quality and sustainability

Though the COVID-19 pandemic is still causing havoc throughout the world, climate change is also on the forefront of the news. It is amazing how some global events awaken the Western world to the woes known in the Global South for decades.

Witness the wildfires which are raging in large areas around the globe, the rising global temperatures creating them, the droughts and floods which overwhelm. Over 24 million people – more than three times the number fleeing armed conflict – are displaced each year by ecological disasters such as floods, droughts, typhoons or hurricanes, heat waves and rising seas as noted regularly on the news (CNN, 2021).

More than 1 billion people face being displaced within 30 years as the climate crisis and rapid population growth drive an increase in migration, making a huge impact on both the developing and developed worlds, according to an analysis by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP, 2020), a thinktank that produces annual global terrorism and peace indexes.

The IEP research also shows 1.2 billion people living in 31 countries are not sufficiently resilient to withstand ecological threats. Many of these people will have no choice but to migrate to cities as climate migrants. This means that the local and national focus should turn to facilitating their integration into cities so that they do not end up in poverty in outlying squatter settlements. Several cities including Dhaka in Bangladesh, Freetown in Sierra Leone and Orlando in USA have already launched programmes to build climate resilience while making sure that new city arrivals have opportunities for both safe housing and fair employment. Occupational therapists have a role to play in such initiatives to ensure that housing and communities are accessible and user friendly for these displaced persons, and that displaced people have the skills to participate in city life.

With this move, there will also be the need for increased quality health care at all levels (IEP, 2020), The health care system should be safe, effective, person-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable (IOM, 2020). Occupational therapists serve all people equally and efficiently. Our clients’ concerns come first and should be addressed efficiently, safely, and effectively. As we look to the future, we must consider how best to serve our populations. Literature has noted occupational therapy interventions may be best provided at a person’s home and in the community (Dahl-Popolizio et al., 2017). Using occupation as a foundation for our forward thinking as well as the experience of the pandemic, we may change how we deliver our practice. Quality must be sustainable. We are at the forefront of change, planning and monitoring development incorporating local tradition and values to meet future needs and challenges for sustainability, thinking forward to take advantage of research, innovation and technology.

The World Federation has ratified more than 45 position papers on issues of relevance to occupational therapy and society, e.g. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health, Occupational Therapy and Assistive Technology, Education Research, Occupational Therapy and Telehealth, Occupational Therapy and Rehab, Role of Professional Occupational Therapy Organizations in Monitoring Practice. These offer support for policy development, government negotiation, and discussion within the national profession. The Minimum Standards for the Education of Occupational Therapists (2016) supports quality education. This issue of the Bulletin speaks to our broad perspectives with some continuing focus on COVID-19.

Quality and sustainability are interconnected. Occupational therapy services are global and local, bringing global perspective to local and culturally appropriate practice. Global and local perspectives provide evidence through research which is often collaborative, adding strength to our impact. Through our awareness of the needs of our clients and our communities, we become agents of change and ultimately sustainability.