Delivery of Rehabilitation Services: Opportunities and Threats During a Global Pandemic

Abstract

Background: This presentation articulated a personal perspective of an Occupational Therapy (OT) practitioner regarding the changes already happening within the field of rehabilitation before the COVID-19 pandemic and its cataclysmic role that accelerated changes in the delivery of rehabilitation services, specifically in advancing the application technologies and innovative practices in the clinics, renewed focus on strengthening and supporting OT and rehabilitation professionals’ health and well-being, and use of transformational instructions to prepare students for future healthcare challenges. Included in this presentation is the global response to ensure the delivery of rehabilitation services, the exemplar of local innovations and resilience among Filipino OT and the rehabilitation community, emerging opportunities and threats brought about by the pandemic, and the lessons and innovations we bring forward as part of the new normal post-COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond.