SOCIAL WORK IN SUPPORTING PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY NATURAL DISASTERS

Abstract

After natural disasters, people and communities suffer significant losses in lives, property, and livelihoods, while facing considerable challenges in stabilizing their living conditions. Their primary needs include ensuring safety, medical care, psychological support, food, clean water, temporary shelter, environmental sanitation, housing reconstruction, and livelihood recovery. Support activities involve search and rescue operations, evacuation, emergency relief, medical assistance, psychological counseling, livelihood restoration, and improvement of living environments. Social work plays a crucial role in this process through conducting field work, identifying needs, mobilizing and connecting resources, providing psychological recovery support, assisting in rebuilding lives, and advocating for social policies aimed at reducing risks and enhancing community resilience to disasters