Medical doctors and community engagement in the aftermath of a disaster

Abstract

Medical doctors conduct many health care and promotion activities after a disaster. However, there are limited studies on how doctors engage disaster-affected community members during the activities. This paper aims to examine medical doctors’ experiences in engaging their community during the rehabilitation period after a big disaster. The study is based on a more extensive ethnographic study at disaster-affected health centers and communities in Aceh. The researcher conducted interviews with eleven community doctors and 45 hours of participant observations involving three doctors. Findings show different levels of community engagement in the doctor participants’ experiences. Most of them only ‘informed’ rather than ‘engaged’ the disaster-affected patient and community. This paper calls for the enactment of community engagement in healthcare practices and education.