The radiology department as a sentinel in fall prevention among Filipino older adult patients.

Accidental falls are a serious yet underreported form of adverse event in hospitals. Falls account for the leading cause of injury and mortality among older adults. The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021 reported that an estimated 64,000 individuals die annually from falls globally. In the Philippines, about 53.6% of older Filipinos are experiencing falls from a small population-specific setting and they are more likely to experience functional declines than the younger population. The radiology departments and radiologic technologists (RTs) play a vital role in preventing accidental falls among Filipino older adult patients. Despite the existing safety standards promulgated by national health agencies, awareness of healthcare professionals such as radiologic technologists (RTs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as the Philippines remains limited. As such, promoting a safety culture is deemed a main strategy for patient safety from adverse occurrences of falls among Filipino older adults. In doing so, there is a need to establish an incident reporting system for sentinel events, develop risk assessment tools, and define the needed competencies of RTs in preventing catastrophic falls involving Filipino older adult patients. To the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind to better understand the safety and predisposing risks for falling among older adults in the field of radiology in the Philippines.

Portrait of Filipino healthcare workers' discrimination experiences during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: At the core of a global health crisis, healthcare workers are tasked to perform crucial and life-threatening roles. Despite the heavy-laden responsibilities amid COVID-19 pandemic, these workers are subjected to various forms of stigma and discrimination. OBJECTIVES: The primary intent of this paper is to investigate the existence of discrimination among healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Further, it aims to test the following hypotheses: (1) Discrimination experiences among Filipino healthcare workers are dependent on certain demographic characteristics; and (2) Discrimination experiences vary significantly according to the type of healthcare workers. METHODS: This exploratory study used a two-part survey questionnaire consisting of the baseline data of the respondents and an 8-point Likert-type scale to identify the different forms of discrimination experienced by Filipino healthcare workers. Data yielded by the instruments were descriptively (frequency, mean and percentage) and inferentially (Pearson R, Kendall tau, t-test, and One-Way Analysis of Variance) treated. RESULTS: Among the Filipino healthcare workers, the Radiologic Technologists experienced the most forms of discriminatory acts, followed by Nurses and Medical Technologists. Those who work in high-risk duty assignments experienced the most discriminatory incidents such as insulting gestures and physical/social loathing, social media bashing and offensive jokes. CONCLUSION: The discrimination experienced by Filipino healthcare workers is a valuable platform for health policy interventions at the local and global levels to safeguard the physical, social and psychological well-being of healthcare workers, especially in battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Caeteris paribus: In search of the "Silent Professional Identity" of Filipino radiologic technologists during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The value of professional identity is an interesting territory to explore, relative to working in interprofessional teams and collaborative communities The collaborative opportunities provided to health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic is a rare opportunity to underscore the silent yet significant identity of radiologic technologists as professionals. Historically and prior to the pandemic, the role of radiologic technologists remains unfamiliar, if not unrecognized in the Philippine healthcare industry. The 'alliedness' of this health care professional group is an evolving entity that can no longer be overlooked. The central and indispensable role played by radiologic technologists (RTs) invites meaningful discussion and debate among peers and researchers, to better describe the professional identity and role of the RT as an indispensable member of the interprofessional team. Specific recommendations are offered to improve recognition of RTs and their professional identity within the healthcare system.