In 2009, Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan and caused serious harm to the indigenous peoples living in the southern mountainous regions. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of and the factors involved in individual resilience intervention of typhoon victims. Quantitative research was performed from October 2009 through September 2010. Purposive sampling yielded 77 indigenous persons who were willing to serve as participants in this study. These participants all maintained legal or actual residence in the areas of Kaohsiung that were affected by the typhoon. An individual resilience intervention program was implemented. The findings show the following: (1) after completing the individual resilience intervention program, the participants had higher individual resilience scores than before participating in the intervention program; and (2) individual resilience scores were significantly affected by residency after the typhoon. These findings suggest that an individual resilience intervention program is a useful approach that can be used to enhance the individual resilience of a victim and that professionals should pay more attention to victims who have to leave their hometowns after disasters.

Purpose: This study explored medical social work development and the impact of social work regulation in Taiwan. Method: From the perspective of historical institutionalism, data were collected through in-depth interviews with 9 senior medical social workers, the review of 49 articles on social work professionalization in Taiwan, and the content analysis of 42 historical files. Results: The findings indicate four critical junctures, namely the postwar–1982 period for charitable relief for the poor and American-style social work, the 1983–1996 period for establishment of the Taiwan Medical Social Work Association and promotion of the Social Worker Act, the 1997–2008 period for implementation of the social work certification and license, and the 2009–present period for approval of specialist social worker institutions. Discussion: The development of medical social work in Taiwan, the characteristics of social work regulation, and the next step in the development of social work professionalization were discussed.