Psychosocial Management Before, During, and After Emergencies and Disasters—Results from the Kobe Expert Meeting

Mélissa Généreux, Philip J. Schluter, Sho Takahashi, Shiori Usami, Sonoe Mashino, Ryoma Kayano and Yoshiharu Kim
Additional contact information
Mélissa Généreux: Sherbrooke Hospital University Centre, Eastern Townships Integrated University Centre in Health and Social Services, Sherbrooke, QC J1J 3H5, Canada
Philip J. Schluter: School of Health Sciences, University of Canterbury—Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
Sho Takahashi: Department of Disaster Psychiatry, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8575, Japan
Shiori Usami: Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
Sonoe Mashino: Research Institute of Nursing Care for People and Community, University of Hyōgo, Akashi 673-8588, Japan
Ryoma Kayano: World Health Organization Centre for Health Development, Kobe 651-0073, Japan
Yoshiharu Kim: National Institute of Mental Health, National Center for Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira 187-0031, Japan

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 8, 1-8

Abstract: Emergencies and disasters typically affect entire communities, cause substantial losses and disruption, and result in a significant and persistent mental health burden. There is currently a paucity of evidence on safe and effective individual- and community-level strategies for improving mental health before, during, and after such events. In October 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre) convened a meeting bringing together leading Asia Pacific and international disaster research experts. The expert meeting identified key research needs in five major areas, one being “Psychosocial management before, during, and after emergencies and disasters”. Experts for this research area identified critical gaps in observational research (i.e., the monitoring of long-term psychological consequences) and interventional research (i.e., the development and evaluation of individual- and community-level interventions). Three key research issues were identified. First, experts underscored the need for a standardized and psychometrically robust instrument that classified the mental health/psychosocial risk of people within both a clinical and community setting. Then, the need for a standardization of methods for prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment for affected people was highlighted. Finally, experts called for a better identification of before, during, and after emergency or disaster assets associated with greater community resilience.

Keywords: health emergency and disaster risk management (Health-EDRM); Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction; WHO Thematic Platform for Health-EDRM Research Network; post-traumatic stress disorder; mental health impacts; psychosocial management; community resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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