Long-Term Impact of Disasters on the Public Health System: A Multi-Case Analysis

Nina Lorenzoni, Verena Stühlinger, Harald Stummer and Margit Raich
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Nina Lorenzoni: Department for Public Health, Health Services Research and Health Technology Assessment, UMIT TIROL—Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060 Hall in Tirol, Austria
Verena Stühlinger: Department for Public Health, Health Services Research and Health Technology Assessment, UMIT TIROL—Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060 Hall in Tirol, Austria
Harald Stummer: Department for Public Health, Health Services Research and Health Technology Assessment, UMIT TIROL—Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060 Hall in Tirol, Austria
Margit Raich: Department for Public Health, Health Services Research and Health Technology Assessment, UMIT TIROL—Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060 Hall in Tirol, Austria

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: As past events have shown, disasters can have a tremendous impact on the affected population’s health. However, research regarding the long-term impact on a systems level perspective is still scarce. In this multi-case study, we analyzed and compared the long-term impacts on the public health system of five disasters which took place in Europe: avalanche (Austria), terror attack (Spain), airplane crash (Luxembourg), cable-car tunnel fire (Austria), and a flood in Central Europe. We used a mixed-methods approach consisting of a document analysis and interviews with key stakeholders, to examine the various long-term impacts each of the disasters had on health-system performance, as well as on security and health protection. The results show manifold changes undertaken in the fields of psychosocial support, infrastructure, and contingency and preparedness planning. The holistic approach of this study shows the importance of analyzing long-term impacts from the perspective of the type (e.g., disasters associated with natural hazards) and characteristic (e.g., duration and extent) of a disaster, as well as the regional context where a disaster took place. However, the identified recurring themes demonstrate the opportunity of learning from case studies in order to customize the lessons and apply them to the own-disaster-management setting.

Keywords: long-term impact; disaster; public health; case study; disaster management; multi-case analysis; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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