Working with Disaster-Affected Communities to Envision Healthier Futures: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Post-Disaster Recovery Planning

Heather Rosenberg, Nicole A. Errett and David P. Eisenman
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Heather Rosenberg: Arup, Los Angeles, CA 90017, USA
Nicole A. Errett: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
David P. Eisenman: Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-8

Abstract: Disasters are becoming increasingly common and devastating, requiring extensive reconstruction and recovery efforts. At the same time, the level of available resources and the need to rebuild can present opportunities for more resilient land use and infrastructure, and to build healthier, more equitable and sustainable communities. However, disaster-affected individuals may experience trauma and mental health impacts that impede their ability to engage in long-range recovery planning. It is essential to consider and address community trauma when engaging with disaster-affected communities and in developing plans for recovery. Planners and engineers from outside the community (including public, private and non-profit practitioners) are often brought in to support long-term recovery. Most of these practitioners (particularly those focused on longer-range recovery) have no training in how disasters can affect mental health or what this could mean for their interactions with individuals or communities. In order to acknowledge and address disaster trauma in community recovery and redevelopment, we propose a trauma-informed approach which aims to provide practitioners supporting post-disaster community recovery planning guidance, in order to: avoid the causation of harm by re-traumatizing communities; better understand community needs; make sense of observed behaviors and avoid potential roadblocks; avoid becoming traumatized themselves; and facilitate community healing.

Keywords: disaster; recovery; planning; trauma-informed (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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