Public disaster mental/behavioral health communication: Intervention across disaster phases

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 283 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Brian Houston, PhD
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Behavioral Health ◽  
Behavioral Outcomes ◽  
Communication Intervention ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Disaster Communication ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Communication Interventions

Background: Disasters have been found to significantly impact mental and behavioral health.1 A public health response to disaster seeks to ameliorate this impact by identifying mental/behavioral health effects resulting from an event and by promoting healthy disaster-related outcomes. Disaster communication interventions are effective tools that disaster managers can use to achieve these outcomes.Objectives: Based on a review of the literature, the objectives of this article are to describe disaster communication intervention activities and corresponding outcomes and to place those activities in a multiphase disaster communication framework.Results: The Disaster Communication Intervention Framework (DCIF) is proposed. Outcomes targeted by DCIF include improving individual and community preparedness and resilience; decreasing disaster-related distress; promoting wellness, coping, recovery, and resilience; helping a community make sense of what happened during and after a disaster; and rebuilding the community. Strategies for achieving these outcomes are described.Conclusions: DCIF provides a multiphase framework of public disaster mental/behavioral health communication intervention that can be used by disaster managers to improve mental and behavioral outcomes following a disaster.

The H1N1 Crisis: A Case Study of the Integration of Mental and Behavioral Health in Public Health Crises

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty Pfefferbaum ◽  
David Schonfeld ◽  
Brian W. Flynn ◽  
Ann E. Norwood ◽  
Daniel Dodgen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Behavioral Health ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Well Being ◽  
H1n1 Influenza ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Medical Emergencies ◽  
The Many

ABSTRACTIn substantial numbers of affected populations, disasters adversely affect well-being and influence the development of emotional problems and dysfunctional behaviors. Nowhere is the integration of mental and behavioral health into broader public health and medical preparedness and response activities more crucial than in disasters such as the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza pandemic. The National Biodefense Science Board, recognizing that the mental and behavioral health responses to H1N1 were vital to preserving safety and health for the country, requested that the Disaster Mental Health Subcommittee recommend actions for public health officials to prevent and mitigate adverse behavioral health outcomes during the H1N1 pandemic. The subcommittee's recommendations emphasized vulnerable populations and concentrated on interventions, education and training, and communication and messaging. The subcommittee's H1N1 activities and recommendations provide an approach and template for identifying and addressing future efforts related to newly emerging public health and medical emergencies. The many emotional and behavioral health implications of the crisis and the importance of psychological factors in determining the behavior of members of the public argue for a programmatic integration of behavioral health and science expertise in a comprehensive public health response.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2012;6:67–71)

You're not alone: A public health response to immigrant/refugee distress in the current sociopolitical context.

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (S1) ◽  
pp. 128-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca E. Ford-Paz ◽  
Catherine DeCarlo Santiago ◽  
Claire A. Coyne ◽  
Claudio Rivera ◽  
Sisi Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Sociopolitical Context

Responsibility and Blame

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Sharfstein
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Agency ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Difficult Situation ◽  
Health Training ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Public Health Training ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Sincere Apology

Issues of responsibility and blame are very rarely discussed in public health training, but are seldom forgotten in practice. Blame often follows a crisis, and leaders of health agencies should be able to think strategically about how to handle such accusations before being faced with the pain of dealing with them. When the health agency is not at all at fault, officials can make the case for a strong public health response without reservation. When the agency is entirely to blame, a quick and sincere apology can allow the agency to retain credibility. The most difficult situation is when the agency is partly to blame. The goal in this situation is to accept the appropriate amount of blame while working quickly to resolve the crisis.

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