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Psychosocial responses to disaster: An Asian perspective.
Suresh Sundram1, M E Karim, Lourdes Ladrido-Ignacio
1Mental Health Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Northern Psychiatry Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia.
Asian Journal of Psychiatry
|October 12, 2012
Summary
Great natural disasters significantly impact mental health. This study outlines psychosocial intervention strategies from nine Asian nations, offering general principles for disaster response and mental health system adaptation globally.
Area of Science:
- Disaster mental health
- Psychosocial intervention
- Global public health
Background:
- Understanding the psychological and psychiatric impact of natural disasters is crucial for developing effective interventions.
- Limited data exists on disaster mental health from the Asian continent, despite its high exposure to catastrophic events.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline psychosocial intervention efforts in nine Asian nations following large-scale natural disasters.
- To identify general principles for psychosocial disaster intervention based on collective experiences.
Main Methods:
- Review of psychosocial intervention reports from nine Asian nations during natural disasters.
- Analysis of responses in contexts with varying service capacities, from functional to overwhelmed systems.
Main Results:
- Key intervention principles include disaster assessment, understanding cultural help-seeking, facilitating family reunion and grief rituals, and supporting community activities.
- Training community, aid, and health workers via a train-the-trainer model is vital for identifying cases and providing psychoeducation.
- Minimizing risk factors like displacement and promoting community psychoeducation are essential for long-term mental health recovery.
Conclusions:
- Learned experiences from Asian natural disasters can inform strategies for psychosocial consequences globally.
- Reshaping mental health systems to address long-term psychiatric sequelae is a critical component of disaster response.
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