Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T08:27:21.786Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

15 - Public health and disaster mental health: preparing, responding, and recovering

from Part V - Public health and disaster psychiatry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2009

Robert J. Ursano
Affiliation:
Professor and Chairman Department of Psychiatry Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Carol S. Fullerton
Affiliation:
Research Professor Department of Psychiatry Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Lars Weisaeth
Affiliation:
Professor Division of disaster psychiatry University of the Oslo/ The Military Medical
Beverly Raphael
Affiliation:
Professor University of Western Sydney
Robert J. Ursano
Affiliation:
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Maryland
Carol S. Fullerton
Affiliation:
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Maryland
Lars Weisaeth
Affiliation:
Universitetet i Oslo
Beverley Raphael
Affiliation:
University of Western Sydney
Get access

Summary

Mental health experts are an essential part of planning for and responding to disasters. However, across nations, public mental health planning and care vary greatly from systems in which all healthcare is national and resources are substantial, to those in which no mental healthcare is available or the public resources are greatly limited. Regardless of resources, disasters challenge mental health systems in nearly all nations and communities.

In the United States, prior to the 1960s the mental health component of the public health system generally meant public mental hospitals. Beginning in the 1960s and continuing to the early 1970s, the public health-mental health system was the community mental health center. The early 1970s saw the start of a continuous erosion in the comprehensive mission originally included as part of community mental health. Today, with rare exception, the public health component of the United States mental health system refers to community based services for people with serious and persistent mental illness, not to a comprehensive public health approach to the entire mental health and behavioral needs of the community (Institute of Medicine, 2003). There is not a systematic approach to the provision of public medical care for mental health problems across the entire range of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention including health behaviors and traditional mental health – from community-based prevention programs to outpatient clinics, inpatient hospital care, and care in the primary care setting where most mental health problems present.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aguirre, B. E., Wenger, D. & Vigo, G. (1998). A test of the emergent norm theory of collective behavior. Sociological Forum, 13, 301–320.Google Scholar
Bonanno, G. A. (2004). Loss, trauma, and human resilience: have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events?The American Psychologist, 59, 20–28.Google Scholar
Bonanno, G. A., Galea, S., Bucciarelli, A. & Vlahov, D. (2006). Psychological resilience after disaster: New York city in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attack. Psychological Science: A Journal of the American Psychological Society, 17, 181–186.Google Scholar
Bryant, R. (2006). Early intervention and treatment of acute stress disorder. Presented at conference Early psychological intervention following mass trauma: the present and future directions. Valhalla, New York: New York Medical College, School of Public Health.
Card, J. J. (1983). Lives after Viet Nam. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books.
Davidson, J. R. T. (2006). After the tsunami: mental health challenges to the community for today and tomorrow. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 67, 3–8.Google Scholar
Elliott, J. R. & Pais, J. (2006). Race, class, and Hurricane Katrina: social differences in human responses to disaster. Social Science Research, 35, 295–321.Google Scholar
Engel, C. C. (2004). Somatization and multiple idiopathic physical symptoms: relationship to traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder. In Trauma and Health: Physical Health Consequences of Exposure to Extreme Stress, eds. Schnurr, P. P. & Green, B. L., pp. 191–215. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Engel, C. C., Jaffer, A., Adkins, J. et al. (2003). Population-based health care: a model for restoring community health and productivity following terrorist attack. In Terrorism and Disaster: Individual and Community Mental Health Interventions, eds. Ursano, R. J., Fullerton, C. S. & Norwood, A. E., pp. 287–307. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fischhoff, B., Gonzalez, R. M., Lerner, J. S. & Small, D. A. (2005). Evolving judgments of terror risks: foresight, hindsight, and emotion. Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied, 11, 124–139.Google Scholar
Flynn, B. W. (2003). Promoting psychosocial resilience in the face of terrorism. Briefing for members of the United States House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.
Foa, E. B., Keane, T. M. & Friedman, M. J., eds. (2000). Effective Treatments for PTSD: Practice Guidelines from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. New York: Guilford Press.
Galea, S., Ahern, J., Resnick, H.et al. (2002). Psychological sequelae of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. New England Journal of Medicine, 346, 982–987.Google Scholar
Gershon, R., Hogan, E., Qureshi, K. A. & Doll, L. (2004). Preliminary results from the world trade center evacuation study – New York City. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 53, 815–817.Google Scholar
Grieger, T. A., Fullerton, C. S. & Ursano, R. J. (2003a). Acute stress disorder, alcohol use, and perception of safety among hospital staff after sniper attacks. Psychiatric Services, 54, 1383–1387.Google Scholar
Grieger, T. A., Fullerton, C. S. & Ursano, R. J. (2003b). Posttraumatic stress disorder, alcohol use, and perceived safety after the terrorist attack on the pentagon. Psychiatric Services, 54, 1380–1382.Google Scholar
Institute of Medicine (IOM). (2003). Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism: A Public Health Strategy. National Academies of Science, Washington D.C.: National Academies Press.
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). (2003). Health care at the crossroads. Strategies for creating and sustaining community-wide emergency preparedness systems. Washington, D.C.: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
Kessler, R. (2006). Overview of baseline survey results: Hurricane Katrina community advisory group. Available at: www.hurricanekatrina.med.harvard.edu, accessed May 13, 2007.
Lerner, J. S., Gonzalez, R. M., Small, D. A. & Fischhoff, B. (2003). Effects of fear and anger on perceived risks of terrorism: a national field experiment. Psychological Science, 14, 144–150.Google Scholar
Litz, B. T., Gray, M. J., Bryant, R. A. & Adler, A. B. (2002). Early intervention for trauma:current status and future directions. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 9, 112–134.Google Scholar
National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP). (2003). How Americans Feel about Terrorism and Security: Two Years after 9/11.New York: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in collaboration with The Children's Health Fund.
National Institute of Mental Health. (2002). Mental health and mass violence: evidence-based early psychological intervention for victims/survivors of mass violence. A workshop to reach consensus on best practices. Available at: www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/massviolence.pdf, accessed May 13, 2007. NIH Publication No. 02-5138, Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office.
Norris, F. H., Friedman, M. J. & Watson, P. J. (2002a). 60,000 disaster victims speak. Part II: Summary and implications of the disaster mental health research. Psychiatry, 65, 240–260.Google Scholar
Norris, F. H., Friedman, M. J., Watson, P. J.et al. (2002b). 60,000 disaster victims speak. Part I: An empirical review of the empirical literature: 1981–2001. Psychiatry, 65, 207–239.Google Scholar
North, C. S., Nixon, S. J., Shariat, S.et al. (1999). Psychiatric disorders among survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing. Journal of the American Medical Association, 282, 755–762.Google Scholar
Pfefferbaum, B. & Doughty, D. E. (2001). Increased alcohol use in a treatment sample of Oklahoma City bombing victims. Psychiatry, 64, 296–303.Google Scholar
Pfefferbaum, B. & Pfefferbaum, R. L. (1998). Contagion in stress: an infectious disease model for posttraumatic stress in children. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 7, 183–194.Google Scholar
Prigerson, H. G., Shear, M. K., Jacobs, S. C.et al. (1999). Consensus criteria for traumatic grief: a preliminary empirical test. British Journal of Psychiatry, 174, 67–73.Google Scholar
Raphael, B. (2006). Systems, science and populations: effective early intervention following mass trauma: the roles of government, clinicians and communities. Presented at conference Early psychological intervention following mass trauma: the present and future directions. Valhalla, NY: New York Medical College, School of Public Health.
Raphael, B. & Minkov, C. (1999). Abnormal grief. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 12, 99–102.Google Scholar
Raphael, B. & Wooding, S. (2004). Early mental health interventions for traumatic loss in adults. In Early Intervention for Trauma and Traumatic Loss, ed. Litz, B. T., pp. 147–178. New York: Guilford Press.
Raphael, B. Martinek, N. & Wooding, S. (2004). Assessing traumatic bereavement. In Assessing Psychological Trauma and PTSD, 2nd edn., eds. Wilson, J. P. & Keane, T. M., pp. 492–510. New York: Guilford Press.
Rundell, J. R. (2003). A consultation-liaison psychiatry approach to disaster/terrorism victim assessment and management. In Terrorism and Disaster: Individual and Community Mental Health Interventions, eds. Ursano, R. J., Fullerton, C. F. & Norwood, A. E., pp. 107–120. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sampson, R. J. (2003). The neighborhood context of well-being. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 46 (3 Suppl), S53–S64.Google Scholar
Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W. & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: a multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918–924.Google Scholar
Schwarz, E. D. & Kowalski, J. M. (1991). Malignant memories: PTSD in children and adults after a school shooting. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 936–944.Google Scholar
Shear, K., Frank, E., Houck, P. R. & Reynolds, C. F. (2005). Treatment of complicated grief. A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 293, 2601–2608.Google Scholar
Sorenson, S. B. (2002). Preventing traumatic stress: public health approaches. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15, 3–7.Google Scholar
Tucker, J. B. (1997). National health and medical services response to incidents of chemical and biological terrorism. Journal of the American Medical Association, 278, 362–368.Google Scholar
Ursano, R. J. (1981). The Vietnam era prisoner of war: precaptivity personality and development of psychiatric illness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 315–318.Google Scholar
Ursano, R. J. (2002). Post-traumatic stress disorder. New England Journal of Medicine, 34, 130–131.Google Scholar
Ursano, R. J. (2005). Workplace preparedness for terrorism: report of findings to Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Available at: www.usuhs.mil/psy/WorkplacePrepared nessTerrorism.pdf, accessed May 13, 2007.
Ursano, R. J. & Blumenfield, M. (2006). Concluding remarks. Presented at conference Early psychological intervention following mass trauma: present and future directions. Valhalla, NY: New York Medical College, School of Public Health.
Ursano, R. J. & Norwood, A. E., eds. (2003). Trauma and Disaster: Responses and Management. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Ursano, R. J., Grieger T. A. & McCarroll, J. E. (1996). Prevention of posttraumatic stress: consultation, training, and early treatment. In Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body and Society, eds. Kolk, B. A. vander, McFarlane, A. C. & Weisaeth, L., pp. 441–462. New York: Guilford Press.
Ursano, R. J., Fullerton, C. S. & Norwood, A. E. (2001). Planning for terrorism: behavioral and mental health responses to weapons of mass destruction and mass disruption (DTIC: A392688: 189 pages). Bethesda, Md.: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Ursano, R. J., Fullerton, C. S. & Norwood, A. E. (2002). Responding to terrorism: individuals and community needs (DTIC: A406540: 186 pages). Bethesda, Md.: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Ursano, R. J., Norwood, A. E. & Fullerton, C. S. (2004). Behavioral and mental health responses to bioterrorism: needs for the public's health. In Bioterrorism: Psychological and Public Health Interventions, eds. Ursano, R. J., Norwood, A. E. & Fullerton, C. S., pp. 332–348. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Vlahov, D., Galea, S., Resnick, H.et al. (2002). Increased use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana among Manhattan, New York, residents after the September 11th terrorist attacks. American Journal of Epidemiology, 155, 988–996.Google Scholar
Weisler, R. H., Barbee, J. G. & Townsend, M. H. (2006). Mental health and recovery in the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Journal of the American Medical Association, 296, 585–588.Google Scholar
Wessely, S. (2005). Victimhood and resilience. New England Journal of Medicine, 353, 548–550.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×