Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
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PFA Objectives
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Terms and Concepts
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Disasters on the Rise
According to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the
frequency of disasters caused by natural hazards has been increasing
Current global destabilization and armed conflicts will likely cause the number of
disasters to dramatically increase in the second decade of the millennium
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Surge of Demand: Mental Health Services after Disasters
When considering the mental health aspects of public health emergencies and disasters,
we are most concerned with the phenomenon of surge
Experiences in the United States and other countries has shown repeatedly that following
disasters, particularly those occasioned by violence, there is a surge of demand for
health services, including mental health
Sources: Galea et al. (2005). The epidemiology of post-traumatic stress disorder after disasters. Epidemiol Rev, 27:7891; Hamblin, J. (2004). What are the traumatic stress effects of
terrorism? www.ncptsd.org/facts/disasters/fs_terrorism.html; Lating, J. (2005). Psychological contagion effect. In G. Everly, Jr & C. Parker, eds, Mental Health Aspects of Disasters, 5158. 7
More Specifically
In an analysis of over 160 empirical studies conducted by Norris and her colleagues
(2006), 41% of studies revealed evidence of severe to very severe impairment
(interference with functioning) among a significant number of disaster survivors
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Surge of Demand: Mental Health Services after Disasters
Translating those statistics to actual demand, the increased demand for mental health
services may range from 1525% of the population directly affected
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Raphael, 1986
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The need to enhance surge capacity is self-evident;
the only question is: how?
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Recent Evidence Suggests:
1. Psychological crisis intervention can increase the perceptions of personal resilience and
preparedness, as well as enhance community resilience
OL McCabe; N Semon; JM Lating; GS Everly, Jr; et al. (In press). Developing an
academic-government-faith partnership to build disaster mental health preparedness
and community resilience: program description and lessons learned. Public Health
Reports.
GS Everly, Jr; OL McCabe, N Semon, CB Thompson, J Links. (2014). The
development of a model of psychological first aid (PFA) for non-mental health trained
public health personnel: the Johns Hopkins RAPID-PFA. Journal of Public Health
Management and Practice (online).
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Recent Evidence Suggests:
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Data May Suggest
If correct, collectively these data suggest that traditional mental health interventions may
be problematic when applied in disaster settings
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