Mental health challenges and experiences in displaced populations following Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Harvey: the need for more comprehensive interventions in temporary shelters

Taioli, Emanuela; Tuminello, Stephanie; Lieberman‐Cribbin, Wil; Bevilacqua, Kristin; Schneider, Samantha; Sánchez-Guzmán, María Alejandra; Kerath, Samantha M

doi:10.1136/jech-2018-210626

Cited by 32 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Displacement to shelters often results in separation from social support networks and creates a disruption in normal psychological processes, particularly familiarity, attachment and identity, and decrease in perceived social support in the months following the hurricane, which in turn has been shown to be associated with increased symptoms of general psychological distress. Being moved from one shelter to another is traumatic, compounded by the limited amount of healthcare services (91).…”

Section: Airmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health: A Systematic Descriptive Review

Cianconi¹,

Betrò²,

2020

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Background: Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time. The consequences of climate change on exposed biological subjects, as well as on vulnerable societies, are a concern for the entire scientific community. Rising temperatures, heat waves, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, fires, loss of forest, and glaciers, along with disappearance of rivers and desertification, can directly and indirectly cause human pathologies that are physical and mental. However, there is a clear lack in psychiatric studies on mental disorders linked to climate change. Methods: Literature available on PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library until end of June 2019 were reviewed. The total number of articles and association reports was 445. From these, 163 were selected. We looked for the association between classical psychiatric disorders such as anxiety schizophrenia, mood disorder and depression, suicide, aggressive behaviors, despair for the loss of usual landscape, and phenomena related to climate change and extreme weather. Review of literature was then divided into specific areas: the course of change in mental health, temperature, water, air pollution, drought, as well as the exposure of certain groups and critical psychological adaptations. Results: Climate change has an impact on a large part of the population, in different geographical areas and with different types of threats to public health. However, the delay in studies on climate change and mental health consequences is an important aspect. Lack of literature is perhaps due to the complexity and novelty of this issue. It has been shown that climate change acts on mental health with different timing. The phenomenology of the effects of climate change differs greatly-some mental disorders are common and others more specific in relation to atypical climatic conditions. Moreover, climate change also affects different population groups who are directly exposed and more vulnerable in their geographical conditions, as well as a lack of access to resources, information, and protection. Perhaps it is also worth underlining that in some papers the connection between climatic events and mental disorders was described through the introduction of new terms, coined only recently: ecoanxiety, ecoguilt, ecopsychology, ecological grief, solastalgia, biospheric concern, etc. Conclusions: The effects of climate change can be direct or indirect, short-term or longterm. Acute events can act through mechanisms similar to that of traumatic stress, leading

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Section: Airmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health: A Systematic Descriptive Review

Cianconi¹,

Betrò²,

2020

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“…There is very little research on the relation between Hurricane Harvey and the themes outlined above. Unlike the vast majority of other post‐disaster analyses that entail convenience sampling (see, for example, Zhang et al, ; Schwartz et al, ; Taioli et al, ), the current study participants were initially randomly selected using a probability‐based design for a survey about social vulnerability to flood hazards in summer 2012. Follow up with some of the same set of respondents within 90 days of Harvey enables a pre‐/post‐event study design, which is uncommon among research on disasters (Horney et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Owing to the challenging logistics of engaging in social science research on disasters (Taioli et al, ), the more commonly employed ‘after‐only’ study designs habitually appraise people at shelters and community centres. These people have been most affected and may have the fewest resources with which to respond.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hurricane Harvey and Greater Houston households: comparing pre‐event preparedness with post‐event health effects, event exposures, and recovery

et al. 2019

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Most disaster studies rely on convenience sampling and ‘after‐only’ designs to assess impacts. This paper, focusing on Hurricane Harvey (2017) and leveraging a pre‐/post‐event sample of Greater Houston households (n=71) in the United States, establishes baselines for disaster preparedness and home structure flood hazard mitigation, explores household‐level ramifications, and examines how preparedness and mitigation relate to health effects, event exposures, and recovery. Between 70 and 80 per cent of participants instituted preparedness measures. Mitigation actions varied: six per cent had interior drainage systems and 83 per cent had elevated indoor heating/cooling components. Sixty per cent reported home damage. One‐half highlighted allergies and two‐thirds indicated some level of post‐traumatic stress (PTS). Three‐quarters worried about family members/friends. The results of generalised linear models revealed that greater pre‐ event mitigation was associated with fewer physical health problems and adverse experiences, lower PTS, and faster recovery. The study design exposed the broad benefits of home structure flood hazard mitigation for households after Harvey.

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“…20 Another study found that many persons who relocated to shelters after Harvey had high levels of anxiety as a result. 21 A survey of 41 persons in the Houston MSA found that hurricane exposure and property damage were associated with increased symptoms of PTS. 22 Although these studies identified health effects resulting from Harvey, they were not based on representative, population-based samples but instead were based on convenience samples.…”

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confidence: 99%

Disparities in Health Effects and Access to Health Care Among Houston Area Residents After Hurricane Harvey

et al. 2020

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Objectives Although research shows that public health is substantially affected during and after disasters, few studies have examined the health effects of Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall on the Texas coast in August 2017. We assessed disparities in physical health, mental health, and health care access after Hurricane Harvey among residents of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, Texas, metropolitan statistical area (ie, Houston MSA). Methods We used structured survey data collected through telephone and online surveys from a population-based random sample of Houston MSA residents (n = 403) collected from November 29, 2017, through January 6, 2018. We used descriptive statistics to describe the prevalence of physical health/mental health and health care access outcomes and multivariable generalized linear models to assess disparities (eg, based on race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability) in health outcomes. Results Physical health problems disproportionately affected persons who did not evacuate (odds ratio [OR] = 0.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.19-0.87). Non-Hispanic black persons were more likely than non-Hispanic white persons to have posttraumatic stress (OR = 5.03; 95% CI, 1.90-13.10), as were persons in households that experienced job loss post-Harvey (vs did not experience job loss post-Harvey; OR = 2.89; 95% CI, 1.14-7.32) and older persons (OR = 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.06). Health care access was constrained for persons whose households lost jobs post-Harvey (vs did not lose jobs post-Harvey; OR = 2.73; 95% CI, 1.29-5.78) and for persons with disabilities (vs without disabilities; OR = 3.19; 95% CI, 1.37-7.45). Conclusions Our findings underscore the need to plan for and ameliorate public health disparities resulting from climate change–related disasters, which are expected to occur with increased frequency and magnitude.

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Mental health challenges and experiences in displaced populations following Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Harvey: the need for more comprehensive interventions in temporary shelters

Cited by 32 publications

References 23 publications

The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health: A Systematic Descriptive Review

The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health: A Systematic Descriptive Review

Hurricane Harvey and Greater Houston households: comparing pre‐event preparedness with post‐event health effects, event exposures, and recovery

Disparities in Health Effects and Access to Health Care Among Houston Area Residents After Hurricane Harvey

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