Create Social Responses to a Changing Environment

Abstract

County (UMBC) ScholarWorks@UMBC digital repository on the Maryland Shared Open Access (MD-SOAR) platform.

Rising above the Flood: A Systematic Review of Gerontological Social Work in Disaster Preparedness and Response

“…Two articles in this theme focus specifically on the current state of practice related to disaster mental health services for older adults. Gibson et al (2019) detailed three assessment and intervention phases which feature the role of social workers in effectively responding in the event of a disaster; a case study example was utilized to demonstrate the application of the assessments and interventions. Continuous assessment of immediate needs and exploration of mental health concerns should be completed by the social worker to facilitate immediate and long-term recovery efforts.…”

“…[Insert table 2 about here] In summary, the articles in this review describe the need for developing this area of practice, highlight the ways in which social work and the skills of social workers situate them to do this work, and describe the unique needs of the older adult in disasters. Gibson et al (2018Gibson et al ( , 2019 detailed frameworks for adequately providing support pre-disaster, during disaster, and post-disaster. NASW (2015) discussed the need to advance policies, and Banks (2013), Eichwald (2011), Barusch (2011) and Kusmaul et al (2018) depict possible specific ways in which social workers can engage with emergency management and argue for the need to develop training and practice guidelines to advance this area of practice.…”

“…There is a need for professional training and evidence-based programs to be developed, to effectively assist during disaster planning and response. Gibson, Kusmaul, Leedahl, & Rizzo (2019) Chapter in edited book, raising awareness of changing environment and the need to strengthen individual and community responses towards Most current models for the delivery of services to trauma survivors use a stepped care approach that offers 3 levels of mental health intervention and treatment, ranging from informal (public health worker and volunteer-delivered) to formal (licensed clinician-delivered). Each step has a respective assessment procedure and natural disasters, pollution, climate change, and the increasing global population.…”

“…• Need for educational resources and best practice guidelines, emergency preparedness checklists and actionable plans and procedures for all stages of disaster (Banks 2013;Eichwald 2011;Frahm et al, 2012;Gibson et al, 2018;Kusmaul et al, 2018) • Need to include home health in community emergency planning (Banks 2013;Gibson et al, 2018) • Need to advocate for policies addressing unique vulnerabilities of older adults with debilitating health or low SES, to advance community disaster preparedness and mental health services (Barusch 2011;Eichwald 2011;Claver, Dobalian, Fickle, Ricci, & Mallers 2013) • Social support must be acknowledged as a critical resource for older adults in coping with trauma (Gibson et al, 2019) • Physical and cognitive health challenges, specifically co-occurring conditions, are more common in older adults than younger and are exacerbated by disasters (Ellor & Mayo 2018)…”

“…The profession has further stated this commitment in the Grand Challenges for Social Work, calling for the creation of social responses to a changing environment (Gibson et al, 2019).…”