Local Volunteerism and Resilience Following Large-Scale Disaster: Outcomes for Health Support Team Volunteers in Haiti

Abstract

In-depth interviews with local Haitian volunteers trained in a psychological disaster recovery program called Health Support Team (HST) provide insight into the psychosocial outcomes resulting from their engagement with the program. Qualitative interviews were conducted with four male Haitian participants who had survived the January 2010 Haiti earthquake and had worked as HST volunteers for at least 6 months. Interviews were analyzed using narrative inquiry analysis, which allows individuals to discover and disclose a deeper meaning in their experience and enables the researchers to access more detailed data. Previous research supports the claim that volunteerism provides many important psychological benefits, and the results of the present study suggest that among survivors of large-scale disasters, volunteerism is beneficial as a means of increasing psychological resilience and facilitating personal recovery. Results and themes of our analysis included a reported increase in both hope and purpose for the respondents. Findings suggest that volunteerism on the part of members of the surviving community following large-scale disaster increases resilience among the volunteers and further contributes to their recovery.

Characteristics of Resilience Among Disaster Rescue Workers: A Systematic Review

“…The quality score for 11 studies was 50, 20,32,[35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] while the quality score for 13 studies was 75. 26,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] However, the remaining seven studies only achieved a quality score of 25. [55][56][57][58][59][60][61] Since all of the studies were considered relevant and valuable in contributing to a better understanding of the characteristics of resilience, they were all included in this review.…”

“…39 Police officers were also at a lower risk of developing PTSD than those in other occupations. [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] The prevalence of PTSD, depression, and psychological distress was lower among firefighters (1.6%, 3.8%, and 2.6%) than among municipal workers (6.6%, 15.9%, and 14.9%) and medical workers (6.6%, 14.3%, and 14.5%).…”

“…51 Hispanic-American rescuers reported more severe symptoms of PTSD than European-American and African-American rescuers. [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] Yet another study reported that responders from visible minority groups were more resilient than whites. 55 In addition, rescue workers with previous traumatic experiences have been found to be prone to suffering from psychological problems, such as PTSD and depression, after a disaster rescue.…”

“…A qualitative study found that voluntary rescuers who had a sense of hope had a high level of psychological resilience after a large-scale disaster than those who did not. 43 A study of 1553 humanitarian aid workers indicated that those with a hopeful outlook had a high level of resilience. 52 Another study noted that rescue workers deployed during 9/11 who were without a sense of hope were at a higher risk of developing symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression 6 months after the disaster, compared to non-deployed rescuers.…”

The Volunteer's Needs and Preparedness in Assisting Natural Disaster Victims

“…Menurut Tillman (2016), keperluan bantuan latihan khusus tindakbalas dan penjagaan mangsa akan membantu sukarelawan memperkukuhkan kemahiran dan kepakaran sedia ada. Oleh itu, dalam konteks bencana yang besar organisasi sukarelawan perlu mengenalpasti keperluan sumber, intervensi, dan latihan yang bersesuaian dikalangan sukarelawan (Carlile et al, 2014). Keperluan yang dikenalpasti juga mampu membantu kesediaan sukarelawan terutama sekali dari sudut pengendalian emosi apabila membantu mangsa bencana.…”