Psychosocial responses to disaster: An Asian perspective

Sundram, Suresh; Karim, Mohammad Ehsanul; Ladrido-Ignacio, Lourdes; Maramis, Albert; Mufti, Khalid A.; Nagaraja, D; Shinfuku, Naotaka; Somasundaram, Daya; Udomratn, Pichet; Zou, Yue; Ahsan, Ali Imam; Chaudhry, Haroon Rashid; Chowdhury, Sabyasachi; D’Souza, Russell; Zeng, Dongfeng; Firoz, A H M; Hamid, Mohd Ariffudin Abdul; Indradjaya, Stephanus; Math, Suresh Bada; Mustafizur, Rahman A.H.M.; Naeem, Farooq; Wahab, M.A.

doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2008.07.004

Cited by 21 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Data was obtained through participant observation; case studies and Key Informant (KI) interviews; and Focus Groups (FG) discussions. Participant observation of the general population of this area, their day to day life, psychosocial functioning, context and dynamics was done while working in the mental health field and compared to earlier periods, before and during the war as well after the tsunami [7,8,102,103]. The overall methods adopted here were very similar to Brandon Hamber’s [104] research into the post-Apartheid South African experience:…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As after the Tsunami, a large relief, recovery, rehabilitation and development effort to address the needs of this population has to be launched. A good guide that could be implemented is what has been recommended in similar situations by the WHO [36] and other international humanitarian organizations like the minimum standards of the Sphere Project [37] and the IASC guidelines [38] as was done after the tsunami in the North [103,126]. The IASC recommends that after addressing basic needs like food, shelter, security, basic health care; a Mental Health and Psychosocial Support or ‘MHPSS response in participatory, safe and socially appropriate ways that protect local people’s dignity, strengthen local social supports and mobilize community networks’ (see Figure 4) should be implemented.…”

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rebuilding community resilience in a post-war context: developing insight and recommendations - a qualitative study in Northern Sri Lanka

Somasundaram

Sivayokan

2013

Int J Ment Health Syst

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123

105

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BackgroundIndividuals, families and communities in Northern Sri Lanka have undergone three decades of war trauma, multiple displacements, and loss of family, kin, friends, homes, employment and other valued resources. The objective of the study was understanding common psychosocial problems faced by families and communities, and the associated risk and protective factors, so that practical and effective community based interventions can be recommended to rebuild strengths, adaptation, coping strategies and resilience.MethodsThis qualitative, ecological study is a psychosocial ethnography in post-war Northern Sri Lanka obtained through participant observation; case studies; key- informant interviews; and focus groups discussions with mental health and psychosocial community workers as well as literature survey of media and organizational reports. Qualitative analysis of the data used ethnography, case studies, phenomenology, grounded theory, hermeneutics and symbolic interactionism techniques. Quantitative data on suicide was collected for Jaffna and Killinochchi districts.ResultsComplex mental health and psychosocial problems at the individual, family and community levels in a post-war context were found to impair recovery. These included unresolved grief; individual and collective trauma; insecurity, self-harm and suicides; poverty and unemployment; teenage and unwanted pregnancies; alcoholism; child abuse and neglect; gender based violence and vulnerability including domestic violence, widows and female headed-household, family conflict and separation; physical injuries and handicap; problems specific for children and elderly; abuse and/or neglect of elderly and disabled; anti-social and socially irresponsible behaviour; distrust, hopelessness, and powerlessness. Protective factors included families; female leadership and engagement; cultural and traditional beliefs, practices and rituals; and creative potential in narratives, drama and other arts. Risk factors that were impeding community rehabilitation and recovery included continuing military governance, depletion of social capital particularly lack of trust, hope and socio-economic opportunity structures for development that would engender a sense of collective efficacy.ConclusionsIn view of the widespread trauma at the individual, family and collective levels, community based programmes to increase local awareness, knowledge and skills to deal with common mental health and psychosocial issues; and training of community level workers and others in basic mental health and psychosocial problem solving are recommended to rebuild family and community agency and resilience. The use of cultural practices and school based programmes would rekindle community processes.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rebuilding community resilience in a post-war context: developing insight and recommendations - a qualitative study in Northern Sri Lanka

Somasundaram

Sivayokan

2013

Int J Ment Health Syst

Self Cite

123

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Although a large number of psychological aid workers, including clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and volunteer psychosocial workers came to the disaster-stricken areas after the earthquake (Sundram et al, 2008;Zhang & Sun, 2009), little is known about the mental health consequences of the disaster. As part of the psychological relief program supported by the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, we organized and conducted a community-based mental health investigation among adults in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County (Beichuan County), which was most severely affected by the earthquake.…”

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confidence: 99%

Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder among adult survivors three months after the Sichuan earthquake in China

Wang

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2009

Journal of Traumatic Stress

105

101

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The study investigated the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated risk factors among adult survivors 3 months after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China. One thousand five hundred sixty-three earthquake survivors in two communities participated in the study. The prevalence of probable PTSD was 37.8% and 13.0%, respectively, in the two communities that were affected differently by the earthquake. The significant predictive factors for the severity of PTSD symptoms were female gender, subnationality, lower educational level, lower social support, and higher initial exposure level. The results indicate that PTSD is also a common mental health problem among earthquake survivors in China. Given inadequate knowledge and practices concerning the mental health of disaster victims in China, the information provided by this study is useful for directing, strengthening, and evaluating disaster-related mental health needs and interventions after the earthquake.

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“…The collective learnt experience from Asian natural disasters may be constructively used to plan strategies to respond appropriately to the psychosocial consequences of disaster both within Asia and in the rest of the world. (Sundram et al, 2008). Psychosocial training will then be directed towards more applicable things in accordance with psychosocial factors and principles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Student Capacity in Disaster Preparedness through Psychosocial Training

Handaka¹,

Septikasari²

2019

Proceedings of the First International Conference on Progressive Civil Society (ICONPROCS 2019)

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Psychosocial knowledge and skills are very important considering guidance and counseling services are also needed in crisis counseling during disaster response. This refers to the Minister of Education and Culture number 23 of 2008 concerning Indonesian Counselor Competency Standards (SKKI), counselors must have professional competence to master counseling service practices in various areas of individual life. Ideally the competence of the counselor must be in accordance with the rules in SKKI, but the fact that psychosocial service competencies are not yet possessed by the guidance and counseling study program students. Therefore, the Guidance and Counseling Study Program carries out psychosocial training for students. The purpose of this study was to analyze student capacity building in disaster preparedness through psychosocial training organized by the Guidance and Counseling Study Program. This research is a qualitative research with data collection in-depth interviews, observations, and documentation. The results showed that (1) there was an increase in students' knowledge and skills related to psychosocial, (2) students were very active in participating in training, (3) students needed further training to increase psychosocial capacity for disaster preparedness.

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Psychosocial responses to disaster: An Asian perspective

Cited by 21 publications

References 14 publications

Rebuilding community resilience in a post-war context: developing insight and recommendations - a qualitative study in Northern Sri Lanka

Rebuilding community resilience in a post-war context: developing insight and recommendations - a qualitative study in Northern Sri Lanka

Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder among adult survivors three months after the Sichuan earthquake in China

Increasing Student Capacity in Disaster Preparedness through Psychosocial Training

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