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Not forgetting severe mental disorders in humanitarian emergencies: a descriptive study from the Philippines

WEINTRAUB, Ana Cecilia Andrade de Moraes
et al
November 2016

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"In response to the Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Médecins Sans Frontières-Operational Centre Brussels (MSF-OCB) decided to concentrate its efforts in the severely affected area of Guiuan and its four surrounding municipalities. The MSF-OCB intervention included a comprehensive approach to mental health, including care for people with pre-existing and post-disaster severe mental disorders. Based on this experience of providing MH care in the first five months after Typhoon Haiyan, we report on the monthly volume of MH activities and beneficiaries; sociodemographic and care seeking characteristics of beneficiaries receiving MH counselling/care, stratified by the severity of their condition; profile and outcomes of patients with severe mental disorders; prescribing practice of psychotropic medication; and main factors facilitating the identification and management of individuals with severe mental disorders"

International Health, Vol.8, No.5, pp. 336-344

Doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihw032

The 2015 Nepal earthquake(s): Lessons learned from the disability and rehabilitation sector's preparation for, and response to, natural disasters

LANDRY, Michel
SHEPHARD, Phillip
LEUNG, Kit
RETIS, Chiara
SALVADOR, Edwin
RAMAN, Sudha
November 2016

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This article outlines lessons learned from 2015 Nepal earthquake that can be applied to future disasters to reduce overall disability-related outcomes and more fully integrate rehabilitation in preparation and planning. Information is presented on disasters in general, and then specficially on the earthquake(s) in Nepal. Field experience in Nepal before, during, and after the earthquake is described, and actions that can and should be adopted prior to disasters as part of disability preparedness planning are examined. Emerging roles of rehabilitation providers such as physical therapists during the immediate and postdisaster recovery phases are discussed. Finally, approaches are suggested that can be adopted to “build back better” for, and with, people with disabilities in postdisaster settings such as Nepal.

 

Physical Therapy, Volume 96, Issue 11, 1 November 2016, Pages 1714–1723

https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20150677

 

Children with disabilities and disaster risk reduction : a review

RONOH, Steve
GAILLARD, JC
MARLOWE, Jay
March 2015

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Children with disabilities are often excluded from disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives and, as a result, can experience amplified physical, psychological, and educational vulnerabilities. Research on children with disabilities during disasters is lacking, and their potential value in helping shape inclusive policies in DRR planning has been largely overlooked by both researchers and policymakers. This article highlights the existing research and knowledge gap. The review includes literature from two areas of scholarship in relation to disasters—children, and people with disabilities—and provides a critique of the prevailing medical, economic, and social discourses that conceptualize disability and associated implications for DRR. The article analyzes the different models in which disability has been conceptualized, and the role this has played in the inclusion or exclusion of children with disabilities in DRR activities and in determining access to necessary resources in the face of disaster. Finally, the study explores possible pathways to studying the contribution and involvement of children with disabilities in DRR.

 

International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, Volume 6 Issue 1

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