Mental Health Protection in Emergencies and Disasters

MENTAL HEALTH PROTECTION AND DISASTER EMERGENCY Claudia Gomez Prieto 2003

Vulnerability, risk and RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

Adverse events generate not only the lives and damage to productive assets of a community, but the victims faced with losses, with a symbolic, historical and social.

Reducing disaster occurrence and severity of its consequences, means also face socio-cultural conditioning with development issues that deepen the threats, vulnerabilities and trigger disasters. That is, vulnerability and risk in these situations greatly affect human factors.

The predisposition to involvement (vulnerability) and resilience (resilience) play a key role in risk management actions.

The community resilience factors are related to the capabilities that they have to face, overcome, and become stronger through despite potentially traumatic experiences, such as emergencies and disasters.

COMMUNICATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH

The production of information seriously and responsibly, is an aspect of great importance for all sectors of the community and a great challenge for the institutions involved in the response and disaster management.

The existence of multiple victims, the wounded and dead, quickly becomes public knowledge, and a great community need to receive information.

It is undeniable that these events generate a high degree of political and social sensitivity, the magnitude of its consequences and the subsequent search for perpetrators.

Proper information management helps to minimize the consequences of events and collaborates with the community in restoring damaged everyday life.

The institutions in charge of the response must be made aware of the need and the right of the community be informed and thus must take the initiative in providing official, accurate, checked and updated.

The public notice when the person responsible for managing a critical situation takes the initiative in the information. This behavior can be interpreted as a manifestation of responsibility for the facts and sensitivity towards those involved in the problem.

The community needs official information on the actions carried out to cover the needs of victims, and the restoration of normal operation interrupted by the incident. Timely, accurate and official reduces uncertainty and rumor-mongering.

MEDIA

The media should be familiar with emergency management, so that the information disseminated is not sensational or cause confusion.

When official faltainformación or information is insufficient to trigger reactions are often distrustful of institutions, and consequently greater circulation of rumors, which hamper the recovery of the community.

It is necessary that the institutions involved develop strategic alliances with the media, in order to make them allies, and make them part of the solution of the problem and not flattering. In turn, the media must know the existing schedule (where possible participate in its development), as well as participate in the transmission of preparedness programs, awareness campaigns, achieving success, and so on.

In the context in which transmit and disseminate news, the media should keep in mind: to respect the privacy of those directly affected, injured and relatives, respecting and understanding the right to privacy in the death and the pain of others (to avoid unnecessary display images); respect the feelings of people in the process of grieving the loss of loved ones.

Suggestions for posts

Spread positive messages indicating that the victims are not alone and

evidencing the social fabric, the network that exists to contain the consequences.

Focusing on the importance of addressing the situation, save lives, act

solidarity and progress towards rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Addresses and phone Spread on places to go for ayuda.Orientar sending donations and discourage indiscriminate sending is clear that the acting authority who has responsibility for the definition of needs (taking into account the real needs of those affected) . Keeping the public informed on the evolution of the situation (state of health of the victims, decisions, investigations) to promote solidarity and participatory responses from the community,

The public may react negatively to a perceived threatening information: naturally risk situations can generate denial, helplessness and fear. In the mode of transmission of the message should be taken into account to avoid generating these reactions paralysis and denial.

On the other hand, people tend to consider passive agents deal with the situation. The media can assist in awareness activities for citizens to recognize their resources and possibilities for taking action to reduce risks.

COMMUNICATION AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MENTAL HEALTH PROTECTION

The contents of the information, the manner and time, must have expertise, since the affected population is very sensitive to the information disseminated.

The images often provoke feelings of pain, confusion, anxiety, disappointment, fear, insecurity, uncertainty, frustration and helplessness.

While the facts to be transmitted in a reliable, communicators need to recognize the psychological effects the transmission of this kind of news because in the population, through images, testimonials, stories and reports.



Communication in turn, may facilitate changes in behavior necessary to build a culture of prevention, not just to report on the emergency data. Is a need to develop programs to inform and raise awareness about the risks and know how to act properly when events occur.

Contact: claudiagomezprieto@gmail.com