Perceived Service Need After Hurricane Sandy in a Representative Sample of Survivors: The Roles of Community-Level Damage and Individual-Level Stressors

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 428-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Sampson ◽  
Sarah R. Lowe ◽  
Oliver Gruebner ◽  
Gregory H. Cohen ◽  
Sandro Galea

AbstractObjectiveWe aimed to explore how individually experienced disaster-related stressors and collectively experienced community-level damage influenced perceived need for mental health services in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study we analyzed 418 adults who lived in the most affected areas of New York City at the time of the storm. Participants indicated whether they perceived a need for mental health services since the storm and reported on their exposure to disaster-related stressors (eg, displacement, property damage). We located participants in communities (n=293 census tracts) and gathered community-level demographic data through the US Census and data on the number of damaged buildings in each community from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Modeling Task Force.ResultsA total of 7.9% of participants reported mental health service need since the hurricane. Through multilevel binomial logistic regression analysis, we found a cross-level interaction (P=0.04) between individual-level exposure to disaster-related stressors and community-level building damage. Individual-level stressors were significantly predictive of individual service needs in communities with building damage (adjusted odds ratio: 2.56; 95% confidence interval: 1.58-4.16) and not in communities without damage.ConclusionIndividuals who experienced individual stressors and who lived in more damaged communities were more likely to report need for services than were other persons after Hurricane Sandy. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:428–435)

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn R. Currie ◽  
Kirsten Fiest ◽  
Lindsay Guyn

The effect of social determinants of health on depression prevalence and treatment access was examined using community survey and administrative data on mental health service users in the Calgary Health Region (CHR). Consistent with national prevalence data, depression was significantly associated with female gender, younger age, and health risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, and obesity. The prevalence of depression causing interference in daily functioning across 19 social districts (subregions within the CHR) was significantly related to community-level indicators of single-parent status, low-income families, and low educational achievement in each district. Disparities in treatment access were also found with persons living in the most impoverished districts having the lowest rates of accessing professional mental health services.


2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Muijen

We are living in significant and challenging times for mental health services across the world. On the one hand, many countries are in the middle of comprehensive reforms of their mental health systems, and these require funding (WHO Europe, 2008). On the other, they are affected by the global financial crisis as regional and national economic recessions threaten to herald a social crisis in many countries. Governments have had to come up with multi-billion-dollar rescue packages. At an individual level, debt status is already high in many countries, owing to falling house prices and high consumption levels, combined with rising commodity prices during the past few years, before the onset of the recession. At a public level, countries will be forced to make stringent cuts in public sector expenditure.


2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 1023-1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Conn ◽  
John Snowdon

The high prevalence of mental disorders among residents of long-term care (LTC) homes is highlighted in the paper by Seitz et al. in this special issue of International Psychogeriatrics. The International Psychogeriatric Association's Task Force on Mental Health Services in LTC Homes was formed in 2005 with two goals: (1) to gather information and share views from diverse countries and settings about how best to restore or ensure good mental health in LTC settings; and (2) to support and strengthen mental health services in the LTC sector. Since its formation, groups of members of the Task Force have visited residential facilities in Stockholm, Lisbon, Istanbul, Osaka, Dublin, Montreal and the Netherlands. Members have also reported on visits to LTC homes in the U.S.A., U.K., Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Nigeria. Further visits have been arranged during the IPA's meeting in Spain in September 2010. Information has also been provided by members in discussion groups and in response to a Task Force survey about facilities in various other countries.


CNS Spectrums ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-163
Author(s):  
Julia Luu Hoang ◽  
Richard J. Lee

AbstractThe National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS, 2002–2003, n =2095) indicated that Asian-Americans (AA) use mental health services less frequently than the general population (8.6% vs. 17.95%). Even AA who have been diagnosed with mental health disorders use mental health services less frequently than their non-AA counterparts (34.1% versus 41.1%)2. AA in Riverside County count for 7.4% of the population, or about 181,356 individuals, according to the 2018 census estimates. The objective of the study is to examine and compare rates of utilization of mental health services by AA specifically in the Riverside County setting. This study utilizes data on patients’ ethnicity, age, gender, and diagnosis as collected annually by the Riverside County Department of Mental Health from the fiscal year of 2017–2018. It compares the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and the rate of utilization of mental health services by AA in the county to the data collected by the NLAAS. The total number of AA using mental health services in Riverside County is 669, which totals 1.73% of all individuals accessing the same services. The number of AA using mental health services represented 0.45% of the total AA population in Riverside County. AA in Riverside County are utilizing MH services even less than the national rates (0.45% vs 8.6% nationally from NLAAS data). The gap in care illustrated by these results exemplifies not only the disparity in utilization of MH services seen in this particular ethnic group, but portrays the stagnant results from Riverside County s attempts to address this issue. Possible reasons for the disparity include lack of access, stigma, recovery, migration, and a lack of culturally-competent care. A reimagined outreach initiative may help to better address this issue. Riverside County already has implemented an AA Task Force, holds health fairs at local churches in the communities, supports a UCR School of Medicine student-run free clinic, and is active in NAMI events.


2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 307
Author(s):  
Vijaya Raghavan ◽  
A Kulandesu ◽  
S Karthick ◽  
S Senthilkumar ◽  
T Gunaselvi ◽  
...  

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