Within the realm of disaster recovery, US policy has principally focused on the recovery of place rather than the recovery of person. Although the research community has examined the impact of disasters on individuals, the focus has often been on psychopathological effects, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, or psychosomatic disorders. Little work has been done to examine the long- term arc of recovery in disaster victims, why and how such recovery varies among various sub-populations, and the interventions that might accelerate that process. This study capitalizes on a large contemporary disaster cohort, the Gulf Coast Child and Family Health study, and the partnership with other major Katrina cohorts and studies being conducted as part of the Katrina@10 Program. This work will extend and refine a socio-ecological model of disaster recovery. Based upon in-person structured interviews and on qualitative focus groups, the research will examine the social, psychological, and ecological factors associated with individual recovery. Accordingly, the specific aims of the project include: (1) developing a better understanding of long-term recovery, as both an outcome and as a process; (2) developing a better understanding of the factors that predict long-term recovery, from multiple perspectives (individual, household, and neighborhood-level); (3) exploring the ways that recovery differs between youth exposed to disasters and adults exposed to disasters; (4) and refining and testing a model that could predict disaster recovery, based on publicly available secondary data and limited socio-demographic information. This research is important for a number of reasons. First, it addresses a significant need to develop outcome measures specific to long-term recovery. Second, it advances an empirical basis for socio-ecological models of post-disaster consequences, which has largely been lacking in the research literature. Third, a socio-ecological framework can inform disaster recovery policy, potentially accelerating re-settlement and return to productive capacity. Fourth, the model has broader relevance to disparities research, particularly as it relates to precursor factors associated with social vulnerability.
Most studies of disaster-related outcomes focus on acute needs and short-term effects. The focus of this research on long-term outcomes of recovery and positive adaptation among children and families will contribute to the development of public health policies of disaster-response and preparedness that may minimize the long-term adverse affects. This research can also contribute to the broader public health discussion of the impacts of the social effects of risk and adverse conditions on vulnerable populations.
| Morris, Katherine Ann; Deterding, Nicole M (2016) The emotional cost of distance: Geographic social network dispersion and post-traumatic stress among survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Soc Sci Med 165:56-65 |
| Fussell, Elizabeth; Harris, Elizabeth (2014) Homeownership and Housing Displacement after Hurricane Katrina among Low-Income African-American Mothers in New Orleans. Soc Sci Q 95:1086-1100 |
