Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
Keywords
disaster, flood, interventions, mental health, mental health accompaniment
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2017.33
Abstract
Background: Mental health is an important factor in responding to natural disasters. Observations of unmet mental health needs motivated the subsequent development of a community-based mental health intervention following one such disaster affecting Peru in 2017.
Methods: Two informal human settlements on the outskirts of Lima were selected for a mental health intervention that included: (1) screening for depression and domestic violence, (2) children's activities to strengthen social and emotional skills and diminish stress, (3) participatory theater activities to support conflict resolution and community resilience, and (4) community health worker (CHW) accompaniment to government health services.
Results: A total of 129 people were screened across both conditions, of whom 12/116 (10%) presented with depression and 21/58 (36%) reported domestic violence. 27 unique individuals were identified with at least one problem. Thirteen people (48%) initially accepted CHW accompaniment to government-provided services.
Conclusions: This intervention provides a model for a small-scale response to disasters that can effectively and acceptably identify individuals in need of mental health services and link them to a health system that may otherwise remain inaccessible.
Rights Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Global Mental Health, v. 5, art. e11
Scholar Commons Citation
Contreras, Carmen C.; Aguilar, M.; Eappen, B.; Guzmán, C.; Carrasco, P.; Millones, A. K.; and Galea, Jerome T., "Community Strengthening and Mental Health System Linking after Flooding in Two Informal Human Settlements in Peru: A Model for Small-Scale Disaster Response" (2018). Social Work Faculty Publications. 63.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/sok_facpub/63
