Category: Disaster Mental Health
Marcela Weber, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
North little Rock, Arkansas
Alyssa Wood, M.S.
University of Mississippi
Fairview Heights, Illinois
Stefan Schulenberg, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology, University of Mississippi
Taylor, Mississippi
Mikaela Raley, M.S.
The University of Mississippi
Oxford, Mississippi
Marie Mesidor, Ph.D.
Central Arkansas Veterans Health System
Little Rock, Arkansas
Brandon Griffin, Ph.D.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
North Little Rock, Arkansas
Katharine Thomas, PhD
Baylor Scott & White Health
Waco, Texas
Marcela Weber, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
North little Rock, Arkansas
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic proliferated disaster behavioral health (DBH) research and practice worldwide. Cognitive-behavioral scholars and clinicians new to DBH should not overlook the longstanding interdisciplinary disaster science literature that applies to their work. For example, situating DBH within the Disaster Management Cycle framework (Khan et al., 2008, Pfefferbaum, 2012) organizes and clarifies how and when cognitive behavioral science can be harnessed to promote disaster resilience. The Disaster Management Cycle has three repeating phases: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. Preparedness is the phase before a disaster occurs, in which the aim of disaster management is to prepare for and minimize the impact of future disasters, including impact of disasters on behavioral health. Raley will report areas of preparedness and under-preparedness among university students in a tornado-prone region, addressing both their knowledge of tornadoes and preparedness to provide social support when a disaster strikes. During the Response phase, disaster management priorities are saving lives and minimizing immediate impacts. Mesidor will present on training healthcare workers in motivational interviewing for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in their patients, with implications for expanding the use of MI to increase effective disaster response behaviors. Minimizing the impact of a disaster on mental health of essential workers is a crucial component of Response phase disaster management. Griffin’s longitudinal study of healthcare workers’ anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic links adaptive anxiety trajectories to organizational and community resilience. Finally, Recovery is the phase of disaster management in which the priority is to restore pre-disaster activities, services, and psychological functioning. Thomas & Torres will describe the mental health needs of firefighters who responded to Hurricane Harvey, providing recommendations for developing peer support interventions for disaster first responders. Weber will present on inculcation of disaster preparedness values and increasing engagement in disaster preparedness behaviors as forms of posttraumatic growth among tornado survivors, a process that begins during the Recovery phase and continues into the Preparedness phase. The session will conclude with a facilitated discussion between the audience and the panel of presenters.
Presenter: Mikaela Raley, M.S. – The University of Mississippi
Co-author: Stefan E. Schulenberg, Ph.D. – Department of Psychology, University of Mississippi
Presenter: Marie M. Mesidor, Ph.D. – Central Arkansas Veterans Health System
Co-author: Jennifer Manuel, PhD – San Francisco VA Healthcare System
Co-author: Karen Seal, MD, MPH – San Francisco VA Healthcare System
Co-author: Jeffrey Pyne, MD – Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System
Presenter: Brandon Griffin, Ph.D. – University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Co-author: Patrick Coyle, PhD – La Salle University
Co-author: Marcela C. Weber, Ph.D. – University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Co-author: Charles Benight, PhD – Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience, University of Colorado- Colorado Springs
Co-author: Andrew Smith, PhD – Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Presenter: Katharine L. Thomas, PhD – Baylor Scott & White Health
Co-author: Emily Beattie, BA – Baylor Scott & White, Warriors Research Institute
Co-author: Jordan Smith, MPH – Baylor Scott & White, Warriors Research Institute
Co-author: Victoria Torres, MA – University of Mississippi
Co-author: Elizabeth Coe, PsyD – Baylor Scott & White, Warriors Research Institute
Co-author: Suzy B. Gulliver, Ph.D. – Texas A&M College of Medicine
Presenter: Marcela C. Weber, Ph.D. – University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Co-author: Stefan E. Schulenberg, Ph.D. – Department of Psychology, University of Mississippi