Care of Children Exposed to the Traumatic Effects of Disaster addresses the effects of disaster on children and their families, and explores the various resources that mental health practitioners and others who routinely interact with children, such as teachers, first responders, health care professionals, child care providers, child welfare professionals, and faith-based community members, can use to help them in their hour of need. The three co-authors have had extensive, and intensive, experience working with disaster victims and preparing both professionals and laypeople to intervene effectively in extreme events. Those on the front lines will find the book's practical and insightful observations, techniques, and strategies indispensible. Specifically, the book Explains not only how to provide basic support services and brief interventions but how to recognize children in distress, to actively support positive coping skills, to monitor children's well-being in the aftermath of disaster and to identify those who need more intensive evaluation and intervention. Encompasses a broad range of disasters, from the "natural" (such as earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and hurricanes) to the human generated (such as wars, civil strife, ethnic conflict, and acts of terrorism). Provides a timeline of psychological responses to disaster, with its impact phase and cascade of secondary adversities in the aftermath of disaster, which establishes helpful benchmarks to those providing support. Includes numerous tables and figures that convey complex information in an intuitive, easy-to-understand way. Care of Children Exposed to the Traumatic Effects of Disaster emphasizes the critical importance of effective therapeutic intervention -- which restores function, enhances recovery, and creates a safe and secure environment -- and explains how to mobilize family and social supports to achieve that goal.

The psychological consequences of disasters for children are often slighted in disaster management. Children are uniquely vulnerable, as they are still maturing physically, emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Mental health and psychosocial support services are typically overlooked, delayed, and/or haphazard during response and recovery efforts. All too often children and families usually have limited access to mental health treatment services once the emergency is past. Care of Children Exposed to the Traumatic Effects of Disaster is designed to provide professional and volunteer disaster responders, including community members, who routinely interact with children with the tools they need to support, intervene, and identify children who need additional help overcoming the traumatic effects of extreme events. The authors are experts in psychiatry and public health, and not only understand the psychological responses to trauma and disaster, but know what to do to mitigate them. The book is eloquently and compassionately written, and the authors succeed in both communicating their vision and teaching the practical techniques readers need to realize it. This is an indispensable book for an unpredictable world.

In the devastation that follows a major disaster, there is a need for multiple sectors to unite and devote new resources to support the rebuilding of infrastructure, the provision of health and social services, the restoration of care delivery systems, and other critical recovery needs. In some cases, billions of dollars from public, private and charitable sources are invested to help communities recover. National rhetoric often characterizes these efforts as a "return to normal." But for many American communities, pre-disaster conditions are far from optimal. Large segments of the U.S. population suffer from preventable health problems, experience inequitable access to services, and rely on overburdened health systems. A return to pre-event conditions in such cases may be short-sighted given the high costs - both economic and social - of poor health. Instead, it is important to understand that the disaster recovery process offers a series of unique and valuable opportunities to improve on the status quo. Capitalizing on these opportunities can advance the long-term health, resilience, and sustainability of communities - thereby better preparing them for future challenges. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters identifies and recommends recovery practices and novel programs most likely to impact overall community public health and contribute to resiliency for future incidents. This book makes the case that disaster recovery should be guided by a healthy community vision, where health considerations are integrated into all aspects of recovery planning before and after a disaster, and funding streams are leveraged in a coordinated manner and applied to health improvement priorities in order to meet human recovery needs and create healthy built and natural environments. The conceptual framework presented in Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters lays the groundwork to achieve this goal and provides operational guidance for multiple sectors involved in community planning and disaster recovery. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters calls for actions at multiple levels to facilitate recovery strategies that optimize community health. With a shared healthy community vision, strategic planning that prioritizes health, and coordinated implementation, disaster recovery can result in a communities that are healthier, more livable places for current and future generations to grow and thrive - communities that are better prepared for future adversities.

The Oklahoma City bombing, intentional crashing of airliners on September 11, 2001, and anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001 have made Americans acutely aware of the impacts of terrorism. These events and continued threats of terrorism have raised questions about the impact on the psychological health of the nation and how well the public health infrastructure is able to meet the psychological needs that will likely result. Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism highlights some of the critical issues in responding to the psychological needs that result from terrorism and provides possible options for intervention. The committee offers an example for a public health strategy that may serve as a base from which plans to prevent and respond to the psychological consequences of a variety of terrorism events can be formulated. The report includes recommendations for the training and education of service providers, ensuring appropriate guidelines for the protection of service providers, and developing public health surveillance for preevent, event, and postevent factors related to psychological consequences.

Is your church prepared to respond if natural disaster or human tragedy strikes your community? Jamie Aten and David Boan, codirectors of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, provide this practical guide for disaster preparedness, filled with resources for emergency planning and crisis management plus best practices for local congregations.

"Assessing and Treating Youth Exposed to Traumatic Stress is a cogent, caring, and comprehensive response to the reality that many children live lives of constant threat, fear, and confusion while lacking opportunities for positive social interactions, stimulation, and empowerment. Although the book is written for mental health clinicians, teachers and others who support traumatized youth will find this book an essential addition to their professional libraries. Identifying these children is the first step, and the importance of careful assessment through use of the clinical interview--in both individual and group settings--is emphasized. In addition, the population with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly diverse in terms of presentation and target symptoms, and the book explores differences in type, duration, and accumulation of trauma, age of insult, stress vulnerability, family history, and other individual factors. Nearly a dozen of treatment options are presented in the book, and they are distinguished by setting, such as clinic, home, or school, and modality, such as psychotherapy or pharmacology. Attention is also paid to preventive measures, most of which are school- or group-based, to increase resiliency where possible."--