Social context and the health consequences of disasters
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5055/ajdm.2006.0008Keywords:
disasters, social context, population health, framework, environmentAbstract
Disasters have been and will continue to be relatively common events in the human experience, and they make important contributions to variations in population health. There is a need, therefore, for conceptual models that identify the social and ecological factors influencing post-disaster consequences on population health. This article presents one such conceptual model which links the health consequences of natural, technological, and human-made disasters to a set of nested socioecological factors. Specifically, we attempt to link post-disaster consequences to aspects of the global and local environment and to highlight the roles played by social and ecological factors, including the social infrastructure, cultural beliefs, demography, and underlying historical and geographical circumstances. Examples from existing population-based health and disaster research are used to illustrate and amplify connections drawn from the model. From an applied standpoint, the model suggests that the role of multiple contextual determinants in shaping population health is likely to be complex. Practitioners interested in mitigating the consequences of disasters should pursue strategies that improve the underlying determinants of health, as well as practicable population- based interventions that could be implemented rapidly.References
Hoffman S, Oliver-Smith A (eds.): Catastrophe and Culture. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research, 2002.
Quarantelli EJ: What is a disaster? Six views of the problem. Int J Mass Emerg Dis. 1995; 13(3): 221-229.
Prentice A: Fires of life: The struggles of an ancient metabolism in a modern world. Nutrition Bulletin. 2001; 26: 13-27.
Burkle FM Jr: Acute-phase mental health consequences of disasters: Implications for triage and emergency medical services. Ann Emerg Med. 1996; 28(2): 119-128.
Kessler RC, Sonnega A, Bromet E, et al.: Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1995; 52(12): 1048-1060.
Corradi J, Fagen PW, Garreton M: Fear at the Edge: State Terror and Resistance in Latin America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.
Norris FH, Friedman MJ, Watson PJ, et al.: 60,000 disaster victims speak: Part I. An empirical review of the empirical literature, 1981-2001. Psychiatry. 2002; 65(3): 207-239.
International Red Cross: World Disasters Report 2002: Focus on Reducing Risk. Geneva, Switzerland: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2002.
Kaplan GA: What is the role of the social environment in understanding inequalities in health? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1999; 896: 116-120.
Aral SO, Padian NS, Homes KK: Advances in multilevel approaches to understanding the epidemiology and prevention of sexually transmitted infections and HIV: An overview. J Infect Dis. 2005; 191(Suppl 1): S1-S6.
Galea S, Sisco S, Vlaho D: Reducing disparities in vaccination rates between different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups: The potential of community-based multilevel interventions. J Ambul Care Manage. 2005; 28(1): 49-60.
Bankoff G: Constructing vulnerability: The historical, natural and social generation of flooding in metropolitan Manila. Disasters. 2003; 27(3): 224-238.
Turner BL 2nd, Kasperson RE, Matson PA, et al.: A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003; 100(14): 8074-8079.
Heath AC, Nelson EC: Effects of the interaction between genotype and environment. Research into the genetic epidemiology of alcohol dependence. Alcohol Res Health. 2002; 26(3): 193-201.
McKeehan IV: A multilevel city health profile of Moscow. Soc Sci Med. 2000; 51(9): 1295-1312.
Oliver-Smith A: Anthropological research on hazards and disasters. Annu Rev Anthropol. 1996; 25: 303-328.
Fratkin E, Roth EA (eds.): As Pastoralists Settle. New York: Kluwer Academic Press, 2005.
Gillen M: Urban governance and vulnerability: Exploring the tensions and contradictions in Sydney’s response to bushfire threat. Cities. 2005; 22(1): 55-64.
South Asia Earthquake Relief and Recovery: Pakistan Earthquake. South Asia Earthquake Relief and Recovery Web site. Available at www.earthquake.com.pk. Accessed January 13, 2006.
Olsen GR, Carstensen N, Høyen K: Humanitarian crises: What determines the level of emergency assistance? Media coverage, donor interests and the aid business. Disasters. 2003; 27(2): 109-126.
Ezra M, Kiros GE: Household vulnerability to food crisis and mortality in the drought-prone areas of northern Ethiopia. J Biosoc Sci. 2000; 32(3): 395-409.
Wells J: Protecting and Assisting Older People in Emergencies: Network Paper Number 53. London: Humanitarian Practice Network at the Overseas Development Institute, 2005.
Esty DC, Ivanova I (eds.): Global Environmental Governance: Options and Opportunities. New Haven, CT: Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 2002.
Pelling M: Participation, social capital and vulnerability to urban flooding in Guyana. J Int Dev. 1998; 10(4): 469-486.
Gans H: The War Against the Poor: The Underclass and Antipoverty Policy. New York: Basic Books, 1995.
Garrett L: Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Nates JL, Moyer VA: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina, tsunamis, and other disasters. Lancet. 2005; 366(9492): 1144-1146.
Williams DR, Lavizzo-Mourey R, Warren RC: The concept of race and health status in America. Public Health Rep. 1994; 109(1): 26-41.
Rovai E: The Social Geography of Disaster Recovery: Differential Community Response to the North Coast Earthquakes. Paper presented to the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers. Berkeley, CA: 1994.
Kawachi I, Kennedy BP, Lochner K, et al.: Social capital, income inequality, and mortality. Am J Public Health. 1997; 87(9): 1491-1498.
Ahern J, Galea S: Social context and depression after a disaster: The role of income inequality. J Epidemiol Comm Health. 2006 (in press).
Cohen DA, Spear S, Scribner R, et al.: Broken windows and the risk of gonorrhea. Am J Public Health. 2000; 90(2): 230-236.
Frumkin H: Urban sprawl and public health. Pub Health Rep. 2002; 117(3): 201-217.
Krieger J, Higgins DL: Housing and health: Time again for public health action. Am J Public Health. 2002; 92(5): 758-768.
Northridge ME, Sclar E, Biswas P: Sorting out the connections between the built environment and health: A conceptual framework for navigating pathways and planning healthy cities. J Urban Health. 2003; 80(4): 556-568.
Weich S, Blanchard M, Prince M, et al.: Mental health and the built environment: Cross-sectional survey of individual and contextual risk factors for depression. Br J Psychiatry. 2002; 180: 428-433.
Handy SL, Boarnet MG, Ewing R, et al.: How the built environment affects physical activity: Views from urban planning. Am J Prev Med. 2002; 23(2 Suppl): 64-73.
Diez-Roux AV, Nieto FJ, Muntaner C, et al.: Neighborhood environments and coronary heart disease: A multilevel analysis. Am J Epidemiol. 1997; 146(1): 48-63.
Melosi M: The Sanitary City: Urban Infrastructure in America from Colonial Times to the Present. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press, 2000.
Krants D, Kifferstein B: Water Pollution and Society. University of Michigan Web site. Available at www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/ waterpollution.htm. Accessed October 27, 2005.
Daley RW, Brown S, Archer P, et al.: Risk of tornado-related death and injury in Oklahoma, May 3, 1999. Am J Epidemiol. 2005; 161(12): 1144-1150.
The Associated Press: Major earthquakes around the world over the past 80 years. USA Today Web site. Available at www.usa today.com/news/world/2005-10-08-quake-history_x.htm. Accessed December 6, 2006.
Barnett E, Casper M: A definition of “social environment.” Am J Public Health. 2001; 91(3): 465.
Shaw CR, McKay HD: Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969.
Kawachi I, Berkman LF: Social ties and mental health. J Urban Health. 2001; 78(3): 458-467.
McLeod L, Kessler R: Socioecological status differences in vulnerability to undesirable life events. J Health Soc Behav. 1990; 31: 162-172.
Skrabski A, Kobb M, Kawachi I: Social capital and collective efficacy in Hungary: Cross sectional associations with middle aged female and male mortality rates. J Epidemiol Comm Health. 2004; 58(4): 340-345.
Kennedy BP, Kawachi I, Prothrow-stith D, et al.: Social capital, income inequality, and firearm violent crime. Soc Sci Med. 1998; 47(1): 7-17.
Subramanian SV, Kim DJ, Kawachi I: Social trust and selfrated health in US communities: A multilevel analysis. J Urban Health. 2002; 79(4 Suppl 1): S21-S34.
Williams DR, Collins C: Racial residential segregation: A fundamental cause of racial disparities in health. In Laveist TA (ed.): Race, Ethnicity and Health: A Public Health Reader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002, pp. 369-390.
Torry W: Economic development, drought, and famine: Some limitations of dependency explanations. Geojournal. 1986; 12: 5-18.
Van Lehman D, Eno O: The Somali Bantu: Their History and Culture. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics, 2003.
Halpern R: Rebuilding the Inner City: A History of Neighborhood Initiatives to Address Poverty in the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995.
Freudenberg N, Zimmerman M (eds.): AIDS Prevention in the Community: Lessons from the First Decade. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association, 1995.
Lincoln CE, Mamiya LH: The Black Church in the African American Experience. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1990.
Thomas SB, Quinn SC, Billingsley A, et al.: The characteristics of northern black churches with community health outreach programs. Am J Public Health. 1994; 84(4): 575-579.
Richerson B, Boyd R: Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2005.
Perilla JL, Norris FH, Lavizzo EA: Ethnicity, culture and disaster response: Identifying and explaining ethnic differences in PTSD six months after Hurricane Andrew. J Soc Clin Psych. 2002; 21(1): 20-45.
Marsella A, Freidman M, Gerrity E, et al.: Ethnocultural Aspects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Issues, Research, and Clinical Applications. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1996.
Weinreb AA: First politics, then culture: Accounting for ethnic differences in demographic behavior in Kenya. Pop Dev Rev. 2001; 27(3): 437.
Henrich J, Boyd R, Bowles S, et al.: In search of Homo economicus: Behavioral experiments in 15 small-scale societies. Am Econ Rev. 2001; 91(2): 73-78.
Levine R: The kindness of strangers. Am Sci. 2003; 91(3): 226-233.
Paciotti B, Hadley C: The ultimatum game in southwestern Tanzania: Ethnic variation and institutional scope. Curr Anthropol. 2003; 44(3): 427-432.
Sampson RJ, Raudenbush SW, Earls F: Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science. 1997; 277(5328): 918-924.
Martin KS, Rogers BL, Cook JT, et al.: Social capital is associated with decreased risk of hunger. Soc Sci Med. 2004; 58(12): 2645-2654.
Shavit Y, Fischer C, Koresh Y: Kin and nonkin under collective threat: Israeli networks during the Gulf War. Soc Forces. 1995; 72(4): 1197-1215.
Shipton P: African famines and food insecurity: Anthropological perspectives. Annu Rev Anthropol. 1990; 19: 353-394.
Adams AM: Food insecurity in Mali: Exploring the role of the moral economy. IDS Bull. 1993; 24(4): 41-51.
Hadley C, Borgerhoff Mulder M, Fitzherbert E: Seasonal food insecurity and perceived social support in rural Tanzania. 2006 (under review).
Cochrane R, Bal S: The drinking habits of Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and white men in the west midlands: A community survey. Br J Addict. 1990; 85(6): 759-769.
Bode B: No Bells to Toll: Destruction and Creation in the Andes. New York: Scribners, 1989.
Goenjian AK, Molina L, Steinberg AM, et al.: Posttraumatic stress and depressive reactions among Nicaraguan adolescents after Hurricane Mitch. Am J Psychiatry. 2001; 158(5): 788-794.
Casey MM, Thiede Call K, Klingner JM: Are rural residents less likely to obtain recommended preventative healthcare services? Am J Prev Med. 2001; 21(3): 182-188.
Felt-Lisk S, McHugh M, Howell E: Monitoring local safety-net providers: Do they have adequate capacity? Health Aff. 2002; 21(5): 277-283.
Freudenberg N, Silver D, Carmona JM, et al.: Promotion in the city: A structured review of the literature on interventions to prevent heart disease, substance abuse, violence and HIV infection in US metropolitan areas, 1980-1995. J Urban Health. 2000; 77(3): 443-457.
Friedman F: Donor policies and third world health. Int Health Dev. 1989; 1(2): 16-17.
Freudenberg N, Fahs M, Galea S, et al.: The impact of New York City’s 1975 fiscal crisis on the tuberculosis, HIV, and homicide syndemic. Am J Public Health. 2006 (in press).
Pagano MA: City Fiscal Conditions in 2003. Washington, DC: National League of Cities, 2003.
Fissel A, Haddix K: Traditional healer organizations in Uganda should contribute to AIDS debate. Anthropol News. 2004; 45(7): 10-11.
Mollica R, Cardozo B, Osofsky H, et al.: Mental health in complex emergencies. Lancet. 2004; 364(9450): 2058-2067.
Glaab CN, Brown AT: A History of Urban America. Toronto: Macmillan Company, 1976.
Bandura A: Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.
Kawachi I, Kennedy BP, Glass R: Social capital and self-rated health: A contextual analysis. Am J Public Health. 1999; 87(9): 1187-1193.
Syme SL: Community Participation, Empowerment, and Health: Development of a Wellness Guide for California. Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, 1997.
Wong ML, Chan RK, Koh D, et al.: Increase in oral sex and pharyngeal gonorrhea: An unintended effect of a successful condom promotion programme for vaginal sex. AIDS. 1999; 13(14): 1981-1982.
Wodak A, Des Jarlais DC: Strategies for the prevention of HIV infection among and from injecting drug users. Bull Narc. 1993; 45(1): 47-60.
Coleman C: Death is a Social Disease: Public Health and Political Economy in Early Industrial France. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright 2007-2023, Weston Medical Publishing, LLC
All Rights Reserved
