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Humana Integrated Health Systems Sciences Institute

  1. Multisectoral Partnerships to Address Successive Disaster Events, Affordable Housing and Mental Health

Humana - Scholarly Works

Multisectoral Partnerships to Address Successive Disaster Events, Affordable Housing and Mental Health

Background

Houston, one of the most diverse cities in America, sits within Harris County, which is the nation’s third most populous county.1 Over the past decade, extreme weather events, or natural disasters, have resulted in over 6,000 fatalities and trillions of dollars in damage to individuals, communities, and infrastructure.2 Populations that are historically underserved, such as individuals of lower socioeconomic backgrounds, are more vulnerable to experiencing poor outcomes both during and following natural disasters.3 These communities often have fewer resources that are accessible, including food, pharmacy, medical, and psychological support. 3-5 Identifying specific factors that directly impact their ability to prepare for, survive, and recover from, natural disasters is therefore fundamental to guiding the development and dissemination of resources through these communities. 

Study Objectives

  1. Develop a climate and health dashboard that integrates environmental, social, and health data to identify vulnerable populations and support data-driven policy and intervention efforts; the dashboard will also include a storyboard and curated resources to enhance user engagement and application.
  2. Document the impact of successive disasters on Greater Houston communities through both community conversations and photovoice qualitative methods.
  3. Deliver Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) programs to strengthen community capacity for recognizing, understanding, and responding to signs of mental health challenges, thereby improving overall community mental well-being.

Project Timeline

  • Ongoing

Project Events

1.      Community Conversations: Working with trusted community leaders in Houston, we held 6 town-hall style discussions prior to starting the photovoice portion of this study. We facilitated large group and small round-table discussions with members of the community to identify preliminary factors that they felt impacted their ability to prepare for, survive, and recover from successive natural disasters. These discussions provided preliminary information to direct subsequent questions during individual discussions where participants discussed their experiences that aligned with submitted photos that represented their lived experience associated with surviving natural disasters. 

2.      Mental Health First Aid Training Events: Community members advocated for the need for mental health support and education across the community conversations and subsequent individual interviews and focus groups. We sought to support this need through holding Mental Health First Aid training events within the community for the community. 

Sample Scholarly Works

* Denotes student contributors

  • de la Roche, L., Fuentes, C. G.*, Jafry, A. Z.*, & Adepoju, O. Seeing is believing: Understanding the experiences and needs of marginalized communities living through successive disasters using photovoice
  • Adepoju O.E, Tijerina B, Hunt., A, Dang, P*, McMorris, S. Community-Centered Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) in Disaster-Prone Communities: A Mixed-Methods Assessment of Mental Health Literacy
  • Grant, C, Chavez S, Oluyomi A, Hunt, A., de la Roche L, Adepoju O. From Concept to Community Impact: An Implementation Science Approach to a Climate and Health Dashboard