Older people’s psychosocial needs in a post-disaster rural community of China: an exploratory study

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• 作者：Ke Cui ; Timothy Sim
• 关键词：Older people ; Post ; disaster community ; Psychosocial needs assessment ; Rural China ; Qualitative study
• 刊名：Natural Hazards
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：February 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：85
• 期：3
• 页码：1577-1590
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Natural Hazards; Hydrogeology; Geophysics/Geodesy; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Civil Engineering; Environmental Management;
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1573-0840
• 卷排序：85

文摘

Older people are arguably one of the most vulnerable groups during a disaster. Existing studies either in China or in other countries predominantly focus on the more Western, pathology-based mental health approach in addressing the impact of disasters on older victims and their needs. However, the concept of ‘psychosocial’ recognises that problems caused by emergencies can simultaneously be of a social nature and a psychological one. This concept emerged from a growing critique on individual oriented mental health approach in disaster contexts. The present study was conducted to explore older people’s needs from a psychosocial perspective. The research site was a Chinese rural community located in the epicentre of ‘5.12’ Wenchuan earthquake (Ms = 8.0) occurred in 2008. The authors conducted content analyses on the qualitative in-depth interviews with 10 (5 males and 5 females) out of 30 older persons from this community. The findings revealed three major psychosocial problems: (1) constant fear of recurring debris flows; (2) sense of helplessness; and (3) disruption to previous social network. Indubitably, the participants reported family members and neighbours as their major sources of social support in emergency situations. This exploratory study argues that older people being exposed to disasters will not only develop psychological problems but also suffer disruption to their social support network and puts forward that empowering family and strengthening community cohesion are important initiatives for helping professionals to promote older people’s psychosocial well-being and enhance their resilience to natural disasters.