Holly Hatton-Bowers, Assistant Professor; Kara Kohel, Graduate Student in Child, Youth and Family Studies; and Michelle Krehbiel, Youth Development Specialist/Associate Professor
"True compassion means, not only feeling another's pain, but also being moved to help relieve it." - Daniel Goleman
How do we support the mental and spiritual health of disaster survivors? How can a community approach help to promote emotional resilience during disaster recovery? These are questions our communities are asking as we plan and implement strategies to support disaster survivors impacted by the Nebraska floods. Many of us may feel helpless, unsure and at times, hopeless. We may feel overwhelmed by the suffering of people we work with, people in our community and even our family members. We often think of disaster recovery as consisting of restoring systems, services and structures; we may be less apt to focus on supporting survivors’ emotional and spiritual wellness. However, it is critical that such a focus is front and center in disaster recovery efforts.
Although the provision of clinical services to support the mental health of survivors is imperative, other approaches also need to be used. Obtaining mental health services can be difficult in our rural communities due to stigma and challenges in accessing these services. It is important for us to consider alternative ways of providing survivors mutual support and strategies that facilitate meaning and purpose following the disaster.
One way to support disaster survivors is by partnering with faith-based communities (FBCs). The role of faith and religious practice in health, resilience and recovery are sometimes overlooked, but they play an important role in making sense of difficult times and moving forward with hope. Faith leaders act as a crucial bridge for supporting community efforts and engaging survivors to address their emotional and spiritual wellness. Places of worship, pastors and other faith leaders are important sources of support to facilitate resiliency during disasters. Faith leaders can provide a community of care and are generally viewed as integral to the community in providing trust, support, safety and hope. During a time when the future may seem bleak, faith leaders can help to restore hope, faith and meaning in life following a disaster. These types of supports can also contribute efforts in helping communities to heal, recover and thrive.
Partnering and reaching out to FBCs can be helpful in many different ways. Some ways FBCs can help recovery and resilience efforts include:
• Helping to plan community health interventions.
• Serving as the place where disaster survivors receive mental health services from licensed clinicians.
• Sharing messages of getting help and support for mental health needs is ok and important.
• Inviting faith-based leaders and other members to participate in suicide prevention and psychological first aid trainings facilitated by Extension.
• Supporting underserved and hard to reach populations.
• Providing mental health support by listening and being a compassionate presence.
• Serving as a physical place for support groups.
When engaging with faith-based communities and faith leaders it can be helpful to ask these questions:
• What services are faith-based communities currently providing to support long-term disaster recovery efforts?
o Schedule a group meeting and ask faith leaders to share their vision for how they can help support disaster survivors and enhance community resilience during long-term disaster recovery.
o Ask for suggestions for how to best remain in touch (visits, calls, emails).
• What gap(s) may they fill during long-term disaster recovery?
• What faith-based communities could be involved in long-term disaster recovery efforts not currently involved?
• If the community has a ministerial alliance, how can they be involved to support long-term disaster recovery?
It is important to remember faith-based communities should be considered “partners” in recovery efforts, rather than another place or group of people who can implement programs and interventions. Their sincere ideas and feedback regarding support for individuals and families should be taken into account, and the partnership should enable the community members to develop capacity as leaders that will contribute to long-term, sustainable support.
References
Hardison-Moody, A. & Yao, J. (2019). Faithful families, thriving communities: Bridging faith and health through a state-level partnership. American Journal of Public Health, 109(3), 363-368.
McCabe OL, Marum F, Mosley A, et al. (2012). Community capacity-building in disaster mental health resilience: a pilot study of an academic/faith partnership model. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 14, 112–122.
Rivera, J.D. & Nickels, A.E. (2014). Social capital, community resilience, and faith-based organizations in disaster recovery: A case study of Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 5, 178-211.
More details at: https://flood.unl.edu/employee-resources