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. This longitudinal project takes a qualitative approach to understanding the lived experiences of members of underserved communities who have survived successive disasters. These first-hand experiences have identified influential factors behind preparedness and recovery efforts and abilities that have directed the continued development of a geospatial-longitudinal map.
Study Objectives
1. Build digital geospatial-longitudinal maps to display historic to present-day non-medical drivers of health in target communities.
2. Assess and understand the impact of successive disasters on the three local communities through both community conversations and photovoice qualitative methods to collate a storyboard of people's experiences.
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.
Associated Publications in Development
*Denotes student contributors
Adepoju, O., de la Roche, L., Walton, Q., Fuentes, C.*, Dang. P.*, Pham, C., & Brown, D. Housing insecurity and climate-related disasters in underserved communities: A call for action.
Adepoju, O., de la Roche, L., Dang. P.*, Fuentes, C.*, & McMorris, S. Perceptions of Mental Health, Literacy, and Resource Access in Disaster-Prone Communities: A Mixed Methods Study to Inform MHFA Workshops.
Adepoju, O., de la Roche, L., Walton, W., Fuentes, C. G.*, & Brown, D. Photovoice insights on successive disaster events in marginalized communities.
Adepoju, O., Smith, A., de la Roche, L., Tipton, M., Hirsch, B., & Curtis, D. Beyond the emergency: Centering mental health in community disaster preparedness and recovery.
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.