Survivors continue to face mental distress

By Jennifer Evans
Times Picayune
May 31, 2008

Poor physical health, relocating too often and providing for children during a time of uncertainty and chaos have contributed to long-term distress among Hurricane Katrina survivors, says a study released Friday by the American Medical Association.
 
More than half of the hurricane victims surveyed in Louisiana and Mississippi nearly two years after Katrina reported significant mental health problems, even as they returned home.

David Abramson, lead author of the study, said that while survey participants reported access to health care has improved since Katrina, many of them continue to feel insecure about their neighborhoods.

Simply removing people from FEMA trailers won't eliminate the problems caused by displacement, he said.

"People aren't returning to their same social ties," he said. "They aren't in the same areas. They are not carrying out their same roles."

The findings were made public on the eve of the deadline to sign up for the American Red Cross program to reimburse mental health care costs for people affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and Katrina, which struck New Orleans on August 29, 2005.

A Red Cross official said that more than 30,000 people have enrolled in the program.

The study, "Prevalence and Predictors of Mental Health Distress Post-Katrina" will appear in the June issue of the AMA's Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness Journal.

Six to 12 months after Katrina, field teams conducted initial face-to-face interviews with hurricane survivors in more than 1,000 households in hard-hit areas of Louisiana and Mississippi. Follow-up interviews were conducted by phone 20 to 23 months after the disaster.

The surveys took into account the number of times evacuees moved, their income, economic and social resources, physical and mental health, as well as the health of children in the households.

Adults in more than half of households surveyed said their current circumstances are worse now than before the storm, the findings show.

Abramson, director of research at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, said households experiencing the highest rates of improved mental health are surrounding themselves with strong social support networks.

"At the end of the day, our study shows it's not what type of housing you have, not your current economic situation, it had more to do with social factors," Abramson said.

The study stresses the importance of a comprehensive approach to rebuilding the lives of those displaced by Katrina, Abramson said.

"Helping to rebuild people's lives involves more than integrating housing, health care and education," Abramson said. "We must figure out a way to help families fit into communities better."

The research is part of Operation Assist, a collaboration between the Children's Health Fund, which provides medical care to children in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Biloxi, Miss., and the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia.

Jeanne Ellinport, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross said that on Thursday alone, 1,200 people called to enroll in the reimbursement program. Hurricane survivors have until 5 p.m. today to enroll by calling 1 (866) 794-HOPE (3673) or visiting www.a2care.org.