Promoting Community Resilience In Disasters

When large-scale disasters occur, they typically strike without warning regardless of whether the cause is natural, such as a tsunami or earthquake, or human-made, such as a terrorist attack. And immediately following a hazardous event or mass violence, two of the most vulnerable groups at risk are a community s children and their family members. Promoting Community Resilience in Disasters offers both clinicians and researchers guidance on hazard preparation efforts as well as early response and intervention practices. It emphasizes an evidence- and prevention-based approach that is geared toward readiness, response, and recovery phases of natural and human-made disasters, examining such key topics as: Establishing a community resilience framework Reviewing current theory and research Understanding the role for schools, youth, and families Building a partnership and multidisciplinary perspective Recognizing the importance of readiness and risk reduction Providing public education and response during a crisis Developing recovery programs that focus on physical and social factors Setting evidence-based guidelines for practice Establishing an interface between research and practice Promoting Community Resilience in Disasters is specifically geared toward assisting those who work in school or community settings including school psychologists and counselors, emergency managers and planners, and all mental health professionals not only to increase resilience after a disaster, but to respond and intervene as quickly as possible when catastrophe strikes. It will assist those charged with the responsibility for helping others respond to and rebound from major traumas, especially clinicians and other professionals who work with children and their family members.

Kevin Ronan has been working in the hazards and disasters area for the past decade. He has an ongoing interest in community resilience and prevention work in this and other areas (e.g., conduct disorder and delinquency in youth and families). He has been the Director of Clinical Psychology Training at Massey University for a number of years and stresses evidence-based practice with trainees. In addition, the idea of accountability for producing outcomes is an emphasis in the training program and in his practice. He has published widely in the area of hazards and disasters. David Johnston has been employed with the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, New Zealand since 1993 and his research is focused on reducing the vulnerability of society, economy and infrastructure to hazards. He has been involved in developing integrated risk management strategies for different hazard events, using techniques such as scenario development, mitigation planning and community education programs. He is also interested in assessing social and economic impacts of natural and environmental hazard events.