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Chapter 30 - Responding to the Needs of Children, Young People, and Their Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic

from Section 4 - Responses to Meet the Mental Health Needs of People Affected by Emergencies, Major Incidents, and Pandemics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2024

By
Betty Pfefferbaum
Edited by
Richard Williams ,
Verity Kemp ,
Keith Porter ,
Tim Healing  and
John Drury
Richard Williams
Affiliation:
University of South Wales
Verity Kemp
Affiliation:
Independent Health Emergency Planning Consultant
Keith Porter
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Tim Healing
Affiliation:
Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London
John Drury
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
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Summary

Children are considered particularly vulnerable to disasters, but they are also resilient and respond to social support, which is central to disaster mental health services. This chapter reviews the current approach to services for children, presents a framework for response, addresses assessment, examines intervention approaches and the evidence base for intervention, and offers recommendations for future work. Population risk and context are important in guiding the mental health services that children require after disasters. The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges that were not anticipated in the existing literature, suggesting that the type of event and event characteristics may be more salient than was previously realised. The predominant focus on post-traumatic stress outcomes in the extant literature has been criticised. Disaster preparedness and educational programmes have demonstrated benefit in fostering children’s participation in disaster management, and an emerging evidence base suggests benefit from a variety of intervention approaches.

Keywords

child participationCOVID-19disasterdisaster managementdisaster mental health interventionsdisaster mental health servicesdisaster preparednessmass traumapandemic
Type
Chapter
Information
Major Incidents, Pandemics and Mental Health
The Psychosocial Aspects of Health Emergencies, Incidents, Disasters and Disease Outbreaks
 , pp. 223 - 230
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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