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Assessing Mental Health Effects of Eastern Kentucky Households After the State’s Deadliest Flood: Using a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2025

Oshea Johnson Open the ORCID record for Oshea Johnson [Opens in a new window] ,
Lilanthi Balasuriya ,
Tammy Riley ,
Anthony Scott Lockard ,
Angela Raleigh ,
Martha Ellis ,
Amy Helene Schnall ,
Arianna Hanchey Open the ORCID record for Arianna Hanchey [Opens in a new window]  and
Doug Thoroughman
Oshea Johnson*
Affiliation:
Division of Workforce Development, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA Kentucky Department for Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Health Planning, Frankfort, KY
Lilanthi Balasuriya
Affiliation:
Division of Workforce Development, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Tammy Riley
Affiliation:
Pike County Health Department, Pikeville, KY
Anthony Scott Lockard
Affiliation:
Kentucky River District Health Department Health Department, Hazard, KY
Angela Raleigh
Affiliation:
Breathitt County Health Department, Jackson, KY
Martha Ellis
Affiliation:
Floyd County Health Department, Prestonsburg, KY
Amy Helene Schnall
Affiliation:
Division of Environmental Health Science & Practice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Arianna Hanchey
Affiliation:
Division of Environmental Health Science & Practice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Doug Thoroughman
Affiliation:
Kentucky Department for Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Health Planning, Frankfort, KY Division of State and Local Readiness, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
*
Corresponding author: Oshea Johnson; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objectives

On July 28, 2022, eastern Kentucky experienced the state’s deadliest flood in recorded history. In response to ongoing mental health concerns from community members who survived the flood, local health department directors in affected communities requested technical assistance from the Kentucky Department for Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Methods

Two simultaneous Community Assessments for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPERs) were conducted 6 weeks after the flood. Four counties were assessed in each CASPER. EpiInfo7 was used to calculate the unweighted and weighted frequencies and percentages to estimate the number and percentage of households with a particular response in each CASPER.

Results

Approximately a third (30.5%) of households in CASPER 1 and approximately 40% of households in CASPER 2 reported experiencing ≥1 mental health problems. Individual-level mental health questions from a modified 3-stage CASPER found approximately 15% of persons in both CASPERs reported a Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) score ≥3 and approximately 20% of persons in both CASPERs reported Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) score ≥3.

Conclusions

These findings indicated households experienced mental health problems after the flood. Depression and anxiety were prevalent among persons living in flood-affected areas. If ever needed, households preferred to receive mental health services in-person and locally.

Keywords

CASPERmental healthfloodsdisaster epidemiology
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 18 , 2024 , e331
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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Footnotes

*

Angela Raleigh passed away peacefully after this manuscript was submitted. During the CASPER surveys serving as Breathitt County’s Health Department Director, Mrs. Raleigh was committed to learning about her communities’ mental health experiences and needs after surviving the floods. We acknowledge her contributions to this manuscript and her work on improving public health in her community.

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