Researchers affiliated with the RISK project have published a study in Social Science & Medicine that looks at the long-term mental health consequences of Hurricane Katrina. Among the study participants—a group of low-income mothers— one in six was found to still be suffering post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and hurricane-related traumas were found to predict persistent PTSS.
Long-term effects on sleep of older natural disaster victims
Ichiro Kawachi, MD, PhD, and Orfeu Buxton, PhD, are authors on a study that evaluated the sleep of those aged 65 and older who were impacted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Two and a half years after the event, those who experienced material loss, such as financial and home, were still at greater risk of sleep problems.
When humanitarian disasters strike, do unconditional cash transfers improve use of health services & health outcomes?
Sze Yan (Sam) Liu, PhD, Harvard Pop Center principal analyst in the Research Core, is an author on a paper published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews that evaluates the impact of unconditional cash transfers (UCTs), a form of humanitarian assistance during disasters, on the use of healthcare services and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Exploring PTSD Symptom Clusters and Asthma Attacks Among Hurricane Katrina Survivors
Harvard Pop Center Yerby Fellow Mariana Arcaya, ScD, and affiliated faculty members Mary C. Waters, PhD, and S.V. Subramanian, PhD, have published a study in the Journal of Traumatic Stress that examines the relationship between PTSD symptom clusters and asthma attacks among natural disaster survivors.
Yerby Fellow Arcaya focus on HSPH The Big 3
Harvard Yerby Fellow Mariana Arcaya, ScD, is the focus of this HSPH The Big 3 news feature which asks the lead author of a recent article relating to Hurricane Katrina survivors three key questions about her research.