Mental health and psychosocial support after the tsunami in Thailand.
This article presents an overview of the psychosocial and mental health response after the Asian Tsunami hit Thailand in 2004. The organization and deployment of service modalities that used pre-existing community and school advisory programmes for rapid emergency response were seen as key elements of the response. Mental health programmes were provided to mitigate and ameliorate the effects of the catastrophic event. We describe these strategies and report on lessons learnt.
Chakrabhand
Somchai
S
Department of Mental Health, Ministry of Public Health, Bangkok, Thailand. somchaic@health.moph.go.th
Panyayong
Benjaporn
B
Sirivech
Pattama
P
D002648:Child; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004190:Disasters; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019372:Orphanages; D011584:Psychology; D012944:Social Support; D013785:Thailand