title: Post-disaster psychosocial support and quality improvement: A conceptual framework for understanding and improving the quality of psychosocial support programs.
abstract: This article is original in that it addresses post-disaster psychosocial support programs from a quality-improvement perspective, not from the traditional viewpoint of mental health services. Based on a combination of renowned quality models, a framework is sketched that offers chances to better understand and optimize the quality of post-disaster psychosocial service delivery. The quality is reflected in the program's structure, process, and outcome. Moreover, quality can be expressed in scores per criterion (i.e. need centeredness, effectiveness, safety, timeliness, efficiency, and equity) that are proposed to be related to the "attitude" (more passive or active) toward affected people. When quality and attitude are combined in a 2-D parabolic model, psychosocial support is preferably found in the middle of the attitude-axis (high quality); extremely passive or active positions are to be avoided (low quality). Well-timed assessments of structure, process, and outcome aspects, and associations between them, will help planners, providers, and evaluators understand if the optimum is reached, as well as provide guidance for quality improvement.
authors.affiliation: Impact - National Knowledge and Advice Centre for Psychosocial Care Concerning Critical Incidents, Diemen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Michel L A
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Dückers
authors.forename: Sigridur B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Thormar
mesh_terms: D004190:Disasters; D004526:Efficiency; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D000069576:Health Equity; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D058996:Quality Improvement; D017751:Safety Management; D012944:Social Support; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: conceptual framework; disaster; framework; psychosocial support; quality improvement; quality of care