Factors Contributing to Mental and Physical Health Care in a Disaster-Prone Environment.
Environment as a contextual factor plays an important role in southeastern Louisiana, as this area represents a major economic hub for the United States port, petroleum, and fishing industries. The location also exposes the population to both natural and technological disasters, including Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill. This study explored associations among hurricane loss, oil spill disruption, and environmental quality of life on mental and physical health on over 1,000 residents (N = 1,225) using structural equation modeling techniques. Results showed that oil spill distress was associated with increased symptoms of mental and physical health; Hurricane Katrina loss; and decreased environmental quality of life. Findings also indicate that mental health symptoms explain the association among oil spill distress and physical health symptoms-specifically, those that overlap with somatic complaints. These findings provide important support of the need for mental health assessment and service availability for disaster recovery.
a Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.
Howard J
HJ
Osofsky
Tonya Cross
TC
Hansel
Joy D
JD
Osofsky
Anthony
A
Speier
D000328:Adult; D055867:Cyclonic Storms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology
mental health; natural and technological disaster; physical health