Newswise — State mental health services agencies were unprepared for the fear, anxiety and uncertainty felt by many in the days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In response, a detailed mental health emergency preparedness plan for every state was created with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and other government entities.
Researchers from Temple University's department of public health recently completed a pilot study of these plans for New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The team found that the communication strategies for dealing with mental health needs, mechanisms for communicating with diverse populations and the communication assumptions about the states' population distributions differed for each state. Their work uncovered each state's communications strengths as well as areas where more strategic planning is needed.
"These plans need to reflect best practices to maximize services in unpredictable and uncontrollable events. Further, the development of specific mental health communication strategies targeting at-risk individuals is needed," said lead researcher Thomas F. Gordon, Ph.D., professor of public health. Other researchers on the team included Temple public health faculty Sheryl Burt Ruzek, Ph.D., M.P.H., Brenda F. Seals, Ph.D., M.P.H., Sarah Bauerle Bass, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Alice Hausman, Ph.D., M.B.A.
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