65th Annual Conference

Friday, February 22

Early Bird Open Sessions

7:15-8:15 A.M.

Session 214

Psychologically-Informed Public Health Preparedness: Unique Challenges and New Opportunities for Group Psychotherapists in their Communities

Presenter:

Mark L. Dembert, M.D., MPH, Private Consulting, Boothwyn, Pennsylvania

The presenter--a group psychotherapist, organizational psychiatrist, and public health physician--describes how group psychotherapists can assume unique, extremely valuable, and pivotal consulting and volunteer roles in a wide spectrum of community-government public health preparedness planning initiatives for all-hazards disasters, including pandemic influenza, hurricanes, technological accidents, and terrorism.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Discuss in general how communities, governments, and agencies respond to public health challenges routinely and in disasters and, as well, why the psychology of disasters informs so much of these processes.
2. Articulate how principles of group and organizational psychology can be integrated into and serve as a basis for the truly successful practices of public health preparedness in routine and disaster situations.
3. List the myriad unique roles that group psychotherapists can find and take on, as a consultant, a volunteer, or an employee, in the four main phases of disaster planning by public health departments, other agencies, governments, and communities.
4. Summarize how the above processes and roles might change when a community is confronted with a “surge” of large post-disaster mass numbers of distressed, ill or injured citizens.
 

Course References:

1. Barnett D. J., Balicer R.D., Lucey, D. R., Everly, G. S. et al. (2005). A Systematic Analytic Approach to Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Planning. PLoS Medicine 2: 1235-1241.
2. Butler A. S., Panzer, A.M., Goldfrank, L. R., eds. (2003). Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism. A Public Health Strategy. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

3. Dembert, M. L. (2006) Meeting Community Behavioral Health Surge Capacity Requirements with
Psychologically-Informed Emergency Preparedness and Response in All-Hazards Disaster Situations: New Concepts and Strategies. Unpublished position paper distributed nationally, available from presenter's website www.strategicph.com.