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Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal Narratives of recovery after floods: Mental health, institutions, and intervention

Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal

Butler C, Walker-Springett K, Adger WN
2018
Social Science & Medicine. 216: 67-73

There is increasing evidence that flood events affect the mental health of those experiencing them, with recognition that the period of recovery after the event is particularly important to outcomes. Previous research on flooding has argued that there is a recovery gap that occurs during the long process of recovery at the point when the support provision from public authorities and agencies diminishes, and less well-defined interactions with private actors, such as insurers, begin. This concept highlights the importance of the support and intervention from authorities and other institutions for recovery processes. To date, little research has focused specifically on these relationships and their consequences for people's mental wellbeing through recovery. This study examines the processes of individuals' recovery from flood events, focusing on the role of interaction with agencies in the trajectories of mental health journeys. The analysis applies a narrative approach to in-depth repeated interviews carried out over a fifteen-month period with nine individuals whose homes were inundated by floods in 2013/14 in Somerset, UK. The results suggest strong evidence for institutional support having an important role in how individuals experience their post-flood mental health recovery journeys. The data reveal strategies to maintain psychological and emotional resilience at distinct periods during recovery, and show that both institutional actions and the perceived absence of support in specific circumstances affect the mental health burden of flood events.

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Resource Description

    Extreme Weather-Related Event or Disaster
    • Extreme Weather-Related Event or Disaster: Flood
    Non-United States
    • Non-United States: Europe
    Mental Health and Well-Being
    • Mental Health and Well-Being: General Mental Health and Well-Being
    Research Article
    Adaptation, Communication
    • Adaptation, Communication: Resilience, Other Adaptation, Specify
      • Resilience, Other Adaptation, Specify: Migration
      Other Adaptation, Specify
    • Adaptation, Communication: General Public/Unspecified
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