IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i16p2964-d258555.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Breaking Through Barriers and Building Disaster Mental Resilience: A Case Study in the Aftermath of the 2015 Nepal Earthquakes

Author

Listed:
  • Alisha KC

    (Centre for Environment and Population Health, School of Medicine, Griffith University, Nathan QLD 4111, Australia)

  • Connie Cai Ru Gan

    (Centre for Environment and Population Health, School of Medicine, Griffith University, Nathan QLD 4111, Australia)

  • Febi Dwirahmadi

    (Centre for Environment and Population Health, School of Medicine, Griffith University, Nathan QLD 4111, Australia)

Abstract

Introduction: Nepal was hit by two devastating earthquakes in 2015 that disrupted its socio-economic system and shattered many lives, resulting in increased mental health issues during the post-earthquake phase. Disasters can have severe mental health impacts on the affected population, making it necessary to enhance resilience within communities and to help them to adapt well in the face of adversities. From these earthquakes, this study looks to identify measures needed to develop community mental resilience for disaster preparedness in Nepal. Method: We conducted this research using the qualitative case study method and thematic analysis (TA). Result: Several activities were carried out by organizations to support the psycho-social aspects of communities, but were challenged by existing barriers. After considering the present context, this study presents five recommendations for mental resilience and also suggests the utilization of existing resources, such as faith-based organizations and teachers in the communities. Despite the considerable impact, communities demonstrate their own resilience, to some extent, through the culture of sharing and helping each other. Conclusions: A firm commitment is required from the government to enhance resilience by mainstreaming mental health in all areas of disaster management and planning.

Suggested Citation

  • Alisha KC & Connie Cai Ru Gan & Febi Dwirahmadi, 2019. "Breaking Through Barriers and Building Disaster Mental Resilience: A Case Study in the Aftermath of the 2015 Nepal Earthquakes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:16:p:2964-:d:258555
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/16/2964/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/16/2964/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Masozera, Michel & Bailey, Melissa & Kerchner, Charles, 2007. "Distribution of impacts of natural disasters across income groups: A case study of New Orleans," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2-3), pages 299-306, August.
    2. Tara Powell & Shang-Ju Li & Yuan Hsiao & Chloe Ettari & Anish Bhandari & Anne Peterson & Niva Shakya, 2019. "Investigating the Aftershock of a Disaster: A Study of Health Service Utilization and Mental Health Symptoms in Post-Earthquake Nepal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Helen Boon & Alison Cottrell & David King & Robert Stevenson & Joanne Millar, 2012. "Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory for modelling community resilience to natural disasters," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 60(2), pages 381-408, January.
    4. Chandra, A. & Williams, M. & Plough, A. & Stayton, A. & Wells, K.B. & Horta, M. & Tang, J., 2013. "Getting actionable about community resilience: The Los Angeles county community disaster resilience project," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(7), pages 1181-1189.
    5. Kathleen Sherrieb & Fran Norris & Sandro Galea, 2010. "Measuring Capacities for Community Resilience," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 227-247, November.
    6. O'Sullivan, Tracey L. & Kuziemsky, Craig E. & Toal-Sullivan, Darene & Corneil, Wayne, 2013. "Unraveling the complexities of disaster management: A framework for critical social infrastructure to promote population health and resilience," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 238-246.
    7. Rajkumar, Anto P. & Premkumar, Titus S. & Tharyan, Prathap, 2008. "Coping with the Asian tsunami: Perspectives from Tamil Nadu, India on the determinants of resilience in the face of adversity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 844-853, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Febi Dwirahmadi & Shannon Rutherford & Dung Phung & Cordia Chu, 2019. "Understanding the Operational Concept of a Flood-Resilient Urban Community in Jakarta, Indonesia, from the Perspectives of Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change Adaptation and Development Agencies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-24, October.
    2. Zhuolin Yong & Linmei Zhuang & Yi Liu & Xin Deng & Dingde Xu, 2020. "Differences in the Disaster-Preparedness Behaviors of the General Public and Professionals: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-12, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yusuke Toyoda, 2021. "Survey paper: achievements and perspectives of community resilience approaches to societal systems," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 705-756, October.
    2. Blake Poland & Anne Gloger & Garrett T. Morgan & Norene Lach & Suzanne F. Jackson & Rylan Urban & Imara Rolston, 2021. "A Connected Community Approach: Citizens and Formal Institutions Working Together to Build Community-Centred Resilience," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Ke Cui & Ziqiang Han & Dongming Wang, 2018. "Resilience of an Earthquake-Stricken Rural Community in Southwest China: Correlation with Disaster Risk Reduction Efforts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-14, February.
    4. Goulding, Christina & Kelemen, Mihaela & Kiyomiya, Toru, 2018. "Community based response to the Japanese tsunami: A bottom-up approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 268(3), pages 887-903.
    5. Jones, Lindsey & d'Errico, Marco, 2019. "Whose resilience matters? Like-for-like comparison of objective and subjective evaluations of resilience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Xiansheng Chen & Ruisong Quan, 2021. "A spatiotemporal analysis of urban resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Yangtze River Delta," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(1), pages 829-854, March.
    7. Stav Shapira & Lena Novack & Yaron Bar-Dayan & Limor Aharonson-Daniel, 2016. "An Integrated and Interdisciplinary Model for Predicting the Risk of Injury and Death in Future Earthquakes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-11, March.
    8. Martin Vezér & Alexander Bakker & Klaus Keller & Nancy Tuana, 2018. "Epistemic and ethical trade-offs in decision analytical modelling," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 1-10, March.
    9. Frijters, Paul & Johnston, David W. & Knott, Rachel & Torgler, Benno, 2021. "Resilience to Disaster: Evidence from Daily Wellbeing Data," IZA Discussion Papers 14220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Laura Siebeneck & Ronald Schumann & Britt-Janet Kuenanz & Seungyoon Lee & Bailey C. Benedict & Caitlyn M. Jarvis & Satish V. Ukkusuri, 2020. "Returning home after Superstorm Sandy: phases in the return-entry process," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 101(1), pages 195-215, March.
    11. Gaeun Kim & Jiwon Kim & Youngjin Ko & Olebogeng Thelma G. Eyman & Sarwat Chowdhury & Julie Adiwal & Wookyun Lee & Yowhan Son, 2021. "How Do Nature-Based Solutions Improve Environmental and Socio-Economic Resilience to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals? Reforestation and Afforestation Cases from the Republic of Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-19, November.
    12. Saud Alshehri & Yacine Rezgui & Haijiang Li, 2015. "Delphi-based consensus study into a framework of community resilience to disaster," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 75(3), pages 2221-2245, February.
    13. Ying Wang & Hao Chen & Juan Li, 2012. "Factors affecting earthquake recovery: the Yao’an earthquake of China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 64(1), pages 37-53, October.
    14. Arouri, Mohamed & Nguyen, Cuong & Youssef, Adel Ben, 2015. "Natural Disasters, Household Welfare, and Resilience: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 59-77.
    15. Mohsen Alizadeh & Esmaeil Alizadeh & Sara Asadollahpour Kotenaee & Himan Shahabi & Amin Beiranvand Pour & Mahdi Panahi & Baharin Bin Ahmad & Lee Saro, 2018. "Social Vulnerability Assessment Using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Model for Earthquake Hazard in Tabriz City, Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-23, September.
    16. Jonathan W. F. Remo & Nicholas Pinter & Moe Mahgoub, 2016. "Assessing Illinois’s flood vulnerability using Hazus-MH," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(1), pages 265-287, March.
    17. Kilgarriff, Paul & McDermott, T.K.J. & Vega, Amaya & Morrissey , Karyn & O’Donoghue, Cathal, 2018. "Flooding disruption and the impact on the spatial distribution of commuter’s income," Working Papers 309608, National University of Ireland, Galway, Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit.
    18. Yang Wei & Tetsuo Kidokoro & Fumihiko Seta & Bo Shu, 2024. "Spatial-Temporal Assessment of Urban Resilience to Disasters: A Case Study in Chengdu, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, April.
    19. K.A.S. Wickrama & T. Wickrama, 2011. "Perceived community participation in tsunami recovery efforts and the mental health of tsunami-affected mothers: Findings from a study in rural Sri Lanka," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(5), pages 518-527, September.
    20. Karina Landeros-Mugica & Javier Urbina-Soria & Irasema Alcántara-Ayala, 2016. "The good, the bad and the ugly: on the interactions among experience, exposure and commitment with reference to landslide risk perception in México," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 80(3), pages 1515-1537, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:16:p:2964-:d:258555. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.