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Hurricane Maria’s Impact on Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico: Community Needs and Mental Health Assessment Six Months Postimpact

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2018

Isabella M. Ferré ,
Stephanie Negrón ,
James M. Shultz ,
Seth J. Schwartz ,
James P. Kossin  and
Hilda Pantin
Isabella M. Ferré*
Affiliation:
Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
Stephanie Negrón
Affiliation:
Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
James M. Shultz
Affiliation:
Director, Center for Disaster & Extreme Event Preparedness, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
Seth J. Schwartz
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
James P. Kossin
Affiliation:
NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Center for Weather and Climate, Madison, Wisconsin
Hilda Pantin
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Isabella M. Ferré, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1600 NW 10th Ave #1140, Miami, FL 33136 (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Abstract

Objectives

This pilot study aimed to assess the community needs and population health status for the low-income town of Punta Santiago, situated on the southeastern coast of Puerto Rico at the point where Hurricane Maria made landfall on September 20, 2017.

Methods

A cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey was conducted 6 months after the storm with a representative random sample of 74 households. The survey characterized population demographics and resident needs in relation to storm damage and disruption. The survey also assessed prevalence and symptom severity of major depression, generalized anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Results

Most of Punta Santiago was without electrical power and more than half of households sustained severe damage. Residents reported loss of jobs, decreased productivity, school closures, dependency on aid for basic necessities, increased risk for vector-borne diseases, unrelenting exposure to heat and humidity, and diminished health status. Two-thirds (66.2%) of the respondents had clinically significant symptom elevations for at least 1 of the 3 common mental disorders assessed: major depression, generalized anxiety, or posttraumatic stress disorder.

Conclusions

Pilot survey results, along with other studies conducted in Punta Santiago, can be used to provide guidance for interventions with this community as well as with other low-income, storm-affected areas. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:18–23)

Keywords

community needs assessmenttropical cycloneclimate driverspsychopathologydepressiongeneralized anxietyPTSD
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 13 , Special Issue 1: Serial Hurricanes , February 2019 , pp. 18 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 

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References

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