Oral

Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, was the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Its impact, which included the flooding of New Orleans LA, left hundreds of thousands homeless and displaced. A large concentration of children and families relocated at least temporarily to Houston TX. A model of providing mental health and case management services to these families will be presented, and lessons learned will be discussed. Houston’s medical response to evacuees in the aftermath of the hurricane will be discussed next. Both of these presentations will also address implications of the hurricane response for future disaster preparedness. Next will be a discussion of an innovative mental health treatment model for children with post-traumatic stress reactions following Hurricane Katrina, using “coping boxes” to help with recovery and build resilience. School-based health centers (SBHCs) are integral to the network of care for low-income New Orleans children. Our next presentation will discuss the challenges of meeting the increased need for health and mental health services through the SBHC model. Finally, a community-based, free, voluntary clinic model to meet the post-Katrina healthcare needs of poor and predominantly African-American and Latino residents of New Orleans will be discussed.

Session Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be better able to: • Recognize the trajectory and variability in long-term disaster recovery • Apply lessons learned in Houston's response to the 2005 hurricanes to home community disaster preparedness • Better understand the psychological impact of disasters on children • Learn new ways to intervene clinically and preventively with children who with posttraumtic stress reactions • Describe the primary care access improvement opportunities associated with development of a robust and integrated school-based health center system • Discuss different models proposed for redeveloping the health care infrastructure of New Orleans

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing