Impact of Haiti's earthquake on the South Florida Haitian community

Background Though the recent earthquake in Haiti and ensuing devastation has been the focus of worldwide attention, this disaster has personal relevance for most, if not all, residents of Little Haiti, a large ethnic enclave in the Miami metropolitan area.

Objective To understand the disaster's impact on this community, we are conducting a comprehensive assessment that examines the earthquake's effects on residents' health and psychological well-being. Failing to do so may perpetuate existing health disparity experienced in Little Haiti and among Haitians throughout South Florida, more generally

Methods Assessment data will be collected by Community Health Workers (CHWs) who are of Haitian descent, speak English and Haitian Kreyol fluently, and are trained to participate in research. In late February-early March 2010, the CHWs will interview 1000 residents of Little Haiti using validated measures of grief and stress. Data will be instantly entered into a tablet computer and later analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Results Given the recent occurrence of the earthquake, we do not yet have results to report. We are currently finalizing our survey instrument and training the CHWs on how to best recruit and interview participants, as well as, appropriately refer distressed individuals for care.

Conclusion However, once collected and analyzed, assessment data will provide unique insight into the earthquake's impact on Diasporic communities such as Little Haiti, as well as, lay the foundation for necessary, future community-based interventions to promote health and healing.