Disaster Psychosocial Assessment and Surveillance Toolkit (Disaster- PAST)

This Disaster Psychosocial Assessment and Surveillance Toolkit (Disaster- PAST) was designed for surveillance of community mental health and psychosocial functioning following disasters.  The toolkit can be used to understand the following regarding mental health after a disaster: who is most in need of services and to what extent they have been affected; what level of services are needed; where services are most needed; when psychosocial assessments should be conducted following disaster; and how to conduct the assessments.  Disaster-PAST was designed for adaptation to varying types of disasters and populations.  Surveillance can begin immediately following the disaster and can continue years after the disaster to monitor changes throughout the recovery process. It can also be used to evaluate effectiveness of an ongoing services program. This presentation will discuss recommendations for building an appropriate screening tool, how to use the toolkit to conduct psychosocial assessment and surveillance for several different disaster situations, as well as recommendations of when to use the toolkit following a disaster.  Examples of Disaster-PAST used following the Deepwater Horizon Psychosocial Surveillance will be presented, where data from over 2,000 residents demonstrated increased mental health symptoms for over 3 years post disaster.  Success of the Disaster-PAST toolkit was demonstrated when surveillance results were used to secure funding for provision of behavioral health services in affected communities.  Session attendees will receive a copy of Disaster-PAST and work collectively to prepare brief psychosocial assessments for a hypothetical disaster, demonstrating cultural competency and needs of special population.