2018-04-10 S&O Agenda - Attachment 1 to Item 4 - Local Disaster Recovery Subplan

   Managing communicable disease issues – surveillance and review of morbidity that may be
    occurring in the community and subsequent implementation of interventions such as vaccine
    programs if, for example, there is an increase in diagnosis of influenza or hepatitis A
   Health protection, environmental health and air quality, food and water inspections and
    advice e.g. advice to boil water, water tank quality, disposal of spoilt food, review of food
    preparation procedures in evacuation centres, etc
   Inspections and review of sewerage and other contamination issues that may impact on the
    health of the community
   Health promotion activities such as information and advice about heat stress, clean-up health
    hazards such as mould and asbestos, and other activities that aim to enhance self-care and
    prevention of later hazards in recovery

Psychosocial support, including individual and community activities and services
Psychosocial impacts can be very broad and may be a result of how a disaster affects peoples’
emotional, spiritual, financial, cultural, psychological and social needs as part of a community.

Disaster affected people often receive the majority of their support from their families, friends,
colleagues and community organisations. In addition, social recovery is enhanced through the
provision of adequate food, water and shelter and the return of services such as transport,
communication, power and health.

Psychosocial support builds on these measures by providing a variety of services that range from
supporting individuals and households to communities through community development activities
and projects.

Psychosocial support to individuals and households includes psychological first aid and personal
support services.

Community development activities and projects are often low cost, simple activities that provide
the foundation for the establishment of a meaningful recovery program. They are focused on
providing assistance in re-establishing social connections and functionality through group and
community activities. Examples include:
 Neighbourhood barbeques
 Street meetings
 School activities
 Community recovery planning
 Spiritual and sporting events
 Ceremonies and remembrance activities
 Virtual forums
 Impromptu displays such as photographs or artwork depicting the event and/or the
    community’s recovery

Psychological first aid is a key component of psychosocial support and provides a set of skills to
underpin the effective provision of psychosocial support services. It is an evidence-informed
approach based on common-sense principles of support to promote normal recovery and
includes helping people to feel safe, connected to others, calm and hopeful and facilitating access
to physical, emotional and social support; and enabling people to be able to help themselves.

The goals of psychological first aid are to:

   Reduce stress
   Assist with current needs
   Promote adaptive functioning
   Get people through periods of high arousal and uncertainty
   Set people up to be able to naturally recovery from an event
   Assist early screening for people needing further or specialised help
   Reduce subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder

Noosa Local Disaster Recovery Subplan 2018                                                 Page 41