Differential Mental Health Impact Six Months After Extensive River Flooding in Rural Australia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Through an Equity Lens

Veronica Matthews; Jo Longman; Helen L. Berry; Megan Passey; James Bennett-Levy; Geoffrey G. Morgan; Sabrina Pit; Margaret Rolfe; Ross S. Bailie

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2019.00367

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Differential Mental Health Impact Six Months After Extensive River Flooding in Rural Australia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Through an Equity Lens

Journal article

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Differential Mental Health Impact Six Months After Extensive River Flooding in Rural Australia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Through an Equity Lens

Veronica Matthews, Jo Longman, Helen L. Berry, Megan Passey, James Bennett-Levy, Geoffrey G. Morgan, Sabrina Pit, Margaret Rolfe and Ross S. Bailie

Frontiers in public health, Vol.7, 367

06/12/2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2019.00367

PMCID: PMC6909816

PMID: 31867302

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Abstract

Natural disasters

Mental health

inequality

Indigenous populations

Low income populations

Background: Northern New South Wales in Australia is a “hotspot” for natural disaster declarations with recent extensive flooding in early 2017. With limited knowledge about how climate change affects mental health and resilience, robust local assessments are required to better understand long-term impact, particularly in communities prone to extreme weather events. Methods: Six months post-flood, a cross-sectional survey of adults living in the region during the flood was conducted to quantify associations between flood impact and psychological morbidity (post-traumatic stress (PTSD), anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation) for different exposure scenarios, and respondent groups. We adopted a community-academic partnership approach and purposive recruitment to increase participation from marginalized groups. Results: Of 2,180 respondents, almost all (91%) were affected by some degree of flood-related exposure at an individual and community level (ranging from suburb damage to home or business inundated). Socio-economically marginalized respondents were more likely to have their homes inundated and to be displaced. Mental health risk was significantly elevated for respondents: whose home/business/farm was inundated [e.g., home inundation: PTSD adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 13.72 (99% CI 4.53–41.56)]; who reported multiple exposures [e.g., three exposures: PTSD AOR 6.43 (99% CI 2.11–19.60)]; and who were still displaced after 6 months [e.g., PTSD AOR 24.43 (99% CI 7.05–84.69)]. Conclusion: The 2017 flood had profound impact, particularly for respondents still displaced and for socio-economically marginalized groups. Our community-academic partnership approach builds community cohesion, informs targeted mental health disaster preparedness and response policies for different sectors of the community and longer-term interventions aimed at improving community adaptability to climate change.

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Title: Differential Mental Health Impact Six Months After Extensive River Flooding in Rural Australia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Through an Equity Lens
Creators: Veronica Matthews - University of Sydney
Jo Longman - University of Sydney
Helen L. Berry - Macquarie University
Megan Passey - University of Sydney
James Bennett-Levy - University of Sydney
Geoffrey G. Morgan - University of Sydney
Sabrina Pit - University of Sydney
Margaret Rolfe - University of Sydney
Ross S. Bailie - University of Sydney
Publication Details: Frontiers in public health, Vol.7, 367
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A
Identifiers: 991013173908802368
Copyright: Copyright © 2019 Matthews, Longman, Berry, Passey, Bennett-Levy, Morgan, Pit, Rolfe and Bailie. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
Academic Unit: Faculty of Health
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

Differential Mental Health Impact Six Months After Extensive River Flooding in Rural Australia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Through an Equity Lens

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