Defining and Operationalizing Disaster Preparedness in Hospitals: A Systematic Literature Review

Introduction:
Societies invest substantial amounts of resources on disaster preparedness of hospitals. However, the concept is not clearly defined nor operationalized in the international literature.

Aim:

This review aims to systematically assess definitions and operationalizations of disaster preparedness in hospitals, and to develop an all-encompassing model, incorporating different perspectives on the subject.

Methods:

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Assessment of Factors Associated With Long-term Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among 56 388 First Responders After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

Importance:  First responders are at risk for developing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Little is known about the risk factors for developing PTSD during a years-long period after complex mass disasters.

 

Objective:  To explore the long-term course of PTSD symptoms and to identify risk factors and their relative association with PTSD among first responders dispatched to the 2011 Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster.

 

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Correction to : Feasibility and predictors of change of narrative exposure therapy for displaced populations : a repeated measures design

Correction to: Pilot and Feasibility Studies 6, 69 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-020-00613-1 

 

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported an error in the following sentence: 

Studies into TFT for non-refugee traumatized populations show higher effects (d = 1.08—1.40) [7], than for refugee populations (g = .25—1.01) [8].

Which will be replaced by: 

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Understanding Relations Between Intolerance of Uncertainty, Social Anxiety, and Body Dissatisfaction in Women

Body dissatisfaction (BD) is highly prevalent among young females and is associated with negative mental health outcomes. Social anxiety (SA) has been identified as an important determinant of BD; however, potential factors underlying SA-related BD remain unstudied. Research indicates that intolerance of uncertainty (IU), the tendency to respond negatively to uncertainty, may be critical for developing and maintaining SA.

 

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Promoting Gratitude as a Resource for Sustainable Mental Health : Results of a 3-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial up to 6 Months Follow-up

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of a 6-week gratitude intervention for people with low to moderate well-being and moderate symptomatology of depression and anxiety up to 6 months follow-up. 217 Dutch adults were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a 6-week gratitude intervention, a 6-week self-kindness intervention as an active control condition and a waitlist control condition. Participants completed online assessments on well-being, depression, anxiety and gratitude at baseline, post-test, 6 weeks and 6 months follow-up.

 

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Higher prevalence of depressed mood in immigrants’ offspring reflects their social conditions in the host country : The HELIUS study

Background

Immigrants from low- and middle-income countries who have settled in high-income countries show higher risks of depression in comparison with host populations. The risks are associated with adverse social conditions. Indecisive results have been reported on the depression risks of the offspring of immigrant populations.

Objective

To assess the prevalence of depressed mood in immigrant offspring relative to the host population and to analyse whether that risk is explained by social conditions.

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The psychosocial impact of flu influenza pandemics on healthcare workers and lessons learnt for the COVID-19 emergency : a rapid review

Objectives

During a pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) are essential to the health system response. Based on our knowledge, little information is available regarding the psychosocial impact on HCWs or interventions for supporting them during pandemics. Therefore, the study aimed to assess available literature on perceived stress and psychological responses to influenza pandemics in HCWs and identify implications for healthcare practice and future research.

 

Methods

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Evaluating the Prevalence of PTSD among Children and Adolescents after Earthquakes and Floods : a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Our study systematically reviews articles about the prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among children and adolescents, aiming to evaluate its prevalence after earthquakes and floods.Three databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) were searched for articles published from 1981 to 2019 containing information on PTSD prevalence among survivors of earthquakes and floods. Articles with insufficient data on the prevalence of PTSD or without any available full-text were excluded.

 

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Forced Migration Magnitude and violence in international crises: 1945–2015

This study focuses on forced migration and interstate violence during international crises, as a major security concern with salient implications for international relations stability.

 

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Optogenetic sleep enhancement improves fear-associated memory processing following trauma exposure in rats

Sleep disturbances are commonly found in trauma-exposed populations. Additionally, trauma exposure results in fear-associated memory impairments. Given the interactions of sleep with learning and memory, we hypothesized that increasing sleep duration following trauma exposure would restore overall function and improve trauma-induced fear-associated memory dysfunction.

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