Establishing the Effectiveness of Interventions Provided to First Responders to Prevent and/or Treat Mental Health Effects of Response to a Disaster: A Systematic Review. (14th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Winders, W. Tyler; Bustamante, Nirma D.; Garbern, Stephanie Chow; Bills, Corey; Coker, Amin; Trehan, Indi; Osei-Ampofo, Maxwell; Levine, Adam C.
• Is Part Of: Disaster medicine and public health preparedness. Volume 15:Number 1(2021)
• Page Start: 115
• Page End: 126
• Publication Date: 2021-02-14
• Subjects: bystander, -- disaster, -- low- and middle-income countries, -- mental health, -- posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); Disaster medicine -- Periodicals; Emergency management -- Planning -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; 363.34
• DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2019.140
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1935-7893

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Objectives: This review systematically explores the current available evidence on the effectiveness of interventions provided to first responders to prevent and/or treat the mental health effects of responding to a disaster. Methods: A systematic review of Medline, Scopus, PsycINFO, and gray literature was conducted. Studies describing the effectiveness of interventions provided to first responders to prevent and/or treat the mental health effects of responding to a disaster were included. Quality was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria, and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist. Results: Manuscripts totaling 3869 met the initial search criteria; 25 studies met the criteria for in-depth analysis, including 22 quantitative and 3 qualitative studies; 6 were performed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); 18 studies evaluated a psychological intervention; of these, 13 found positive impact, 4 found no impact, and 1 demonstrated worsened symptoms after the intervention. Pre-event trainings decreased psychiatric symptoms in each of the 3 studies evaluating its effectiveness. Conclusions: This review demonstrates that there are likely effective interventions to both prevent and treat psychiatric symptoms in first responders in high-, medium-, and low-income countries.