Queer and present danger: understanding the disparate impacts of disasters on LGBTQ+ communities

Health Disparities in the Aftermath of Flood Events: A Review of Physical and Mental Health Outcomes with Methodological Considerations in the USA

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review applies an environmental justice perspective to synthesize knowledge of flood-related health disparities across demographic groups in the USA. The primary aim is to examine differential impacts on physical and mental health outcomes while also assessing methodological considerations such as flood exposure metrics, baseline health metrics, and community engagement.

RECENT FINDINGS

In our review (n = 27), 65% and 72% of studies identified racial, ethnic, or socio-economic disparities in physical and mental health outcomes post-flooding, respectively. The majority of racial/ethnic disparities were based on Black race, while most socio-economic disparities were based on lower household income. Forty-two percent of studies lacked flood exposure metrics, but often identified disparities. Common flood exposure metrics included self-reported flooding, flood risk models, and satellite-based observations. Seventy percent of studies lacked baseline health measurements or suitable alternatives, and only 19% incorporated community engagement into their research design. The literature consistently finds that both physical and mental health burdens following flooding are unequally shared across racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups. These findings emphasize the need for disaster risk reduction policies that address underlying vulnerabilities to flooding, unequal exposure to flooding, and progressive funding for recovery efforts. Findings also underscore the importance of methodological enhancements to facilitate precise assessments of flood exposure and health outcomes.

Advancing disability-inclusive climate research and action, climate justice, and climate-resilient development

Globally, more than 1 billion people with disabilities are disproportionately and differentially at risk from the climate crisis. Yet there is a notable absence of climate policy, programming, and research at the intersection of disability and climate change. Advancing climate justice urgently requires accelerated disability-inclusive climate action. We present pivotal research recommendations and guidance to advance disability-inclusive climate research and responses identified by a global interdisciplinary group of experts in disability, climate change, sustainable development, public health, environmental justice, humanitarianism, gender, Indigeneity, mental health, law, and planetary health. Climate-resilient development is a framework for enabling universal sustainable development. Advancing inclusive climate-resilient development requires a disability human rights approach that deepens understanding of how societal choices and actions-characterised by meaningful participation, inclusion, knowledge diversity in decision making, and co-design by and with people with disabilities and their representative organisations-build collective climate resilience benefiting disability communities and society at large while advancing planetary health.

Climate crisis risks to elderly health: strategies for effective promotion and response

The climate crisis significantly impacts the health and well-being of older adults, both directly and indirectly. This issue is of growing concern in Canada due to the country's rapidly accelerating warming trend and expanding elderly population. This article serves a threefold purpose: (i) outlining the impacts of the climate crisis on older adults, (ii) providing a descriptive review of existing policies with a specific focus on the Canadian context, and (iii) promoting actionable recommendations. Our review reveals the application of current strategies, including early warning systems, enhanced infrastructure, sustainable urban planning, healthcare access, social support systems, and community engagement, in enhancing resilience and reducing health consequences among older adults. Within the Canadian context, we then emphasize the importance of establishing robust risk metrics and evaluation methods to prepare for and manage the impacts of the climate crisis efficiently. We underscore the value of vulnerability mapping, utilizing geographic information to identify regions where older adults are most at risk. This allows for targeted interventions and resource allocation. We recommend employing a root cause analysis approach to tailor risk response strategies, along with a focus on promoting awareness, readiness, physician training, and fostering collaboration and benchmarking. These suggestions aim to enhance disaster risk management for the well-being and resilience of older adults in the face of the climate crisis.

Life calendaring as a qualitative strategy to examine human security among queer emerging adult men: a pilot study

Emerging adulthood has been characterized as a developmental period of insecurities and instabilities, especially among sexual minorities (i.e., queer people). This brief report proposes the utility of life calendaring as a tool to examine how queer emerging adults make sense of their security. First, this paper reviews the basic principles of human security as an approach to human development among emerging adults and explains how sexuality influences their sense of security in their present and projected lives. Second, this report explains the methodological features of life-calendaring as a qualitative research strategy and describes the process of an ongoing life-calendaring-aided interview research project that examines human security among queer emerging adult men. Finally, this article presents key insights from three life calendaring exemplars to demonstrate queering human security in emerging adulthood.

Centering equity in the development of a community resilience planning resource

Building community resilience requires centering equity in resilience planning processes. Tools and resources for strengthening community resilience need to address equity in both their content and the process for using them. This is especially so for communities living in proximity to contaminated lands that face compounding hazards (i.e., environmental, disaster, and climate-related); legacies of institutional or structural disenfranchisement; challenges with inclusion of minority populations in planning; and constraints on doing data-intensive planning and management in under-resourced and underserved jurisdictions. A research team from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing a new resource, the Equitable Resilience Builder, which will serve communities with intersecting social and environmental vulnerabilities, in pursuit of creating resilience plans and developing the intra-community connections to implement them. This article details how the team used human-centered design to develop the Equitable Resilience Builder. Our objective in doing so is to share the evolution of equity in the project and demonstrate key inflection points in the discovery, synthesis, and ideation phases of human-centered design. The team was able to expand their understanding of what it means to undertake resilience planning in an equitable way during engagements with state, local, tribal agencies, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and academia and through participatory workshops. It developed design principles for how the tool might use storytelling and other techniques to address emotions and trauma, ensure local voices are heard, and encourage relationship building. This article offers lessons learned for others seeking to address resilience and equity in climate risk management, particularly when working with communities in proximity to contaminated lands.

Women, work, and families during the COVID-19 pandemic: Examining the effects of COVID policies and looking to the future

The far-reaching, negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted healthcare, economic, public safety, and social systems globally. The public safety measures put in place in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, including sheltering in places orders and shutdowns of schools and places of work, negatively impacted the employment status and increased time spent in domestic work and childcare for women. In this paper, we review and analyze the impacts, both direct and indirect, of COVID-related policies on the lives of women. Specifically, we outline how the progression of policies aimed at addressing both public safety and economic recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic affected women's health, paid and unpaid work, and wellbeing. We will focus on the impacts of policies implemented in the United States in comparison to policies that were implemented globally to address similar issues during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for policies that could prevent similar disparate impacts on women in future crises.

Cultural Factors in Disaster Response Among Diverse Children and Youth Around the World

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Disasters and traumatic events are ever present globally but disproportionally impact culturally diverse low resource environments. Culture is an important context through which people experience disasters, develop adaptive strategies, and process external aid and support. This is even more critical for children and youth who are in the process of forming their cultural/ethnic identities. This review identifies literature on these important aspects of culture in disaster response.

RECENT FINDINGS

The literature supports that culture influences the experience of disasters, the development of coping and adaptational approaches, and the acceptability of external aid and support, especially mental health services. Cultural humility, awareness, and sensitivity are crucial in addressing the traumatic impact of disasters in children and youth, especially in the areas of the world that are most at risk for them.