www.rmwb.ca

Supporting Community Psychosocial

Recovery – Cross Sector Approach

Alberta Fires 2016

Presenters: Allison Power, AHS AMH

Alison (Ali) Paul, CRC

October 2017

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MULTI-LAYERED SUPPORTS

Specialized

services

Focused, non-specialized supports

Community and family supports

Basic services and security

Mental health care by mental health specialists (psychiatric nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, etc)

Basic emotional and practical support by all personnel

Social networks, traditional supports; Community hubs; Child-friendly & female friendly spaces; Youth engagement

Advocacy for basic services, safe environments, dignity, resiliency and respect

PSS roles

IASC (2007)

Mental Health

What is psychosocial support?

3 Disaster Management Safety and Wellbeing Orientation - February 2016

“...a process of facilitating resilience within individuals, families and communities. Through respecting the independence, dignity and coping mechanisms of individuals and communities, psychosocial support promotes the restoration of social cohesion and infrastructure”

(IFRC Psychosocial Framework)

Aim of psychosocial support

• To assist affected people and communities to:

Regain a sense of

normality Restore hope and dignity Improve psychological and

social well-being Attain a stable life and

integrated functioning

2016 Wildfire was the largest

evacuation in Alberta history

Map of Evacuee Locations (May 9)

Fort McMurray Alberta Fire Learnings from past disasters supported the need for the community to collectively work on a psychosocial recovery plan to address the following:

• Local leadership, ownership, and expertise

• Clarity of roles and responsibilities across all sectors

• Coordinated system of psychosocial supports from all sectors

• Enhanced community capacity and cultural sensitivity

• Training and education

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Phases of Disaster

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• Research shows that people recover better after a disaster if they feel safe and connected to other people; if they have social, physical and emotional support, and if they feel like they can help themselves and their community

• There were several reception centres established across the province

Reception Centres

After the Fire

The numbers provided immediately after the fire were expected to climb.

Beacon Hill 70% of homes lost

Abasand 50% of homes lost

Waterways 90% of homes lost

Wood Buffalo – 30+ homes lost

After the Fire

Addiction & Mental Health, Wellness Counselling

Adapted services, new name, important partnerships

Re-entry

Mobile Urgent Care Centre, Fort Mash

Considerations:

• Matching responders to needs

• Training and support for deployed staff

Psychosocial Supports

Referrals to Mental Health

• Early contacts: brief contacts; check-ins; follow up with known clients and support to first responders

• Shifted to more typical contacts over time

• From May 10, 2016 to Feb. 10, 2017 – 27,600 client contacts reported by AMH in Fort McMurray and Wood Buffalo

Innovative Practices – Caring for First Responders

and Providers

One Have an Incident Management System that is flexible and scalable,

has trained personnel and is linked with external agencies

Lessons Learned

Two Utilize a multi-disciplinary approach to the response in evacuation

centres, including considerations for vulnerable populations

Three Quickly mobilize and utilize your daily communication tools,

both internal and external

Four Be prepared to manage volunteers from within your organization

Five Plan and provide for staff safety

COORDINATION AND THE RED CROSS

THE NEED FOR PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT POST ALBERTA FIRES

• Calls for support and requests

for housing

• Counselling agencies reporting a

higher level of intakes

• Interventions relating to self-

directed violence such as suicide

and self-harm

• Increase in physician services

for anxiety, depression and

substance abuse

SAFETY AND WELLBEING: OUR APPROACH

• Non-duplication of services providing a direct link to

professionals

• Address community priorities through community resilience

approach

• Partnering with local agencies and funding projects such

as:

o Mental health coordinators in schools

o Wellness workshops and groups

• Delivering Psychological First Aid through outreach and

casework teams

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & COORDINATION

• Partnering at regional and provincial

level (EWB Taskforce, CARE Wood

Buffalo, CWR, RCC)

• Information-sharing

• Identifying gaps and coordinating

action

• Facilitating referral network

• Integration and sustainability of

programming

• Supporting action-oriented research

REFLECTING ON THE WILDFIRES:

ONE YEAR ON

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Evolution of MHPSS Coordination

• Emergency Social Services Coordination

• Regional (EWB Task Force & Teams > CWR

Committee); joint leadership (RMWB & AHS North

Zone)

• Provincial (Addiction and Mental Health Emergency

Coordination Centre (AMH-ECC) > RMWB-AMH

Wildfire Recovery Coordinating Committee (RCC);

RCC joint leadership (AB Health and CRC)

• Agencies around the table(s); links between

Emotional Wellbeing Task Force

• Created on May 19, 2016

• Four phases:

• Phase 1 focused on first responders

• Phase 2 focused on staff working on community re-

entry

• Phase 3 focused on psychosocial supports required to

assist community members during re-entry

• Phase 4 focused on long-term psychosocial recovery

community wellness and resiliency

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WB CWR Committee

The CWR Committee was created to promote mental health, wellness, emotional wellbeing and resilience, prevent and manage the impacts of wildfire on RMWB residents. Objectives: 1. Increase resilience among direct and indirect

impacted residents 2. Increase community resilience and recovery 3. Reduce vulnerability amongst population

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RMWB-AMH

Recovery Coordinating Committee

• Prioritizing MHPSS early in response

• Common purpose/vision for collective work

• Joint ownership by regional municipality (RMWB) and provincial addictions and mental health branch

• Inter-sectoral membership of committee

• Forum for information sharing, problem solving, evaluation of needs/gaps/capacities, and continuous learning/evolution of planned action.

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Fort McMurray Wildfire

• Monitoring, evaluation and research

• Targeted supports for vulnerable populations

• Coordinated supports for Indigenous populations

• Communication and public engagement

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Wood Buffalo

Psychosocial Recovery Plan

Purpose:

• Provide overall direction and coordination among those

organizations implementing services and supports to the

impacted communities

Objectives:

• Reduce vulnerability among direct and indirect residents

• Increase resilience among direct and indirect residents impacted by the wildfire. Increase community resilience.

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Value to the Community

• Psychosocial needs of the community are adequately

served

• Reduction in short-term, mid-term and long-term mental

health needs

• Increase community wellness and resiliency

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QUESTIONS/COMMENTS?