Session: SPECIAL SESSION: Life in the Wake of a Disaster: A Socio-Ecological Model of Recovery (Research that Promotes Sustainability and (re)Builds Strengths (January 15 - 18, 2009))

Mental health disaster research often focuses upon psychopathology among disaster survivors, such as post-traumatic stress disorders. Less researched are the long-term health and psychological outcomes of the disaster on impacted populations. The Gulf Coast Child & Family Health study, a longitudinal cohort of 1,000+ randomly sampled Gulf Coast households post-Katrina, has employed a socio-ecological framework to explore these outcomes, and to consider whether a stronger social web which incorporates elements of security, resumption of social roles and social practices, and re-engagement with social institutions can provide a therapeutic effect.