Evolution of Psychosocial Support in Disaster Management in India; Mapping the Trajectory
摘要
Psychosocial support and mental health services (PSSMHS) in disaster management have emerged as the core theme of disaster intervention over the years in India. In the twenty-first century, the threat of disasters has increased substantially. In recent decades, disaster intervention has been extended with the concepts of resiliency, “build-back-better” to “build-better-before,” sustainable development, and the strengthening of local solutions for global problems. In all the efforts, one of the core strategies of intervention is psychosocial support, which cuts across all the domains. There is a strong theoretical background from social sciences for the development of this model of normalization, which showed a significant impact in changing the trajectory of disaster management practice by incorporating PSSMHS during all phases of the disaster management cycle. In India, the mental health consequences of the disaster have been the subject of intervention and study since the Bangalore circus fire tragedy (1981), which killed 53 schoolchildren out of a total of 70 victims. This intervention was an outreach service to the families of victims and focused on family-based mental health care for recovery. In 1984, the Bhopal gas tragedy (chemical disaster) killed more than 8000 people; there was no psychiatrist in Bhopal, and MHS was facilitated by the primary healthcare doctors after only limited hours of training. In subsequent major disasters in Odisha (1999) and Gujarat (2001), PSS intervention was carried out at the community level by training the different cadres of grassroots-level workers (teachers, health workers, volunteers) and other professionals. In December 2004, following the tsunami, the PSS intervention was extensively implemented in all the affected communities, and PSS took the shape of state-level intervention. Subsequently, PSS intervention was considered the mainstream intervention in any disaster. NIMHANS was declared the nodal center for PSS in disasters by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India in 2005. Subsequently, the Central Government framed the Disaster Management Act (2005), policies, and institutional mechanisms. Since 2004, in response to several disasters (earthquakes, floods, cyclones, landslide, communal conflicts, accidents, and COVID-19), PSS & MHS have been provided at the community and institutional level as a multi-stakeholder engagement model that led to the formation of the Centre for Psychosocial Support in Disaster Management at NIMHANS, in 2019. In 2022, the center become a department. There are several research studies conducted on PSSMHS issues, multiple capacity-building workshops have been conducted, and the development of IEC materials has been a continuous effort to strengthen PSSMHS interventions. The chapter maps the trajectory of the development of PSSMHS, challenges, and prospects toward the development of a sustainable, resilient nation.