Experiences in disaster-related mental health relief work: An exploratory model for the interprofessional training of psychological relief workers

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to begin to generate an exploratory model of the disaster-related mental health education process associated with the training experiences of psychological relief workers active during the Sichuan earthquake in China. The data consisted of semi-structured interviews with 20 psychological relief workers from four different professions (social workers, psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists, and counsellors) regarding their experiences in training and ideas for improvement. The model explains the need to use a people-centred community interprofessional education approach, which focuses on role-modelling of the trainer, caring for relief workers, paying attention to the needs of the trainee, and building systematic interprofessional education strategies. The proposed model identifies areas for the comprehensive training of relief workers and aims to address the importance of people-centred mental health service provisions, ensure intentional and strategic training of relief workers using interprofessional concepts and strategies, and use culturally attuned and community-informed strategies in mental health training practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Disaster management
• interprofessional education
• psychological services
• qualitative research

Acknowledgements

We want to take this opportunity to thank our friends Professor Alvin Dueck and Professor Chow Lam. They nurture our understanding of human suffering and culture psychology.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.