Abstract
BackgroundIn the last decade there has been an increase in community-based organizations providing support and educational outreach to populations effected by hazards. Prior research has demonstrated various roles that community social capital can play in both the enhancement of disaster preparedness and the mitigation of physical and mental health impacts following a natural disaster.MethodsTo assess self-reported health of residents of South Houston, Texas impacted by Hurricane Harvey, attendees of a community event completed a survey that included the 12 item short form health survey version 2 (SF-12v2).ResultsAlthough survey participants were older and more likely to be African-American than the overall population of Houston, they had higher mental health composite scores that the national average, with increases in mental wellbeing associated with a longer length of residence in their neighborhood.ConclusionsThe City of Houston, with highly segregated, socially vulnerable populations at high risk from natural hazards, should consider ways to support community engagement around disaster preparedness, response, and recovery that may build community cohesion and improve post-disaster mental health.
Highlights
In the last decade there has been an increase in community-based organizations providing support and educational outreach to populations effected by hazards
In a previous study of predominantly Hispanic residents of an environmental justice community located adjacent to the Houston Ship Channel (HSC), respondents reported significantly lower selfreported physical health (p < 0.001), which was negatively correlated with the length of time a resident had been
Study setting In October 2017, research and engagement staff from the Texas A&M University Institute for Sustainable Communities (IfSC) attended a Community Breakfast event hosted by Charity Productions, a Houston-based non-profit focused on emergency management and public safety issues
Summary
In the last decade there has been an increase in community-based organizations providing support and educational outreach to populations effected by hazards. Research has consistently demonstrated that environmental justice communities are disproportionately impacted by proximate sources of pollution, toxic exposures, and other hazards that result in excess risks for human health outcomes based on race, income, housing segregation, and other factors [1,2,3,4,5]. Industrial development has primarily been concentrated in east and south Houston neighborhoods, while more affluent residents and the services and amenities associated with them, have primarily developed in the western and northern portions of Houston [12] Among other factors, these patterns of development mean that African-American, Hispanic, and other minority residents of Houston became increasingly integrated with one another in east and south Houston [13]
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