Background
Research shows that 46% of people in developed countries and 79% in developing countries might suffer from post-disaster psychological trauma. Some survivors experience prolonged psychological distress. Without proper support, the distress can escalate into long-term and severe psychiatric issues. Disasters not only have significant negative psychological effects on survivors, but it can also have an impact on disaster workers who may experience adverse psychological reactions such as severe anxiety and flashbacks of the event.
Moreover, disaster preparedness directly affects the efficiency of response and risk management. Therefore, Hospital Authority (HA) aims to improve and promote the disaster psychosocial services (DPS) in hospitals and within the community to alleviate the adverse effects disasters may have on individuals and communities.
Service Focus
Corporate Clinical Psychology Services (CCPS) is dedicated to developing DPS, providing appropriate psychological support to medical teams and the affected population during disasters to mitigate and prevent negative psychological and emotional reactions, and enhance individual and community disaster response capacities. Since 1999, CCPS also assisted all acute general hospitals under HA to establish Disaster Psychosocial Services Teams (DPSTs) to serve disaster survivors, their families and HA staff during disasters.
In 2012, CCPS facilitated the establishment of the Task Force on Disaster Psychosocial Services (TFDPS) to improve the management and service quality of DPS.