Public Disaster and Private Trauma

Like many people we at the AASW watched the January 2020 bushfires with horror. In late January 2020, host Angela Scarfe contacted a member, Jo, who was living and working in one of the areas that was badly burnt, and they talked about what Jo thought her community needed. They have kept in touch throughout the year, and it is fair to say that they didn’t anticipate some of the events that 2020 had delivered.  This episode was recorded at the end of 2020, as the weather was warming and the Royal Commission into Natural Disaster Arrangements had released its report including a section on Mental Health. It was a good time to check in with Jo about what she had noticed since they first spoke.

More information

• Social Work Focus Autumn / Winter 2020
• Phoenix Australia’s Guide for Treating PTSD; Chapter 9 deals with stress caused by Natural Disasters (NB the guidelines include material that relates to the needs of people who volunteered.)
• Report of the Royal Commission into Natural Disaster Arrangements. Mental Health is discussed in chapter 15
• Solastalgia: Social Work’s Role in Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrvJ2jouKoM&feature=youtu.be

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