Local Volunteerism and Resilience Following Large-Scale Disaster: Outcomes for Health Support Team Volunteers in Haiti

Abstract

In-depth interviews with local Haitian volunteers trained in a psychological disaster recovery program called Health Support Team (HST) provide insight into the psychosocial outcomes resulting from their engagement with the program. Qualitative interviews were conducted with four male Haitian participants who had survived the January 2010 Haiti earthquake and had worked as HST volunteers for at least 6 months. Interviews were analyzed using narrative inquiry analysis, which allows individuals to discover and disclose a deeper meaning in their experience and enables the researchers to access more detailed data. Previous research supports the claim that volunteerism provides many important psychological benefits, and the results of the present study suggest that among survivors of large-scale disasters, volunteerism is beneficial as a means of increasing psychological resilience and facilitating personal recovery. Results and themes of our analysis included a reported increase in both hope and purpose for the respondents. Findings suggest that volunteerism on the part of members of the surviving community following large-scale disaster increases resilience among the volunteers and further contributes to their recovery.

Keywords

Haiti earthquake / Large-scale disaster / Post-disaster resilience / Recovery process / Volunteerism

References

[1] ARC (American Red Cross). 2009. Our history: A brief history of the American Red Cross. http://www.redcross.org/about-us/history. Accessed 24 April 2014.

[2] Bandura A, Schunk DH. Cultivating competence, self-efficacy, and intrinsic interest through proximal self-motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1981, 41(3): 586-598 10.1037/0022-3514.41.3.586

[3] Brown KM, Hoye R, Nicholson M. Self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social connectedness as mediators of the relationship between volunteering and well-being. Journal of Social Service Research, 2012, 38(4): 468-483 10.1080/01488376.2012.687706

[4] Charney DS. Psychobiological mechanisms of resilience and vulnerability: Implications for successful adaptation to extreme stress. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2004, 161(2): 195-216 10.1176/appi.ajp.161.2.195

[5] Creswell JW, Hanson WE, Plano VL, Morales A. Qualitative research designs: Selection and implementation. The Counseling Psychologist, 2007, 35(2): 236-264 10.1177/0011000006287390

[6] Gelkopf M, Berger R, Ryan P, Cotton SJ. The impact of “Training the Trainers” course for helping tsunami-survivor children on Sri Lankan disaster volunteer workers. International Journal of Stress Management, 2008, 15(2): 117-135 10.1037/1072-5245.15.2.117

[7] Gilgun JF. Bray JH, Stanton M. Qualitative research and family psychology. The Wily-Blackwell handbook of family psychology, 2009, Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell 85-99 10.1002/9781444310238.ch6

[8] Glister ME. Comparing neighborhood-focused activism and volunteerism: Psychological well-being and social connectedness. Journal of Community Psychology, 2012, 40(7): 769-784 10.1002/jcop.20528

[9] Haverkamp BE, Young RA. Paradigms, purpose, and the role of the literature: Formulating a rationale for qualitative investigations. The Counseling Psychologist, 2007, 35(2): 265-294 10.1177/0011000006292597

[10] Hildago CM, Moreno-Jiménez P, Quiñonero J. Positive effects of voluntary activity in older adults. Journal of Community Psychology, 2013, 41(2): 188-199 10.1002/jcop.21522

[11] Jacobs G. The development and maturation of humanitarian psychology. American Psychologist, 2007, 62(8): 932-941 10.1037/0003-066X.62.8.932

[12] King D, MacGregor C. Using social indicators to measure community vulnerability to natural hazards. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 2000, 15(3): 52-57.

[13] Li Y, Ferraro KF. Volunteering and depression in later life: Social benefits or selection process?. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 2005, 46(3): 68-84 10.1177/002214650504600106

[14] Lieblich A, Tuval-Mashiach RT, Zilber T. Narrative research: Reading, analysis, and interpretation, 1998, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

[15] Mitchell JT, Everly GS. The basic critical incident stress management course: Basic group crisis intervention, 2001, Ellicott City, MD: International Critical Incident Stress Foundation

[16] Ponterotto JG. Qualitative research in counseling psychology: A primer on research paradigms and philosophy of science. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2005, 52(2): 126-136 10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.126

[17] Poulin MJ. Volunteering predicts health among those who value others: Two national studies. Health Psychology, 2014, 33(2): 120-129 10.1037/a0031620

[18] Reissman CK. Narrative analysis. Qualitative research methods series 30, 1993, Newbury Park, CA: Sage

[19] Richie J, Lewis J, Elam G. Ritchie J, Lewis J. Designing and selecting samples. Qualitative research practice. A guide for social science students and researchers, 2003, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 77-108.

[20] Ruzek JI, Brymer MJ, Jacobs AK, Layne CM, Vernberg EM, Watson PJ. Psychological first aid. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 2007, 29(1): 17-49

[21] Schreiber, M. 2010. The PsySTART disaster mental health triage and incident management system. http://www.cdms.uci.edu/pdf/psystart-cdms02142012.pdf. Accessed 15 May 2014.

[22] Shelly, L. 2011. A qualitative analysis of the experiences of critical incident stress debriefers. Ph.D. dissertation, Seattle Pacific University.

[23] Tang F, Choi E, Morrow-Howell N. Organizational support and volunteering benefits for older adults. The Gerontologist, 2010, 50(5): 603-612 10.1093/geront/gnq020

[24] Thoburn, J.W., K. Mauseth, S. Cecchet, T. MacGuire, and K. Adams. 2014. Health support team: A qualitative analysis of the outcomes from a mental health training program for community-volunteers in Haiti. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation.