Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

92 Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness
2008). PHAC has also brought key stakeholders together to raise awareness
of the functional needs framework (D. Hutton, PHAC, personal communication,
December 2008).
Collaboration among PHAC, Help the Aged (UK), and WHO has resulted
in the development of a report based on case studies that examine
the impact of 16 emergencies in developed and developing countries
around the world, including 4 Canadian events (Plouffe, 2008). This report
is a response to the call in the 2002 United Nations Madrid International
Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) for signatories (including Canada) to
pay attention to the particular vulnerabilities and capacities of older persons
in emergency situations (United Nations, 2002). This report positions
the analysis and discussion of older persons and emergency management
within the WHO Active Ageing policy framework (World Health Organization,
2002). PHAC was also instrumental in the development of a recent
WHO report on policy issues relevant to older people in emergencies,
Older People in Emergencies: Considerations for Action and Policy Development
(Hutton, 2008).
Mental health issues for older persons have been acknowledged as
an important aspect of disaster management initiatives in Canada. For
example, the priorities for action that emerged from the first international
conference on seniors and emergency preparedness in Winnipeg included
“support qualitative and quantitative research on older persons’ mental
health needs in emergency situations that will lead to practical applications
and guide interventions for health service and care providers and
practitioners” (PHAC, February 2008, p. 20). The second international
conference in Halifax included a concurrent session on gaps in emergency
preparedness training for health professionals related to older persons and
the frail elderly (PHAC, March 2008). One ongoing focus of the three
PHAC-sponsored working groups has been advocacy for increased awareness
of mental health issues through participation in national and international
health care, aging, and disaster management conferences.
ACADEMIC INITIATIVES
There is increasing recognition in Canada, as elsewhere, that disaster
management [DM] education plays a vital role in helping communities
plan and recover from disaster. As Canada’s baby boomers age and DM
field professionals retire, there will be a pressing need for DM-trained
professionals over the next decade. Unfortunately, students are not always