Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

Chapter 12 Complementary and Alternative Approaches 235
victims of September 11, 2001, ensure their loved ones were immediately
honored and not forgotten.
Disaster victims will have their own suggestions of rituals or spiritual
practices that can help them cope with postdisaster life changes. The professionals’
job is to listen to their pleas for support, help them regain touch
with their spirituality, and help find avenues of expression for those who
rely upon spirituality for strength during crisis.
Self-Help and Spiritual Skills Building
Providing spiritual care ( like mental health counseling) can be extremely
draining on spiritual caregivers and responding professionals during times
of disaster. Studies have found that many clergy who respond to disasters
develop compassion fatigue ( Lutheran Disaster Response of New York,
2008; Roberts, Flannelly, Weaver, & Figley, 2003). Spiritual caregivers also
become traumatized themselves from the experiences or distress of the
older persons for whom they are attempting to provide care. Mindfulness
strategies (McBee, 2008) that are critical to providing strong spiritual care
may be compromised as professionals decompensate. Paying attention to
the developing signs of physical and mental exhaustion will strengthen the
spiritual caregivers’ resiliency and ability to continue providing services.
Resources accessed through New York Disaster Interfaith Services can
assist clergy and spiritual caregivers who require support and respite. Roberts
and colleagues determined in their research that consistent debriefing
and discussion about feelings, concerns, and issues resulted in lower
rates of compassion fatigue and burnout.
Spiritual care during disasters requires a special set of skills that
includes an understanding of public versus personal trauma as well as
whether the required intervention is spiritual care, counseling, or a mental
health referral ( Davidowitz-Farkas & Hutchison-Hall, 2005). New
York Disaster Interfaith Services ( Harding, 2007 ) provides training and
has developed a list of emotional, behavioral, cognitive, physical, and spiritual
symptoms that manifest throughout the different stressful stages of
disaster and postdisaster. These outward signs can be cues for determining
the most appropriate spiritual and mental health response.
RITUALS FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
Ritual is one of the oldest forms of human activity. The word ritual , which
has an Indo-European derivation and is associated with rite, means “ to fit