The Contribution of Structural Racism to the Long-Term Effects of Natural Disaster on Behavioral Health Outcomes (SALENDO)
Summary
Extreme weather events such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation/floods, droughts, and tropical hurricanes are expected to increase across the United States. Preliminary research shows that natural disasters impact behavioral health, leading to increased mental health symptomatology and heightened substance use. It is unclear how community-level factors such as structural racism exacerbate long-term behavioral health outcomes in the context of natural disaster risk and exposure. Therefore, there is an urgent need to uncover the magnitude and mechanisms behind structural racism that contribute to adverse behavioral health outcomes. The objective of this study is to clarify the overlapping effects of structural racism, natural disaster exposure and risk, and behavioral health. Our specific aims are: 1) Evaluate temporal and geographic correlations of structural racism, natural disaster susceptibility, and rates of substance use-related emergency department visits/overdose by county in Texas (TX) and Louisiana (LA); 2) Examine how structural racism exacerbates poor behavioral health outcomes in the context of Hurricane Harvey in TX and LA; and 3) Assess the impact of disasters on access to behavioral health services (e.g. mental health, harm reduction, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD)) via qualitative inquiry.