Fieldnote Feb 21 2023 - 10:55pm
First field note from HSJ
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Sara_NesheiwatThe Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion in 1986 led to a ten day reactor fire that resulted in a large and unknown amount of radiation spilling into the surrounding areas in Ukraine. This caused the contamination of the environments and those around the reactor. Hundreds of thousands of people had to evacuate and to this day it remains to be an issue. Due to this controversy that still surrounds this disaster, the IAEA, FAO, UNDP, UNEP, OCHA, UNSCEAR and WHO created the Chernobyl Forum. They generate "authoritative consensual statements" on the environmental consequences due to the radiation exposure. Ultimately they and this event in Chernobyl are what called for this report.
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Sara_NesheiwatThe objective of this study was to evaluate whether the amount of cases of thyroid cancer post Fukushima disaster reported were overestimated. The study focused on noting and analyzing if the high reported prevalence of thyroid cancer cases in the areas surrounding the disaster were over diagnosed. Factors such as O/E ratio, utilizing the life table method, as well as national estimates were used in order to determine whether the reported amount of thyroid cancer cases of those aged 20 years in the area were accurate or too exaggerated and ultimately over diagnosed.
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Sara_NesheiwatThis article mainly notes on the influences of culture on patients and their depiction of their medical history. The way a patient describes a narrative of their illness depends on their beliefs, set of morals, culture and customs in which they are used to and identify with. There is a correlation with the physicality of an illness and how it is perceived by their culture along with the way they depict it to professionals and pursue alleviating the issue. The importance of doctors recognizing this cultural influence and perhaps raising of stigmas is also reported since it can deeply impact the way a patient is taken care of and treated.
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Sara_NesheiwatThis organization is aimed at healing those suffering when faced with emergency situations. The American Red Cross responds to areas of needs using volunteers and donors. Those affected by disaster receive care, shelter, aid, etc from American Red Cross. Ultimately, America Red Cross offers disaster relief and acts as an emergency response to destruction and disaster.
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Sara_NesheiwatI further researched the history of sexual violence and its role in times of war, since its use as a weapon was mentioned. I also researched the background of sexual violence and stigmas that are associated with them in the countries mentioned in the article, in order to better understand underlying meanings and cultural struggles aside from the obvious atrocities of the violent act. Also since Medecins Sans Frontieres kept being cited, I did further research on them since much of the study was based off their findings, this lead me to further study Doctors Without Borders, which is what it is commonly known as in the US.
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Sara.TillThis article undertakes reviewing the current approaches to handling mental health in the wake of disasters. It particularly focuses of the current methodologies of research utilized, past methodologies/findings, and how these effect today's approaches to treatment of mental disorders during emergency response. The article begins by discussing the major psychopathology found in populations effected by disasters, including mood disorders such as PTSD and MDD. Other disorders, such as substance abuse and outside symptomologies, are also discussed-- but these first two seem to be the major players addressed here. The work then describes how current comorbidities exist, and how these manifest as pre-disaster risk factors (for example, female disaster survivors are generally more likely to have adverse psychological outcomes, such as PTSD or MDD). Other factors include age, socioeconomic status, and basal trait-level anxiety/depressive symptoms. The report also speaks to during disaster and post-disaster factors as well, as these both have been shown to indicate increased likelihood of developing mental health disorders from a disaster event. Finally, the report delves into current interventions utilized during all three of these time periods (pre, peri, and post), and how these may amplify or diminish the mental health effects of a disaster event. Unfortunately, the paper gives very general guidelines, such as discouraging building in vulnerable locations or testing responses in communities even before disasters occur. For post-disaster preventative measures, however, the report included several key notations-- including implementation of stress debriefings for disaster survivors, and usage of PFA (psychological first aid) to prevent adverse mental health outcomes.
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Sara_NesheiwatI found aspects involving the governments response to the situation very unconvincing. I would like to have seen more in the documentary about the government's attempts to inform and the actions they took. This may have been due to a lack of efforts taken by the government. Yet seeing more about the government's involvement as well as the hospital's and doctor's would have made that side of the situation far more compelling. The way it was portrayed in the documentary made it very unconvincing and I was not compelled by it.
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Sara_NesheiwatThe bibliography of this article is quite extensive and thorough. This shows that a lot of research and effort was put into this article. The sources cited are all from very reputable labs, organizations, and researchers. This reflects the validity and expertise in this article.
A station at Naluwan