Supporting Children at Times of Disaster

Presenter

David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP,
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Child Study
Head, Subsection of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
Yale University School of Medicine

This Hot Topics forum is designed as a two part learning experience.

Part One: Prior to the September 13th session, view a recorded presentation entitled "Supporting Children and Families Following Disasters and Terrorism" made by Dr. Schonfeld in May 2004 as part of the Triangle Lecture Series at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.

Part Two: During the September 13th Hot Topics presentation and discussion, Dr. Schonfeld will emphasize the appropriate planning and response actions of public health professionals to meet the specific needs of children in crisis situations.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Be able to outline and describe the common reactions children and adolescents may manifest after a crisis event.
2. Recognize the underlying reasons why children and parents often under-estimate and/or under-report children's adjustment problems after a crisis event.
3. Be able to discuss the risk factors for increased difficulty with adjustment after a crisis event.
4. Identify at least 4 general considerations for hospital and community preparedness planning for disasters and terrorism related to mental health needs.

Appropriate Audience

1. Primary Audience - public health nurses, school health nurses, social workers, public information officers, public health emergency planners and first responders
2. Secondary Audience - anyone who would be called upon to support children & families during a disaster, including: primary care pediatricians, family practitioners, child psychologists, school administrators, school mental health professionals

David Schonfeld is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and Head of the Subsection, and Director of the Fellowship, in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Schonfeld established the School Crisis Response Initiative in 1991, which is now part of the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence at the Yale Child Study Center. The program has provided training to tens of thousands of school-related personnel throughout the country and abroad and has provided technical assistance in hundreds of school crisis events. From December 2001 through 2004, Dr. Schonfeld assisted New York City Public Schools in coordinating training of their school crisis response teams. Dr. Schonfeld was a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)'s Task Force on Terrorism (2001-2004) and is the Chair of the AAP's Committee on Pediatric Research. He is also co-editor of the Pediatric Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness Resource now under development for the AAP, and the liaison for Connecticut AAP to the statewide leadership task force on terrorism preparedness. In addition, he is coordinating the mental health response planning for the Yale-New Haven Health Systems terrorism preparedness. His research involves children's understanding of and adjustment to serious illness and death and school-based interventions to promote healthy behavior and risk prevention.

PowerPoint® Slides

• Supporting Children in Times of Disaster

Session Archive

Play the recorded presentation "Supporting Children at Times of Disaster" (1 hour, 10 minutes)

Can't access the recording? You may need to download the iLinc player from our software and plug-ins page.

Related Web Sites

American Academy of Pediatrics Children's Health Topic: Disasters

National Center for Children Exposed to Violence (Yale Child Study Center)

Parent Guidance Documents

School Crisis Response Initiative