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Disaster Behavioral Health Information Series Resource Center
The SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center (DTAC) provides various resources and useful information for those in the disaster behavioral health field.
All resources for which links are provided are in the public domain or have been authorized for noncommercial use. Hardcopies of some materials may be ordered. If you use content from resources in this collection in program materials, you should acknowledge the source of the materials.
Did you know you can download your search results? Simply apply search filters and then click on the Download Filtered Resources link to obtain a .csv file with the resources you have found, including each resource’s name, description, date, URL, and source.
This guide offers insight into the significance of discussing race-based hate with children, identifying signs of traumatic stress and its effects, initiating conversations with young individuals about Asian American and Pacific Islander hate, and suggesting actions to respond effectively.
This web page from the SAMHSA Tribal Training and Technical Assistance Center provides resources that American Indian and Alaska Native communities can use to strengthen suicide prevention efforts. It links to a number of fact sheets, toolkits, research articles, and organizations.
Hosted by the SAMHSA Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network, this presentation covers the developmental aspects of racism-related stress and trauma and explores the complexities and clinical challenges in recognizing its symptoms. The presentation also delves into techniques for recognizing, addressing, and recovering from stress and trauma linked to experiences of racism.
This playlist from the Capacity Building Center for Tribes includes five recorded webinars focused on tribal trauma and resilience. Each webinar focuses on different factors that affect tribal mental and behavioral health, including protective community factors, historic trauma, trauma-informed child welfare, and secondary traumatic stress.
This comprehensive chart shows screening and assessment tools for alcohol and drug misuse. Tools are categorized by substance type, audience for screening, and administrator. The chart also provides other assessment tools that may be useful for providers doing substance use work.
This tip sheet highlights actionable principles that child-serving service provider organizations and systems are advised to implement to provide anti-racist and trauma-informed services. It includes strategies for implementing these principles wholistically, from provision of services to staff support and leadership development.
This fact sheet highlights the prevalence of suicide among Black and African American communities. It includes information regarding the impact of historical trauma and COVID-19 on mental health, the role of stigma in African American communities, and lack of access to mental health services. Resources to promote mental well-being are also provided.
This guideline is designed to support clinicians in caring for adult outpatients with pain, including clinicians incorporating opioids into pain treatment. The guideline encompasses recommendations for management of pain ranging from acute to longer-term (chronic). It offers guidance for clinicians in deciding whether to start opioid treatment for pain, choosing opioids and determining dosages, and managing risk.
This web page provides an overview of the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and the risk factors that may make it more likely for children to develop PTSD. It also describes the signs of PTSD in children and adolescents and different techniques to treat PTSD.
This web page lists information about the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, provides a 988 partner toolkit, and includes data on suicide and prevention resources. It also features links to partner organizations and funding resources.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers numerous resources related to disasters and pregnant people and people with newborns. This web page features information and links for mental health and public health officials.
This website provides information on Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment, which it describes as "an approach to the delivery of early intervention and treatment to people with substance use disorders and those at risk of developing these disorders."
This web page from the American Psychological Association provides a summary about trauma and its effects, and features related resources that explore the impact of traumatic events on the mental and physical health of individuals and communities. It includes links to articles, podcasts, and other resources that explore traumatic stress in response to disaster events and evidence-based practices for healthcare service professionals.
This web page focuses on SAMHSA’s National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, which aims to improve treatment and services for youth and families who have experienced traumatic events. It explores childhood trauma and links to resources for parents and caregivers, educators, health professionals, and more.
This 1-hour course covers mental health assessment and intervention with disaster survivors, as well as making sure services are culturally appropriate. The course is intended for emergency medical technicians, primary care practitioners, public health professionals, and others who will support disaster survivors. To complete the course, users must create an account through Prepare Iowa’s training platform.
This web page highlights resources that explore incidents of gun violence. It includes relevant books for adults and children, podcast episodes, news articles, and other resources that highlight strategies for coping with acts of terror, planning for emergencies, and building resilience.
This web page provides an overview of disasters, how they affect children, and how parents can offer support. It presents links to fact sheets, answers to parents’ frequently asked questions, and policies and articles for clinicians. The web page also features information and links for finding help for a child or adolescent struggling with his or her disaster reactions.
Created for healthcare professionals with a focus on services for youth, this guide highlights the importance of pursuing gender-affirming care when implementing a trauma-informed approach in healthcare services. It includes tips for supporting transgender, gender diverse, and intersex (TGI) youth and explains the impact gender-affirming care can have on the resilience and traumatic healing of an individual.
Provided through Prepare Iowa, a collaboration of the Iowa Department of Health and the University of Iowa, this 1-hour course is intended for anyone who may come into professional contact with disaster victims. The course defines and describes disaster and trauma and explains how proximity to a disaster affects potential for a traumatic response. To access this course, users must create an account through Prepare Iowa’s training platform.
This article from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health proposes a trauma-informed approach for healthcare practitioners unfamiliar with the effects disasters and trauma can have on individuals and communities. The resource prioritizes the needs of individuals affected by disasters and coping with traumatic stress to advise healthcare practices and avoid retraumatization.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many services offered to people who use drugs moved to a telehealth model. The National Council for Mental Wellbeing developed a resource with five strategies on how to continue to provide services in this environment.
The American Psychological Association provides an overview of disasters and their mental health impacts and presents links to articles on the impacts of a range of types of disasters. Also provided are links to news articles and related publications by the American Psychological Association.
The mission of the Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence, according to its website, is "to promote[s] state-of-the-science traumatic brain injury care from point-of-injury to reintegration for service members, veterans, and their families to prevent and mitigate consequences of mild to severe TBI [traumatic brain injury]."
This part of CDC’s website provides detailed information about Zika in the United States and around the world. CDC’s Zika virus website presents the latest counts of cases of Zika virus disease among the general public and among pregnant women in the United States and U.S. territories.
This part of the website of the National Center for PTSD features materials for professionals to help them in working with older adults with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), one possible consequence of disaster experiences. Resources include online information and courses about PTSD in older adults, PTSD that is co-occurring with other conditions that may arise in older adults, and prescribing practices for older veterans with PTSD.