DESCRIPTION

Large-scale disasters are frequently accompanied by spikes in mental health issues and ripple effects such as post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, anxiety, depression, behavioral disorders, child abuse, and domestic violence. These issues affect specific members of society including frontline health workers, ill individuals, families of ill individuals, essential workers, the unemployed and underemployed, and the general population who are isolated and/or quarantined. Governments are ill-equipped to respond to the mental-health consequences catalyzed by the pandemic: the large numbers of deaths, the toll of quarantine and social isolation, and the psychosocial consequences of economic recession and loss. We are looking for innovative, cost-effective ways to remedy this deficit.