IOM report offers strategies for building healthier post-disaster communities

An Institute of Medicine committee today recommended a framework and strategies for building healthier post-disaster communities. Among other actions, the committee calls for federal, state and local officials and stakeholders to incorporate a vision for a healthy community into disaster recovery planning and the National Disaster Recovery Framework; leverage recovery resources to achieve healthier post-disaster communities; ensure a ready health information technology infrastructure to support continuity of care; and develop a national disaster behavioral health policy and framework for optimizing social services. “With a shared healthy community vision, strategic planning that prioritizes health, and coordinated implementation, disaster recovery can result in a communities that are healthier, more livable places for current and future generations to grow and thrive – communities that are better prepared for future adversities,” the report brief states. The study was sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, departments of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.