Effectiveness of a disaster preparedness intervention for earthquake affected communities in Nepal

• Conditions: The primary condition/problem studied is disaster preparedness and mental health (with a focus on symptoms of depression and PTSD).

• Registration Number: CTRI/2018/02/011688
• Lead Sponsor: Institute of Behavioral Science University of ColoradoBoulder

Brief Summary

We developed and tested a hybrid mental health - disaster preparedness intervention in two earthquake affected communities in Nepal (N = 240) in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake. The 3-day intervention was culturally adapted, facilitated by trained laypersons and junior clinicians and focused on enhancing community resilience. Communities were selected based on earthquake impacts and matched on demographic variables.The intervention was administered initially to one randomly selected community of the two, followed by the other receiving the intervention shortly thereafter. Date was collected across three time points a few months after the earthquake to examine the primary outcomes of disaster preparedness, mental health symptoms, and social cohesion.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2015-07-18
• Last Update Posted: 2018-04-02

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: Not Applicable
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 240

Inclusion Criteria

age 18-65; available to attend 3-day intervention training; able to understand consent procedures; resident of community and present in community during earthquakes in April and May 2015.

Exclusion Criteria

unable to attend the 3-day intervention training; unable to understand consent procedures.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
PTSD symptoms	3 time points (baseline, 2 weeks post intervention, 4 weeks post intervention)
Social cohesion	3 time points (baseline, 2 weeks post intervention, 4 weeks post intervention)
Significant differences in the following primary outcomes at Time 2 (2 weeks after the intervention) between the group that received the intervention and the one that had not yet received the intervention:	3 time points (baseline, 2 weeks post intervention, 4 weeks post intervention)
Depression symptoms	3 time points (baseline, 2 weeks post intervention, 4 weeks post intervention)
Disaster preparedness	3 time points (baseline, 2 weeks post intervention, 4 weeks post intervention)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Significant differences in the following secondary outcomes at Time 2 (2 weeks post intervention) between the group that received the intervention and the one that had not yet received the intervention:	Help-seeking – mental health related

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Bhaktapur Nepal; 🇮🇳 Sudol, India

Bhaktapur Nepal

🇮🇳Sudol, India

Courtney Welton Mitchell

Principal investigator

3034928147

CourtneyMitchell13@gmail.com