In the wake of another flood and storm disaster to impact the Northern Rivers, a group of UCRH researchers have shared insights about how flooding can impact human health.
Their work, published today in The Conversation outlines research conducted by UCRH which studied the impact of floods on human health and wellbeing, and which found floods are linked to a range of physical and mental health effects in both the short- and long-term.
The authors, Dr Jodie Bailie, Dr Jo Longman, Dr Rebecca McNaught and Professor Ross Bailie, canvas physical and mental health impacts. In concluding their work, they note that the unique challenges faced by communities which experience multiple disasters is still growing and that repeated disasters have a compounding effect on people’s mental health, leading to worse mental health outcomes compared to people who experience a single disaster.
