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March 2007                                                                            Volume 12 - Number 3

Katrina Update...

The Children of Hurricane Katrina
By Seth Katz

    Last week, a report was issued on an update from a study conducted by Columbia University’s Children’s Health Fund about the health of children that were displaced by Hurricane Katrina.  Information for the study, which focused primarily on the mental health of the children, was gathered by interviews with over 600 families that were displaced from their homes and temporarily housed in hotels and trailers.  The children and families were randomly selected so that they had an even representation of the displaced population.  The goal of the study was to both identify and come up with solutions for mental health problems in children and also identify key flaws in the health-related recovery efforts of both the government and private institutions.
    After reviewing the data, those conducting the study determined that over one third of all displaced children (which was estimated at around 46,000) suffer from various conditions such as asthma, anxiety, and other behavioral problems.  About one quarter of all children in the urban Louisiana area were estimated to have similar problems before the hurricane.  Fourteen percent of the children in the study went without medication at some point during the displacement while about two percent went without medication before the hurricane.  About one quarter of all students were not enrolled in school or had missed at least 10 days of school in the months leading up to the study.
    The study found that there were several different reasons for the mental and physical health problems.  About 44 percent of caregivers were without health insurance due to the storm and almost half had serious chronic conditions themselves.  After giving female caregivers mental health screening exams, more than half of them were given a low score.  Many of the trailer sites housing displaced families were not regularly visited by mobile health clinics and caregivers had difficulty finding clinical assistance for their children’s mental health problems.  About half of children who had primary care physicians before the storm no longer have that resource available.
After reviewing the data, it was determined that before the hurricane, the area (which was known to have among the highest infantile mortality and poverty rates) had disproportionately low accessibility to mental healthcare providers and the hurricane greatly increased this issue.  Investigators and policy makers hope to take this information and identify both social and environmental factors that maintain both good physical and mental health by having ample access to treatment, family support, and engagement in school.