Catalyzing Community Support

Abstract

there are many complex issues associated with catalyzing community support in behalf of members of a community adversely affected by major stressful events / intervention planning must assess important features of the stressor . . . , the stress resistant resources of potential support providers, the strengths and vulnerabilities of potential support recipients, and the socio-economic, ethnic, religious and cultural context of the community in which providers and recipients reside / addresses stressors that affect many people at the same time (e.g., war or a massive flood) rather than events that affect many individuals at different times (e.g., rape, physical assault, life-threatening illness) / this paper is further restricted to largely intact communities that provide the support needed by distressed members stressors [community-wide disasters, intact communities] / support [definition, to distinguish between high- and low-risk groups, to provide what people need when they need it, to identify people capable of providing needed support, efficacy of coping behavior by support recipients] / community [definition, pre-disaster resources in the community, endorsement of community support recruitment, community values] / catalyzing [definition; importance of the media; groups involved in catalyzing support by the media; preferred medium, targets, and messages; communicating the meaning and implications of the disaster; information is catalytic and empowering] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)