Reference no: EM132548112

Question: When most people think about identifying a crisis or disaster, the first ones that come to mind are usually natural disasters like tsunamis, earthquakes, or draughts. Others may first think of wars, terrorism, or genocide. As counselor educators, you should be aware of all types of crisis that may occur, including business crises such as those that involve the global outsourcing of jobs or de-centralization of business functions. Political, personal, financial, or technological crises also are important categories to consider. For this Discussion, however, the focus is on the first types of crises mentioned-natural disasters and terrorist events.

Regardless of the type of crisis/disaster, the duration and intensity-or scope-of a crisis directs how your organization, community, or region will be impacted and the extent of the disaster response. The scope of a disaster also dictates whether an area is declared a disaster area by a nation's leaders, whether assistance from outside your area will be needed, and the length of time necessary for disaster recovery efforts.

Another area counselor educators should investigate relates to the demographics of the crisis/disaster population. Knowing this information will inform you and first responders of cultural considerations involved. The U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts provides age, gender, ethnicity, home ownership, language, median income, and education level for your state, county, and city. This demographic data may be explored online.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review Chapter 2 in your course text, Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape, focusing on the types of crisis trends presented.

• Review the article, "Crisis in Context Theory: An Ecological Model," and consider the proposed model for understanding the impact of crises.

• Review the articles, "Latina Mothers' Perceptions of Mental Health and Mental Health Promotion" and "Risk of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Survivors of the Floods in Bahir, India" to help you understand multicultural considerations related to crisis responding.

• Review the articles, "Disaster Response: Mental Health Effects among WTC Rescue and Recovery Workers" and "Rescuing the Rescuers: First Responders at Risk," for examples of health provider responses.

• Review Chapter 3 of the video, The Soldier's Heart, and consider the impact of combat on those in the military.

• Review the articles, "The Hierarchy of Needs and Care Planning in Addiction Services: What Maslow Can Tell Us about Addressing Competing Priorities?" and "Basic Need Status and Health-Promoting Self-Care Behavior in Adults." Think about how basic need satisfaction is correlated to health-promoting, self-care behavior and how this relates to crisis management and response.

• Choose a natural disaster or terrorist activity that would affect your community to use for this assignment. Think about the ways in which it would affect your community. Please choose an event other than Hurricane Katrina.

• Review demographics online at the U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts website to determine the characteristics of those who might be affected by this particular event. If you live outside the U.S., research your location.

• You should obtain data such as age, gender, ethnicity, home ownership, language, median income, and education level for your state, county, and city.