In post-disaster settings, decisions about how, where, and what effective means there are to allocate effort to monitor and address health needs with constrained budgets are complex, intellectually challenging, and provide an avenue for researchers to integrate research and service contributions.
Our studies to date have demonstrated the power and utility of integrating biophysical and sociodemographic data using GIS analysis to identify the biophysical and sociodemographic processes that increase disease risk in post disaster settings (Moise, Brown et al. 2013, Moise, Riegel et al. 2018), and have linked natural disasters to substance use (Moise and Ruiz 2016). This work has significantly improved understanding of post-disaster psychosocial responses by exploring the social and contextual phenomena underlying such outcomes, and why healthcare providers should assess such trauma among those exposed to disasters.
