NEW JERSEY SANDY CHILD AND FAMILY STUDY (Rutgers) (NJ-S-CAFH)

The Program on Population Recovery and Resiliency at NYU GPH will provide Rutgers University with research services related to their proposed contract with the State of New Jersey to conduct an assessment of populations affected by the October 2012 Superstorm Sandy.

The contract is for the development of a representative panel of New Jersey residents exposed to Hurricane Sandy. The project will; 1. establish a New Jersey Public Partnership Group to facilitate discussion, guidance, and oversight with the Rutgers University, Columbia University, and NYU research teams; 2. Produce Briefing Reports and a Summary Report that can inform recovery efforts of the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) and other public stakeholders.

These Reports will focus on disaster exposure and decision-making among NJ residents who had been exposed to Superstorm Sandy, assess the unmet needs for health and social services among affected populations, identify particularly evidence of group or population disparities, and provide a snapshot of health and recovery status; 3. Develop a process for circulating peer-reviewed journal articles with the New Jersey Public Partnership Group for comment prior to publication.

Dr. Abramson’s program on Population Impacts, Recovery, and Resiliency (PiR2) applies social science and public health theory and methods to improving the health and well-being of communities and populations affected by disasters. Much of the research focuses of socio-ecological models of disaster recovery. There are two major components to the program:

1.The Population Impacts, Recovery and Resiliency (PiR2) Data Lab.The Data lab encompasses analyses of multiple observational disaster cohorts, supplemented with hierarchical secondary data on hazards, risks, infrastructure, vulnerability and resiliency. The lab is actively following four current disaster cohorts.

2. The Gulf Coast Child and Family Health Study (G-CAFH), a longitudinal cohort study of Hurricane Katrina survivors randomly sampled from displaced and heavily impacted households in Louisiana and Mississippi in the first year after the hurricane (n=1,079; 4 data waves from 2006-2010). G-CAFH will likely be funded for an additional five years with funding from NICHD to examine health disparities and recovery trajectories.

Disaster ResearchWorks, a “research-to-action” unit that encompasses rapid research efforts post-disaster, with the design and implementation of research-informed solutions. Presently, the primary project is the SHOREline youth empowerment program, a national network of high school chapters in which students focus on a project-based learning curriculum to achieve the objective of “Youth helping youth recover from disaster.” SHOREline, which builds Skills Hope Opportunities Recovery and Engagement among the youth, is active in six high schools in LA, MS, AL and NYC.