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Given the devastation caused by disasters and mass violence, it is critical that intervention policy be based on the most updated research findings. However, to date, no evidence-based consensus has been reached supporting a clear set of recom- mendations for intervention during the immediate and the mid-term post mass trauma phases. Because it is unlikely that there will be evidence in the near or mid-term future from clinical trials that cover the diversity of disaster and mass violence circumstances, we assembled a worldwide panel of experts on the study and treatment of those exposed to disaster and mass violence to extrapolate from related fields of research, and to gain consensus on intervention principles. We identified five empirically supported intervention principles that should be used to guide and inform intervention and prevention efforts at the early to mid-term stages. These are promoting: 1) a sense of safety, 2) calming, 3) a sense of self- and community efficacy, 4) connectedness, and 5) hope.
Restoring social and behavioral functioning after disasters and situations of mass casualty has been extensively explored over the last few decades. No evidence-based consensus has been reached to date with regard to effective interventions for use in the immediate and the mid-term post mass trauma phases (Gersons & Olff, 2005). Recent findings indicating that commonly utilized interventions, such as psychological debriefing, do not prevent PTSD may not be effective in preventing long-term distress and dysfunction, and they may even be harmful to direct survivors of disasters (for recent reviews, see Carlier, Lamberts, van Uchelen, & Gersons, 1998; Litz & Gray, 2002; McNally, Bryant, & Ehlers, 2003; Rose, Bisson, & Wessely, 2003). This has left the field without an evidence-based framework for post-disaster psychosocial intervention. This gap in the field has led to a search for an evidence-informed framework for post-disaster psychosocial intervention. One solution to the lack of direct research evidence for such interventions has been to both extrapolate from related fields of research to create evidence-informed practices and to attempt to gain consensus from researchers and practitioners in the fields of trauma and disaster recovery. Of greatest interest is the identification of core intervention-related foci that are best supported by the literature as promoting stress-resistant and resilient outcomes following exposure to extreme...