Collaborating With African American Churches to Overcome Minority Disaster Mental Health Disparities: What Mental Health Professionals Can Learn From Hurricane Katrina

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how mental health professionals and African American pastors and their churches could collaborate to overcome minority disaster mental health disparities. Forty-one African American pastors of churches located in south Mississippi. in counties directly affected by Hurricane Katrina, participated ill semi-structured interviews approximately I year after the storm. The majority of participants reported being interested in collaborating with mental health professionals to: (a) develop educational and outreach opportunities, (b) lead assessment procedures. (c) offer consultation activities. (d) provide clinically focused services. and (e) utilize spiritual resources and support. Participants provided further insight into how these collaborative activities could he modified to meet post-disaster needs and offered novel applications. Following from these discussions, the article provides a number of recommendations that can be used to;rid in the development of disaster collaborative activities between African American pastors and churches and mental health professionals to serve minority communities while also decreasing disparities

God Images Following Hurricane Katrina in South Mississippi: An Exploratory Study

God image appears to affect an individual\u27s ability to cope, either positively or negatively, following stressful life events. This qualitative investigation explored God images of Hurricane Katrina survivors two months after the storm along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. A multifaceted, and sometimes paradoxical view of God emerged from participants\u27 narratives following Hurricane Katrina. The following conceptualizations of God were reported by participants: (a) Omnipresent God, (b) Omnipotent God, (c) Distant God, (d) Personal God, (e) God in Others, (f) God as Judge, (g) God of Lessons, and (h) God as Loving Father Figure. God images reported by participants appeared to serve as a coping mechanism that allowed participants to make meaning and adjust to their Hurricane Katrina experiences