2 research outputs found
Running Away from the War in Ukraine: The Impact on Mental Health of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Refugees in Transit in Poland
Get PDFA growing body of research highlights how communities traumatized by conflict and displacement suffer from long-term mental and psychosocial illnesses. The Russian army’s attack on Ukraine has resulted in an estimated 10 million people being internally or externally displaced from Ukraine, of whom more than 3.8 million have left Ukraine to seek refuge elsewhere in Europe. Soleterre has decided to launch an intervention to provide psychological support to Ukrainian refugees and IDPs, aimed at containing war trauma, assessing the severity of symptoms, and enabling those affected to receive psychological support. The intervention model envisioned the administration of an intake form to provide a rapid collection of qualitative and quantitative information for those arriving in Poland or Lviv from Ukraine. Our results showed how most of the samples reported high or very high levels of anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances. Moreover, results highlighted how being close to families or being able to keep in touch with them work as a protective factor in enhancing resilience, as well as a support network. These findings underscored the importance of re-thinking our perception of “family” in a broader sense, considering the new facets it can take on in post-conflict situations
The contribution of ReLUIS to the usability assessment of school buildings following the 2016 central Italy earthquake
Get PDFRecent earthquakes have shown the key role of post-earthquake technical inspections
aimed at assessing the seismic safety and/or usability of buildings and the functionality
of infrastructural systems, in order to minimize the impact of losses on citizens as
fast as possible. The AeDES form is used to evaluate the safety conditions of
buildings in order to enable people to return to their social and economic activities.
The ReLUIS consortium has been heavily involved in the post-earthquake emergency
phase of the central Italy earthquake. Consortium support to the Department of Civil
Protection consisted of technical surveys of public buildings, with emphasis on school
buildings, hospitals, strategic infrastructures, and sites with historical and monumental
significance. Researchers from several Italian universities carried out in situ surveys in
order to reduce social hardship. Usability and damage assessment was carried out by
teams of surveyors made up of experts from a list of ReLUIS researchers mobilized
in accordance with emergency procedures in case of earthquake. The potential
vulnerabilities of several case studies involving school complexes are discussed, and
recommendations for further investigations are provided
