Supports for Health and Social Service Providers from Canada Responding to the Disaster in Haiti

In January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The massive disaster made it difficult for local Haitian community officials to respond immediately, leaving the country reliant on foreign aid and international and non-governmental relief organizations. This study explores the effectiveness of various supports that were made available to health and social service providers in Haiti, by focusing on their lived experiences pre-deployment, on-site and post-deployment. The paper provides a qualitative exploration of participant perceptions with respect to the success of their performance in response, and relevant literature describing the various supports provided to health and social service providers responding to disasters. Methods: A single, semi-structured interview was conducted with Canadian health professionals (n=21) who deployed to Haiti during the time of, or after, the 2010 earthquake. The study uses Strauss and Corbin’s structured approach to grounded theory to identify main themes and relationships in the interviews. Results: The interviews indicate that training, and psychological and emotional supports for health and social service providers require improvement to enhance the experience and effectiveness of their work. Conclusions: Findings indicate that supports are most effective when they are tailored to the volunteers. The paper highlights future research stemming from the grounded theory findings.