Beyond 3 months
Psychosocial and mental health interventions should continue to be reviewed and updated according to specialist advice and current circumstances.
Mental health and social care specialists should continue to provide advice to responder organisations until recovery phase responses have been completed.
Professional practitioners should offer formal assessments to people who have psychosocial problems that continue or develop 3 months or more after an emergency. Assessment should take place before any specific intervention is offered.
Evidence-based interventions should be made available to people who have developed mental disorders as a result of the emergency. Identified staff in specialist mental health care services should be made available to work with and offer supervision and advice to staff in primary and secondary care.
Work, rehabilitation and play opportunities should be provided to enable people who require them to re-adapt to the routines of everyday life.
It is not uncommon for legal proceedings relating to emergencies to take place several years after the event. These proceedings and their findings, together with any associated media interest, may be a source of further distress for those affected by the emergency and for the wider community. The Care for People team (or its successor) should work with relevant Public Communications Group members to ensure psychosocial advice is provided at such times.
People involved in legal proceedings realting to the emergency should be offered support by appropriate agencies (for example, Victim Support, Inquest, Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority). More information on this can be found at Disaster Action.
If emergency-specific services have been established to meet people's psychosocial and mental health needs, then they should remain available to everyone who is affected for as long as a need persists.
There should be careful planning before closing any emergency-specific services to avoid giving the message there this is a time limit on the provision of support. The possibility of a phased closure or progressively integrating with other community, social and mental health services should be considered. The nature and circumstances of the particular emergency should determine whether these are appropriate measures.
Local authorities and Health Boards should consider how resources will be made available in the longer-term recovery period to facilitate additional follow-up support, which may extend for several years.
Memorial services, acts of remembrance and cultural rituals marking the anniversaries of the emergency should be planned in conjunction with the people who have been affected. They may want to do this independently or as a group. Some people may require additional support at this time.
An evaluation of the psychosocial and mental health response should be conducted based on consultation with those involved, and any lessons identified should be followed up.
When people have been affected by emergencies there is a likelihood that professionals (for example, from academia or medical departments) may wish to conduct research. Any such requests should be fully and properly considered, and it is recommended that Regional Resilience Partnerships identify a 'Lead for Research' through which any requests may be directed, and whom may coordinate information gathering, research and evaluation programmes. In this context the Lead for Research may best sit with the individual that has, or would be the identified chair of STAC. The Lead for Research should work in consultation with the Caldicott Guardians and other staff who are responsible for information stewardship in the involved agencies.