Inside Report for May 8, 2008

• By JOE GYAN JR.
• Advocate New Orleans bureau
• Published: May 8, 2008 - Page: 9B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Tulane University Medical Center Dr. Corey Hebert said during a recent forum on the state of mental and public health in Louisiana that there is a “perceived wellness’’ among victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Some Louisiana residents victimized and traumatized by the 2005 storms are in a state of denial when it comes to their mental state.

Some of the results of a statewide poll conducted last month by Charlton Research Co. for the Virginia-based advocacy group Research!America reinforce Hebert’s belief, as do local health professionals.

The survey showed that mental-health problems endure more than 2‰ years after the hurricanes, but some residents refuse to admit it.

Consider the answers to the following questions. When asked, “Did the hurricanes have an effect on your own personal health in any way,’’ 39 percent of those polled said yes. But when asked, “Did the hurricanes have an effect on the health of people living in your community,” 64 percent said yes. And when asked, “Did the hurricanes have an effect on the mental health of people living in your neighborhood or community,’’ 53 percent said yes.

Half of the 800 Louisiana adults surveyed said the hurricanes did not have a big effect on them, while a third said the storms had an effect on them but they did not feel a need to get counseling. About 8 percent said they felt a need to get counseling but did not get it.

Why? Perhaps the answer to another question in the poll provides an answer. When asked, “Do you think people generally feel ashamed or embarrassed if they are dealing with a mental health or psychological problem,’’ nearly 70 percent said yes.

“There has to be a new way to overcome some of the stigma of mental illness, and there has to be a way to get them to work with institutions they trust, like faith-based organizations,’’ Dr. Ben Springgate, medical director of St. Anna Medical Mission in New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood and program director of the REACH NOLA Health and Resilience Project, said. “We have to find a way to team up with institutions that are trusted because there is a high level of mistrust (for traditional health care) right now.’’

One such partnership is the state Department of Health and Hospitals’ “Louisiana Spirit’’ initiative, which works with the Road Home program and schools to connect victims with counselors. The free counseling service, funded entirely by FEMA, was formed in response to the increase in post-hurricane stress.

The poll, which had a margin of error of 3.5 percent, also indicated that people credit volunteer and religious groups as much as hospitals and doctors with improving health conditions in the state after the storms. Federal, state and local governments were in the bottom tier of responses to the question, “How important have each of the following groups been to improving health conditions in Louisiana since the hurricanes?’’

Dr. Mark Townsend, vice chairman of psychiatry at LSU Health Sciences Center, said much progress has been made in restoring psychiatric infrastructure.

“The next steps are even more complex — rebuilding inpatient and other facilities, attracting more mental-health professionals to the region and greatly increasing community services,’’ he said.

When asked, “Do you feel there are enough resources, like specialized health care and medicines, in your community today for people who need mental-health services,’’ nearly 60 percent said no.