The Power of Radio to Promote Health and Resilience in Natural Disasters: A Review
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School of Health Sciences, Örebro University, 70182 Örebro, Sweden
2
First Response Radio, Frome BA11 2SX, UK
3
Health Communication Resources (UK), Worthing BN13 1AA, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(14), 2526; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142526
Received: 30 May 2019
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Revised: 4 July 2019
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Accepted: 11 July 2019
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Published: 15 July 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Medicine: Preparedness and Response)
Humanitarian radio has been used in humanitarian aid efforts and after natural disasters over the last 15 years. However, the effects have barely been evaluated, and there are few scientific reports on the impact of radio as a disaster health response intervention. Therefore, this study aimed to provide an overview of the use and impact of humanitarian radio in natural disasters from a health perspective. A literature review of 13 scientific papers and grey literature resources was conducted. The results show that humanitarian radio could be used to promote both physical and psychosocial wellbeing by providing health-related information, advice and psychosocial support in natural disasters. Community resilience can be enhanced by the promotion of community engagement and can strengthen self-efficacy and community efficacy. Radio also has the potential to cost-effectively reach a large number of affected people in areas with severely damaged infrastructure. Radio could, therefore, contribute to health recovery and wellbeing from both individual and community perspectives. As such, health professionals; crises communication professionals, including radio journalists; and disaster-managing stakeholders should be prepared and trained to use humanitarian radio as an integrated part of the disaster health response in natural disasters.
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Keywords:
community resilience; crises communication; disaster; disaster response; humanitarian radio; mental health
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MDPI and ACS Style
Hugelius, K.; Adams, M.; Romo-Murphy, E. The Power of Radio to Promote Health and Resilience in Natural Disasters: A Review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 2526. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142526
AMA Style
Hugelius K, Adams M, Romo-Murphy E. The Power of Radio to Promote Health and Resilience in Natural Disasters: A Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(14):2526. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142526
Chicago/Turabian StyleHugelius, Karin, Mike Adams, and Eila Romo-Murphy. 2019. "The Power of Radio to Promote Health and Resilience in Natural Disasters: A Review" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 14: 2526. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142526
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