In April, APA launched a website for psychologists and others in the disaster response field: the TransWorld Disaster Resources Network.
The free clearinghouse features a wide range of materials, including fact sheets, assessment guides and disaster response guidelines and standards. It also offers information about the world’s disaster response organizations, a list of education and training programs in disaster mental health and disaster response and a research bibliography.
The site gives psychologists around the world an easy way to share information and resources, says Merry Bullock, PhD, APA’s senior director for international affairs. “Our goal is to be a conduit for information,” she says, urging users to submit materials for posting.
It’s a collaborative effort, Bullock says. “Although it’s currently a one-way teamsite where we post things people can download, we’re hoping as it expands it can become more interactive and include features like listservs and chat rooms.”
The interactive nature of the clearinghouse will make it especially useful during the immediate response to a disaster, says Bullock. Soon after the Haiti earthquake, for example, people started translating disaster response materials into Creole. In the future, such materials will be available as part of the clearinghouse.
Bullock hopes people will use the site even when there’s not a disaster to educate themselves and take advantage of the site’s bibliography.
To visit the clearinghouse, go to Trans-World Resource Network: a Clearinghouse for Disaster Response Resources, use the login ID APAINT\apa4twrn and password TransWorld01.
To contribute materials, e-mail them to Trans-World Resource Network.
—R.A. Clay
Letters to the Editor
- Send us a letter