[Psychosocial responses to collective trauma].

Abstract

Both man-made and natural disasters are societal concerns of actuality that can take a heavy toll on people's health and well-being. It is paramount to understand how to prevent or reduce adverse psychological and social consequences in affected individuals and communities. There is currently an intention of better coordination across Europe to improve the handling of such cross-border health threats. Still, more insight is needed on how different countries respond to their population's psychosocial needs in the wake of disasters. Substantial differences in European countries' psychosocial responses to large-scale terrorist attacks are herein highlighted for Norway, France and Belgium. These differences emphasize the need to improve and harmonize the monitoring, evaluation and research on the provision of post-disaster psychosocial care and support in order to strengthen our capacities to deal with future emergencies.