Access, use and completion of a brief disaster mental health intervention among Hispanics, African-Americans and Whites affected by Hurricane Ike

J Telemed Telecare. 2013 Feb;19(2):70-4. doi: 10.1177/1357633x13476230. Epub 2013 Mar 20.

Abstract

African-Americans and Hispanics are disproportionally affected by disasters. We evaluated differences in the use and completion of a web-based mental health intervention, Disaster Recovery Web (DRW), by White, African-American and Hispanic adults in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Approximately one year after the hurricane, a telephone survey was carried out with adults from Galveston and Chambers counties. A total of 1249 adults participated in the survey (80% White, 14% African-American and 6% Hispanic). Mental health and mental health service utilization were assessed. Whites were more likely to have previously used the Internet to obtain general health information than African-Americans or Hispanics (P < 0.001). A logistic regression was used to identify differences in the use of the Internet intervention after controlling for covariates. There were no differences in rates of non-use and dropout attrition between Whites, African-Americans and Hispanics. Thus the findings suggest that web-based mental health interventions can be used to reach African-American, Hispanic and White adults at similar rates after a disaster.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data
  • Cyclonic Storms*
  • Disasters*
  • Ethnicity / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Health Services Accessibility / standards*
  • Hispanic or Latino / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Internet
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Mental Health Services / organization & administration
  • Mental Health Services / statistics & numerical data*
  • Middle Aged
  • United States
  • White People / statistics & numerical data