Challenges and barriers of humanitarian aid management in 2017 Kermanshah earthquake: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Examining various problems after disasters is important for the affected people. Managing humanitarian aid and donations among the affected people is considered as one of the most important problems after disasters. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the challenges and barriers of humanitarian aid management in 2017 Kermanshah Earthquake. METHODS: This study was conducted from November 2017 to January 2018, with qualitative case study design. The population included 21 people including 6 humanitarian aid manager, 6 volunteers, 4 aid workers, and 5 affected people. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and purposeful sampling, which continued until saturating the data. The strategies recommended by Guba were used for evaluating the trustworthiness of the data. The data was analyzed with conventional content analysis method according to method suggested by Graneheim and Lundman. RESULTS: Based on the results, two themes, nine categories, and 19 sub-categories were identified considering the challenges and barriers of humanitarian aid and donors' management during the 2017 Kermanshah Earthquake. The categories included education, command and coordination, communication and information, rules, security, traffic and overcrowding, assessment, providing system, and cultural setting. Also, two themes including managerial and structural barriers were extracted. CONCLUSION: Adopting an effective management and appropriate policies with respect to humanitarian aid and modifying structural and managerial barriers can improve the performance and management of humanitarian aid.

The challenges of health volunteers management in COVID19 pandemic in Iran.

PURPOSE: The use of volunteers is one of the approaches to capacity building, preparedness and the response of the health system in disasters. Appropriate management of volunteers during disasters and emergencies is essential. This study aimed to explain the challenges of volunteer management in the Pandemic COVID-19 in Iran. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Qualitative research was conducted using the content analysis based on the Graneheim method. The participants' selection was done based on purposeful sampling and theoretical sampling until data saturation. Direct field observation and 26 interviews were applied to collect data. FINDINGS: Four categories and 15 sub-categories emerged to describe the challenges of volunteer management during the COVID-19 crisis including policymaking barriers (including legal barriers, insurance and support coverage and risk governance), managerial barriers (including planning, coordinating and organizing, training and awareness, command and leadership and information management and documentation), socio-cultural barriers (personal safety attitude and culture, attitudes and expectations of the community and perspectives on volunteers) and executive-operational barriers (monitoring and evaluation, cost and needs assessment). ORIGINALITY/VALUE: It is essential to increase managers', officials' and volunteers' perceptions of COVID19 risk through education and information. Preparing a database for volunteers' information, including non-governmental organization and governmental organization volunteers, planning for needs assessment, establishing a mechanism for recruiting volunteers and using their capacities and appropriate organizing, tracking and monitoring of volunteers can be among effective strategies.

Suicide Death Rate after Disasters: A Meta-Analysis Study.

BACKGROUND: Disasters have undesirable effects on health among individuals such as psychosocial disorders which may lead lead to suicide in some cases. Thus, the present study aimed to measure the rate of suicide death after disasters all over the world. METHODS: In the present meta-analysis study, all of the articles published in English until the end of 2019 were probed in electronic databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and Google Scholar. Then, the data were imported to STATA ver.13 software and analyzed through fixed- and random-effects models, meta-regression, and Cochrane statistical tests. RESULTS: A total of 11 studies including a sample size of 65495867 were considered. Suicide death rates before and after the disasters were calculated as 13.61 (CI95%: 11.59-15.77) vs. 16.68 (CI95%: 14.5-19:0) among the whole population, 28.36 (CI 95%:11.29-45.43) vs. 32.17 (CI95%: 17.71-46.62) among men, and 12.71 (CI95%: 5.98-19.44) vs 12.69 (CI95%: 5.17-20.21) among women. The rate of suicide death significantly increased in the whole population and men, while no significant difference was reported among women. CONCLUSION: Suicide death rate increases after disasters indicating the destructive impact of this phenomenon on peoples' health. Therefore, implementing supportive and interventional measures is highly suggested after disasters in order to prevent suicide death among the affected people.

Challenges and Barriers to the Participation of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Flood Management: A Qualitative Study from Iran.

OBJECTIVE: Floods are one of Iran's most important natural hazards, which cause a lot of damage every year. Various organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), participate in flood management. The present study aimed to explore the challenges and barriers of NGOs' participation in the management of the flooding in Iran based on stakeholders' experiences. METHODS: This qualitative study is a case study that was conducted using the content analysis approach. Fifteen participants, including 3 national managers, 2 volunteers active in responding to recent floods, and 10 NGO managers/secretaries who had the knowledge or operational experience of participating in disaster management, were approached for interviews. Data were collected using a purposeful sampling method and continued until reaching data saturation. RESULTS: Challenges and barriers to NGOs' participation in flood management were categorized into 4 main categories and 14 subcategories, including policy-making challenges, managerial challenges, executive challenges, and socio-cultural challenges. CONCLUSIONS: As multiple NGOs take part in responding to disasters and performing relief operations, establishing a unified command and supervision system for effective coordination and collaborations among NGOs and other stakeholders is highly suggested. Further research is needed to develop a measurement tool for assessing the effectiveness of NGOs' activities during disasters.

The Prevalence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Among Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Health care workers, due to be involved in caring for COVID-19 patients may experience various psychological problems including anxiety disorders. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic by systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: The PRISMA guideline was used for conducting this study. Related keywords were searched in credited resources including ISC, Magiran, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, ProQuest, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Embase to find the articles published on the prevalence of GAD among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic from the first of January to the end of June 2020. Meta-analysis was conducted by the random effects model. Results: In this study, 553 articles were initially identified, from which 19 studies were finally included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that the prevalence of GAD in health care workers based on the GAD-7 and GAD-2 instruments were 32.04% (95% CI: 26.89-37.19, I 2 = 98.2%, p < 0.001) and 22.62% (95% CI: 9.01-36.24, I 2 = 97.7%, p < 0.001). The overall prevalence of GAD was obtained 30.5% (95% CI: 25.58-35.42, I 2 = 98.4%, p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study showed a relatively high GAD prevalence, as one of the fundamental psychological problems, among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, health system managers should implement preventive strategies to protect health staff from contracting the virus and monitor them for psychological problems and provide them with supportive measures if necessary.