A guide to post-flooding community-level psychosocial response and recovery in Canada

March 2023 A guide to post-floodin g community-level psychosocial response and recovery in Canada By Maxine Myre and Nicole Glenn, PolicyWise for Children and Families In partnership with the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health ncceh.ca Key Messages • Relationships are foundational to all public health practices and activities to support community psychosocial and mental health. [...] COMMUNITY-LEVEL PSYCHOSOCIAL RESPONSE AND RECOVERY IN CANADA 4 Relationships are essential to post-flooding community-level response and recovery practices We found that relationships were foundational to all practices and activities to support community psychosocial and mental health recovery post-flooding. [...] We're really adopting an empowering approach and asset-based approach, so we don't try to see people as a bunch of problems and risk factors, but rather to see them as potential and strengths and resources and assets to the community. [...] Another advisor suggested that disaster response leaders evaluate the effectiveness and availability of different types of well-being supports and programs to better “coordinate what exists and advocate for what is missing.” Collaborating and coordinating across sectors and agencies Connecting and integrating across sectors. [...] To help with this, consider addressing concerns immediately after the flooding event and ensure awareness of the available psychosocial and mental health resources.12 Seeking guidance from and collaborating with community leaders and champions can facilitate accessible and trustworthy communication with the public.