Mitigating Health Disparities among Flood Victims: The Case of Eastern Kentucky

The overarching goal of this proposal is to provide immediate (and potentially future) disaster relief services for minority, underserved, and often disenfranchised survivors of the 2022 Eastern Kentucky Flood. The goal of this proposal is consistent with the mission, vision, and strategic plan of the College of Agriculture, Community, and the Sciences at Kentucky State University (KSU). This includes a mission of expanding cultural diversity, as well as establishing innovative teaching, extension, and research to deliver stakeholder-oriented programs leading to collaborations with other institutions. To achieve the goal of this integrated research and extension proposal, we want to fulfill the following objectives:(1) Identify existing care providers and other health resources available in the affected counties as well as providing immediate disaster relief for the flood survivors by working with local well-known advocates and activists within the community. However, in addition, our goal is to build sustainable, permanent sites in the counties to subsequently address trauma, trust, and other mental health issues within the higher-minority populated Eastern Kentucky counties.(2) Assess the level of usage of these resources among the flood survivors by incorporating pre and post surveys.(3) Measure the short-term impacts of the floods on the mental and physical health of the affected populations by incorporating pre and post surveys and other available data.(4) Provide best-practices training for the flood survivors emphasizing the importance of their mental and physical health after a disaster.(5) Secure stability in these minority, underserved, and disenfranchised populations, obtain quantitative and qualitative data for additional research and extension funding applications, and aid in developing additional programs to further mitigate health disparities among minority, underserved, and disenfranchised populations in times of disaster.