New resource: Supporting children and infants in disasters: A practice guide

More Australian families and communities are experiencing disasters than ever before. This poses significant risks to the mental health and development of children, which can result in profound and lasting impacts. By offering the right support at the right time, every practitioner can make a difference.

Emerging Minds has released a comprehensive practice guide to support workers preparing for and responding to disasters and helping affected infants, children and families.

Hear from a wide range of experts, including practitioners, families with lived experience and researchers, in this evidence-informed, best practice online resource.

Supporting children and infants in disasters: A practice guide focuses on child-centred and family-focused approaches to disaster preparedness, response and recovery.

It consists of a series of practice papers that include video interviews with practitioners and parents with lived experience, actor-based and written scenarios, audio case studies and podcasts with families. Readers are also prompted to think about their own practice in reflection activities.

The guide is designed for anyone involved in supporting infants, children, parents and families before, during or after a disaster. This includes practitioners, workers, leaders and volunteers across a wide range of sectors such as:

• health services
• social and community services
• education
• first response and emergency services
• government (policy-making and agencies)
• non-government organisations
• community-led initiatives.

Topics include:

• Disaster preparedness
• Psychological first aid (PFA)
• Supporting infants, children and families during and immediately following a disaster
• Supporting children after a disaster
• Wellbeing for disaster workers
• Strategies for supporting infant and child mental health after disasters.

Check out Supporting infants and children in disasters: A practice guide to see how you and your service can make a difference for families across Australia.

Emerging Minds would like to acknowledge all the individuals and organisations who have collaborated with us on this project, particularly the Australian Child and Adolescent Trauma Loss & Grief Network (ACATLGN) team at Australian National University (ANU). Led by Michelle Roberts, the ACATLGN team’s work contributed significantly to the development of this practice guide, which Emerging Minds has led since 2023. A full list of acknowledgements can be found on the Emerging Minds website.