Psychosocial Preparedness for Disasters: A Scoping Review of International Models and Public Health Priorities

Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2026 Jun 25;28(1):42. doi: 10.1007/s11920-026-01693-1.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To map international models of psychosocial preparedness for disasters and identify recurrent public mental health priorities for policy, service readiness, and implementation.

RECENT FINDINGS: Following PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and Joanna Briggs Institute guidance, we searched PubMed (2015-2025) using two complementary strategies and mapped 35 included studies. Eight model families emerged, including community resilience and governance; non-specialist support and psychological first aid (PFA); integrated mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) across the disaster cycle; implementation and scale-up models; organizational and health-system preparedness; digital continuity models; monitoring and evaluation frameworks; and behavioral emergency response models. Across model families, preparedness was concentrated mainly on community and non-specialist levels, and emphasized trust, community capacity, task-sharing, workforce readiness, and continuity of care. The mapped literature supports psychosocial preparedness as a layered public health function rather than a post-event specialist intervention. Core priorities include pre-event governance, community engagement, supervised non-specialist delivery with referral pathways, workforce protection, digital continuity with clinical safeguards, and minimum monitoring standards. Future work should prioritize implementation-focused research and outcome evaluation across diverse disaster settings.

PMID:42348092 | DOI:10.1007/s11920-026-01693-1