SECONDARY PREVENTION - IMPLEMENTATION OF A SCHOOL-BASED INTERVENTION DESIGNED TO COPE WITH THE EFFECTS OF HURRICANE HUGO

In September, 1989, Hurricane Hugo struck the coastal and inland regio ns of South Carolina. It was one of the most serious natural disasters to affect the state during this century. This paper presents a unique school-based secondary prevention project that was designed and imple mented three weeks after the hurricane occurred. The general goals of the intervention were to help the children who were victims of the hur ricane cope with negative emotional reactions they might be experienci ng because of the hurricane and to prevent the development of future e motional problems. The intervention targeted elementary school-aged ch ildren in a rural county school district that was devastated by the hu rricane. The intervention consisted of a creative school assembly, sma ll discussion groups, and a teacher in-service. In presenting this int ervention we hope to provide mental health professionals with suggesti ons for gaining entree into community systems and implementing a schoo l-based intervention after an unforeseen natural disaster Recommendati ons are also made regarding how to improve and maximize the effectiven ess of future projects of this nature.