Putting people first on the long road to recovery
As a humanitarian organisation, Australian Red Cross places people at the centre of all our work. We see the social and psychological impacts of emergencies as the fundamental elements of disaster recovery — without people, there is no community to recover.
Disasters have wide-ranging, complex impacts on individuals, households and communities. In addition to loss of life, injury and physical destruction, disasters can impact upon all aspects of wellbeing, quality of life and community connectedness. Impacts on the social aspects of life include disruption and changes to your day to day life, relationships, and community. This can be simple, everyday things through to the loss of your support and communication networks around you.
The disruption to services and people’s lives that occurs as a result of the disaster and during recovery impacts people’s roles, routines and assumptions. It also disrupts everyday activities, as well as plans and goals for the future. This adds to people’s sense of powerlessness during recovery as an ability to plan helps people gain a sense of control over their lives.
Our recovery program
Australian Red Cross’s recovery work aims to foster and develop social networks and relationships in communities to support sustainable community recovery.
Our recovery program works to reduce the psychosocial impacts of disaster on people and communities by recognising the varied, complex and long-term impacts that disasters and other crises have on people’s lives, including their health and wellbeing, quality of life and social connections.
Features of our recovery programs include:
- community outreach to assess where and what the need is, support coordination of recovery services and help people access other supports
- psychosocial support via inclusive and empowering outreach activities, community events, and training. These programs are designed for people and communities, with an emphasis on those who may be vulnerable or isolated, as well as for groups and agencies involved in recovery
- capacity building via the provision of information and recovery and preparedness education and training
- community-led recovery activities that are supported by community leaders
- community data collection to understand the sort of help people need.
“One of the things that I have felt about the Red Cross is that they’re the one agency that has really stayed with us ... they have remained in contact with us, checking that we’re okay, right through, all the time.”
