Disasters, Social Determinants, and Health Outcomes from a Global Perspective

Fueled by human-caused climate change, disasters have increased in both intensity and frequency during the 21^st century. Disasters are hypothesized to impact a wide array of sociological phenomena, such as migration, stratification, and conflict, that will only worsen given expectations that climate change will continue to deteriorate. Because disasters affect so many aspects of social life, they are also broad in their effects on health. In this session, we support sociological research on both the acute and long-term health effects of the occurrence of disasters–whether the effects of a specific disaster, a certain disaster type, or the impact of disasters more generally. We consider a broad definition of health outcomes, including but not limited to morbidity, mortality, fertility, epidemics, problem health behaviors, and mental health. We seek a wide range of geographic representation, given that particular disasters are more prominent in different global regions. Furthermore, different national and sub-national areas have varying abilities to adapt and/or respond to disasters, which may have unique effects on health. We encourage research that considers how social determinants of health may contribute to the effects of disasters. That is, we are interested in research exploring the manner in which social factors buffer or exacerbate the effects of disasters given that such determinants are known to affect available resources, social responses, and health communication when facing unexpected challenges like disasters.