There are many connections between human communities and their surrounding environments that influence community resilience and health in the Gulf of Mexico. The impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Gulf communities and ecosystems — coupled with the region's preexisting health challenges and environmental stressors — illustrate the need to better understand these connections. In the future, natural and man-made disasters, climate change impacts, and other environmental stressors will present complex challenges to the physical, mental, and social well-being of communities in the Gulf. Understanding the interrelationships among health, ecological, and economic impacts of disasters and other environmental stressors will be crucial to addressing these challenges.

Opportunities for the Gulf Research Program: Community Resilience and Health summarizes a Gulf Research Program workshop held on September 22-23, 2014, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The workshop examined opportunities to improve the health, well-being, and resilience of communities in the Gulf region through discussions with about 50 participants with diverse expertise and experience. These discussions identified perceived needs, challenges, and opportunities that align with the Gulf Research Program's mission and goals — particularly its goal to improve understanding of the connections between human health and the environment to support the development of health and resilient Gulf communities. This workshop is expected to lead to the development of additional Program activities and opportunities for the research community.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• ABOUT THE GULF RESEARCH PROGRAM
• PLANNING COMMITTEE FOR THE WORKSHOP ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE GULF RESEARCH PROGRAM: COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND HEALTH
• GULF RESEARCH PROGRAM Advisory Group
• REVIEWERS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• 1. Introduction
  • DEVELOPING HEALTHY AND RESILIENT GULF COMMUNITIES
  • ABOUT THE WORKSHOP SUMMARY
• 2. Human Health, Public Health Practice, and Community Resilience
  • HEALTH, RESILIENCE, AND SUSTAINABILITY
  • MEASURING RESILIENCE
  • HEALTH AND RESILIENCE AFTER THE DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL
  • OIL SPILL–RELATED RESEARCH
  • POTENTIAL RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
• 3. Perspectives on Resilient Communities
  • DEVELOPING A RESILIENCE MINDSET
  • RESILIENT COMMUNITIES: LEARNING FROM THE PAST AND PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
  • KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF RESILIENT COMMUNITIES
  • LESSONS FROM THE EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL
  • RESILIENCE AS ROUTINE PRACTICE
  • BREAKOUT DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• 4. Reducing Risk and Improving Disaster Recovery
  • ASSESSING POSTDISASTER HEALTH IMPACTS
  • MENTAL HEALTH IMPACTS OF DISASTERS
  • LINKING COMMUNITY RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE
  • HEALTH EQUITY AND RESILIENCE
  • ACCESS AND USE OF HEALTH INFORMATION
  • HEALTH NEEDS OF COASTAL POPULATIONS
  • BREAKOUT DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• 5. Building Resilience in the Gulf Region
  • PUBLIC HEALTH IN A GULF COMMUNITY
  • RECOVERY PLANNING IN GALVESTON, TEXAS
  • THE COASTAL RESILIENCE INDEX
  • SEA GRANT AND THE GULF REGION’S FISHING COMMUNITIES
  • LINKING SCIENCE AND CITIZENS
  • LESSONS FROM THE PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND REGIONAL CITIZENS’ ADVISORY COUNCIL
  • BREAKOUT DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• 6. Capacity to Address Environmental Health Risks
  • SENTINEL SYSTEM FOR ECOSYSTEM AND HUMAN HEALTH
  • UNIVERSITY–COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS AND SEAFOOD SAFETY
  • PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITES
  • DETECTING AND UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURES
  • NIH GULF OIL SPILL AND DISASTER RESEARCH RESPONSE
  • CONNECTING OIL SPILL RESPONDERS TO COMMUNITIES AND RESEARCHERS
  • RISK COMMUNICATIONS
  • USING SOCIAL MEDIA DURING DISASTERS
  • BUILDING TRUST
  • BREAKOUT DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• 7. Long-term Opportunities
  • A GULF CENTER LINKING HEALTH, SOCIETY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
  • EVALUATING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
  • TAPPING INTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF COMMUNITIES
  • LINKAGES TO OCEANS AND HUMAN HEALTH PROGRAMS
  • INVESTING IN PEOPLE, PELICANS, AND PUPILS
  • CLIMATE CHANGE AND SEA LEVEL RISE
  • COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
  • LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
  • PROGRAM SUSTAINABILITY
• 8. Lasting Benefit
• References
• APPENDIXES
  • A Workshop Agenda
  • B Statement of Task
  • C Speaker Biographies
  • D Workshop Attendees
  • E Related Funding Programs

Rapporteurs: LeighAnne Olsen and Steve Olson.

Suggested citation:

GRP (Gulf Research Program). 2015. Opportunities for the Gulf Research Program: Community Resilience and Health: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.