Flooding and health: assessment and management of public mental health

This guide provides insight into the adverse psychosocial impacts on flood-affected communities and how relevant agencies can develop plans to mitigate their effects. It particularly focuses on groups who may be at increased risk of impacts on mental health and wellbeing following a flood event. The immediate dangers to physical health from flooding events are highly visible. However, the majority of impacts on health in England are associated with mental rather than physical health.

This guide on flooding and health provides a framework intended to address and raise awareness on the wide-ranging health impacts of flooding. It aims to provide information about the measures needed to prevent major psychosocial effects on health arising from floods in England by alerting people to the adverse impacts and enabling them to prepare and respond appropriately.

This guide is intended for public health and local authorities, emergency services, frontline health professionals and other public agencies who interact with those at most risk from the psychosocial impacts of flooding. It suggests a series of steps to be taken to reduce the health risk from flooding by:

• the NHS, local authorities, social care and other public agencies
• professionals working with people at risk
• individuals, local communities and voluntary groups