Abstract

This report is part of the 2015 Briefing Report Series of the Sandy Child and Family Health (S-CAFH) Study, a project designed to survey the impact of Hurricane Sandy on several key aspects of New Jersey residents’ lives. Four briefing reports will be provided by the team that cover the following topics: (1) The Place Report – the decisions and actions related to evacuation, housing, community, and restoration and repair; (2) The Person Report – the physical and mental health status and well-being of residents who lived in areas exposed to Hurricane Sandy, with an additional focus on children’s health; (3) The Problems Report – residents’ current unmet needs and their experience with systems of formal help; and (4) The Progress Report – the factors associated with stalled or facilitated recovery among affected residents.

Each report will follow a similar format, opening with a brief summary of the existing knowledge, a description of the study and the methods used to collect the data, key findings including figures and graphs that may assist readers in interpreting the data, a summary with policy and programmatic implications, and an appendix of detailed tables of the study results. 

This report describes and examines several critical aspects of individual health and well-being that may be associated with the storm, including:

1. Physical health of adults;
2. Psychological and emotional health of adults;
3. Social and economic health of adults;
4. Health and well-being of children; and
5. The association between disaster exposure and individual outcomes.