March 4, 2020
Message from BfS, OECD/NEA, WHO co-organising the international workshop “Toward a better integration of Non-Radiological Public Health Aspects of Protection Strategies during Radiation Emergency Planning, Response and Recovery”, 18-20 March 2020 - Munich, Germany |
Dear registered participants, Dear colleagues,
Our three organisations, BfS, OECD/NEA and WHO, have been monitoring closely the evolution of the Covid-19 outbreak and of all the related measures taken by many countries. In such prevailing circumstances where we are facing many travel restrictions for international participants to the workshop, we thought it would be wise to postpone the event. We are really sorry about this situation, but we are sure that all of you will understand our decision. We will keep you informed about the new dates, possibly next autumn in Germany.
We want to thank all of you for your willingness to participate and hope you will still be in a position to attend the workshop later. Once again, accept our apologies for any inconveniences our decision may involve. We are still looking forward to welcoming you in Germany for this workshop in 2020!
The organisers
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12:30 |
Registration and welcome coffee/tea |
13:00 |
Welcoming addresses |
| A word on behalf the co-organisers BfS, OECD/NEA and WHO will welcome the participants and share their expectations from the workshop |
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13:15 |
Session 1. Setting the scene and framing the objectives of the workshop Chair: Wolfgang Weiss; Co-chair: Fahmy Hanna (WHO) Rapporteur: Zhanat Carr (WHO) |
13:40 |
Invited Keynote : Disaster consequences, risks, and resilience Prof. George A. Bonanno, Ph.D, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Director of the Loss, Trauma, and Emotion Lab, and Director of the Resilience Center for Veterans and Families at Columbia University’s Teachers College, New-York, USA |
14:10 |
Invited Keynote : Mental health care for affected people following the Fukushima disaster Prof. Masaharu Maeda, Professor at the Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Department of Disaster Psychiatry, Fukushima Medical University, School of Medicine, Japan |
14:40 |
Briefing note : Mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies, an interagency approach Dr Fahmy Hanna, Co- chair of Interagency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, Technical Officer, Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, WHO- Geneva |
15:00 |
Briefing note : International recommendations for radiological protection of people and the environment in the event of a large nuclear accident Dr Thierry Schneider, Director of CEPN, France; member of the ICRP Committee 4 and of Task-Group 93 |
15:20 |
Tea/Coffee break |
15:50 |
Session 2. Part 1 - Fukushima mental health and psychological consequebces from the Japanese perspective Chair: Masaharu Maeda (FMU); Co-chair: Deborah Oughton (NMBU) Rapporteur: Jacqueline Garnier-Laplace (OECD/NEA) All presentations will last 15 minutes followed by 5 minutes for Q&A |
“Psychological distress in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Accident” Goodwin R. et al., Univ. of Warwick, UK |
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“Psychological distress and wellbeing after the Fukushima disaster: Perspectives for lifting of evacuation order” Murakami M. et al., Fukushima Medical University, Japan |
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“The Association between Parenting Anxiety and Later Child Mental Health in the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Affected Area” Mizuki R. et al., Fukushima Medical University, Japan |
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“Overviews of secondary health issues after the Fukushima incident” Tsubokura M., Fukushima Medical University, Japan |
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16:50 |
Session 2 (con’t). Part 2 –What lessons did the Chernobyl experience teach us? |
16:50 |
Invited Keynote : The Chernobyl case – The mental health legacy of the disaster Dr Johan Havenaar, Independent Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, the Netherlands |
“SHAMISEN – lessons learned and recommendations from Chernobyl and Fukushima” Cardis E., ISGlobal, Spain |
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18:00 |
Social reception offered by BfS |
19:30 |
End of Day 1 |
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09:00 |
Session 3. Psychological impact management – experience from non-nuclear disasters Chair: Martin Krottmayer (IFRC); Co-chair: Jacqueline Garnier-Laplace (OECD/NEA) Rapporteur:Monica Dobbertin (DSA) Each presentation will last 15 minutes plus 5 minutes for Q&A |
“Provisional title - The philosophical issue of protective actions- are we doing more harm than good?” Milligan P., NRC, USA |
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“Public mental health considerations in post-accident consequence management – a synthesis from the CRPPH” Kabir R., on behalf OECD/NEA |
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“The new framework and policy from IFRC on MHPS support” Hedrenius S., Swedish Red Cross, Switzerland |
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| “Wellbeing of helpers in the context of terrorist attacks: a case study on Munich 22 July 2016” Juen B. et al., Univ of Insbruck, Austria |
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“Risk Communication and Rumour Response: Why they matter more than ever” Meschenmoser P., Mesh & Moser situation management, Austria |
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10:20 |
Tea/Coffee break |
11:00 |
Session 3. Con’t |
“Literature Review of Non-Radiological Health Effects of Sheltering, Evacuation and Temporary Relocation” Watson S.J., et al., Public Health England, UK |
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“Everyday Processes and Mechanisms for Mental Health Research and Care in Nuclear or Radiological Emergencies” Hou K. and Goodwin, Education University of Hong Kong, China |
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11:40 |
Session 4. Social mobilisation and community engagement for preparedness and response to radiation emergencies Chair: Elisabeth Cardis (ISGlobal); Co-Chair: Matthias Zaehringer (BfS) Rapporteur: Christiane Poelzl-Viol (BfS) |
“Enhancing Stakeholder Participation in Radiological Protection - Findings and Recommendations of the European ENGAGE Project” Turcanu C., SCK-CEN, Belgium |
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“SHAMISEN SINGS project: Involving citizen scientists to measure doses and health/well-being indicators after a nuclear accident with use of mobile apps” Liutsko L. et al., ISGlobal, Spain |
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“Ethical Aspects of Community Engagement” Oughton D., Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway |
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“Psychological trauma after a nuclear accident: different burdens for different mother's choices” Fassert C. (IRSN, France) |
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13:00 |
Lunch break |
14:00 |
Session 5. Experiences with psychological support and care: approaches, methods and tools Chair: Zhanat Carr (WHO); Co-chair: Robin Goodwin (University of Warwick) Rapporteur: Fahmy Hanna (WHO) |
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Invited Keynote : “A psychosocial approach to understanding health and rebuilding trust with local communities after the Fukushima nuclear accident – Lessons learned from working together with people of Iitate Village” Dr Yujiro Kuroda and Yohei Koyama, Fukushima prefectural centre for environmental Creation, Japan |
14:30 |
“Psychological support for participants with thyroid-related issues” Setou N.et al., Fukushima Medical University, Japan |
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“Access to emergency care in a repopulated village after the Fukushima disaster” Nishikawa Y., Kyoto Univ., Japan |
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“Health risks of decontamination workers after the Fukushima nuclear disaster; comprehensive new interventions required” Sawano T., Fukushima Medical University, Japan |
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“ How to better assess well-being and quality of life in post-accident situations?” Maitre M. et al., Nuclear protection Evaluation Center, France |
16:00 |
Tea/Coffee break |
16:30 |
Session 5. Con’t |
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“Activities for prevention of PTSD in Minamisoma City, Fukushima after the nuclear disaster in 2011” Hori A., Fukushima Medical University, Japan |
16:50 |
Session 6. WHO Framework presentation |
18:00 |
End of Day 2 – possible joint dinner at participants’ own cost |
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09:00 |
Session 7. Breakout sessions to develop practical tools to support decision making |
12:30 |
Session 8. Summary/recommendations / closing remarks |
13:30 |
End of Workshop |
This workshop will build on recent developments and aims to explore the available practical solutions to reduce the mental health and psycho-social impact of radiological or nuclear emergencies and to provide efficient support following a major accident.
A new WHO policy framework that builds upon existing WHO guidelines on mental health and psychological support in emergencies is currently being developed for nuclear or radiological emergency situations. Based on this framework, workshop participants will discuss strategies and methods to assist the decision-making process for the mitigation of mental health and psycho-social impact in nuclear or radiological emergency situations. The goal is to develop generic recommendations that can be adapted to national and local issues and concerns according to the prevailing circumstances. A “whole-of-society” approach (i.e. promoting inclusiveness of all stakeholder categories) and an “all-hazards” approach will guarantee that the decision-making process will result in the best protective actions in a multifaceted fashion integrating in itself cascading events of an evolving emergency cycle.
In addition to the potential biological effects of ionising radiation, the health impacts of a nuclear or radiological accident often involve psychological and societal consequences. These non-radiological effects are a consequence of both the emergency itself and interventions to mitigate its effects. Current strategies for planning for, response to and recovery from radiological or nuclear emergencies need to be revisited and enriched by applying a holistic societal approach. Such approach must take into account the psycho-social and mental health impacts of the emergency as well as the associated response and recovery actions.
Guidance for managing the psychological and social effects of radiological or nuclear emergencies on public health would benefit from sharing experiences and lessons learnt from other emergencies. For nuclear or radiological emergencies, most existing national frameworks for preparedness and response are based on the International Commission on Radiological Protection’s principles of justification and optimisation. These principles provide guidance for protective strategies that primarily aim to prevent and reduce radiological exposure. Decisions on protective actions and countermeasures are mostly related to measurable and quantifiable concepts of radiation exposure rates, doses and radiological risk assessment. However, lessons from past nuclear accidents clearly demonstrate that the psychological effects associated with the specific circumstances of a nuclear accident should not be neglected. The consequences of accident response interventions include:
As a result, there are challenges for ensuring the implementation of best protective strategies. Strategies will be affected by the prevailing circumstances and need to balance any deleterious effects against the resources available, while addressing stakeholders‘ views and concerns.
At present, it is unclear how psycho-social and other societal and economic aspects can be included in a measurable fashion in the preparedness stage and in the decision-making during both an emergency and its recovery phase. Numerous observational studies and reports based on the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents do not offer solutions or practical guidelines on protection strategies. The existing international safety standards include generic requirements to make provision for mitigating the non-radiological consequences such as the psycho-social effects of nuclear accidents, but offer no explicit practical guidance. Numerous organisations have recognised these issues internationally and several research projects (e.g., the EC-funded CONCERT projects such as SHAMISEN or ENGAGE, the RICOMET annual conferences) have identified key elements to improve the situation (Shamisen Recommendations, 2017).
The workshop will take place on 18-20 March 2020. It will include invited and contributed talks, posters as well as joint discussions.
Key dates:
There will be no registration fee. Registration is recommended as soon as possible due to limited capacity. Remote participation will be possible.
The workshop is open to mental health experts, emergency responders, and crisis responders in any sector, policy-makers, governmental and non-governmental organisations, scientists, and any other stakeholders from related fields and civil society interested in the topic.
The workshop will take place at the campus of Helmholtz Gesellschaft in Neuherberg near Munich, Germany.
A joint dinner will be organised on 19 March 2020 at the participants own cost.
Participants are kindly requested to register online by 1 March 2020 via ConfDB. New participants or those who have not registered their contact information to NEA can do so by creating an account.
Submission should be sent to MUNICH2020@oecd-nea.org and should use the following abstract template.
Logistical information is provided in this document.
Dr Jacqueline GARNIER-LAPLACE
Division of Radiological Protection and Human Aspects of Nuclear Safety
Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
Tel.: +33 (0)1 73 21 29 38
Last reviewed: 24 February 2020
