Marianne E Zotti, DrPH, RN, Mississippi State Department of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Office of Health Services, PO Box 1700, Jackson, MS 39215-1700, 601 576-7472, MZotti@msdh.state.ms.us, Anna Lyn N Whitt, MPH, MSW, Office of Health Services, Mississippi State Department of Health, 570 East Woodrow Wilson, Room A-214, Jackson, MS 39215, Susan Anand, MA, ATR-BC, LPAT, Department of Psychiatry, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State St, Jackson, MS 39216, and William H replogle, PhD, Department of Family Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State St, Jackson, MS 39216.

Background: Children are among the most emotionally vulnerable groups affected by disaster. In 1997 Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota (LSSMN) created Camp Noah with the goal of decreasing trauma-reactive behaviors and symptoms among elementary school age children affected by natural disaster. Intervention components include (1) helping children process the disaster within a faith-based context, (2) providing a fun environment, and (3) promoting community collaboration. Camp Noah originated in Minnesota for children affected by flood and later was adopted as a national strategy for children affected by disaster. By 2002, 34 camps had occurred in 8 states. This paper describes multi-state camp implementation from 1997-2002, children’s symptoms prior to the camp, and child and parent evaluation results. Methods: Extant child health history forms were analyzed. Qualitative data themes were identified in child camp evaluations; parent evaluations are pending. Preliminary analyses are below. Results: Predominant pre-camp child symptoms (n=577 of 1,010) were excessive weather concerns (31%) and fear (25%). Child evaluations (N=658) revealed that most were from Minnesota (65%), Mississippi (11%), and Texas (9%), and disaster experience was primarily tornado (52%) or flood (44%). Children reported increased preparedness (8%), spiritual learning (49%), and recreation as their favorite activity (43%), indicating that intervention components 1 and 2 above appeared partially successful. Public Health Implications: Some practical difficulties included forms changing as the program evolved and insufficient data to determine if all goals were met. Benefits included clarifying program goals and intended outcomes, assessing process and outcomes, and enhancing future data collection.

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