Improving the mental health of people at risk of flooding
A research project alongside Kirklees Council will focus on the mental wellbeing of communities at high risk of flooding.
Yorkshire Regional Flood and Coastal Committee will fund the Flood Risk and Mental Wellbeing Project by Kirklees Council and the West Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme (WYFLIP).
The research aims to reduce the impact of floods by supporting resilience, recovery and mental wellbeing in people who experience flooding.
Flooding and mental health
Mental health plays a key role in flood resilience and the overall impact of flooding.
Residents who have experienced flood water entering their homes have significant mental health impacts. They are six times more likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.
This in turn reduces their resilience, response to and recovery from future flooding.
This project will be a unique pilot for WYFLIP, which aims to reduce the impact of flooding and climate change in the region.
Psychological first aid training
Five communities in Kirklees, which have experienced severe flooding in recent years, have been selected to be the initial target areas.
They are Birkby, Liversedge, River Colne, River Holme Catchments and Mirfield.
Kirklees Council will give psychological first aid training for frontline staff that work directly within communities at high risk of flooding.
Other interventions include support from a specialist mental health charity, campaigns to raise awareness of the support available, promoting green social prescribing, holding practical well-being events with at-risk communities and creating well-being packs with tips to build resilience.
Residents will benefit from improved mental and physical wellbeing, connection to nature and community togetherness.
Building resilience amidst the climate crisis
Cllr Katie Kimber, Spokesperson for WYFLIP and Luddendenfoot councillor, Calderdale Council said: “We are delighted that the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee has decided to fund this project, our bid was a little bit different from usual requests as we were not asking for money for flood defences.”
“A key goal for the project’s development phase is to identify other funding sources for its delivery by exploring match funding opportunities so that the work is sustainable.”
Cllr Munir Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Environment and Highways at Kirklees Council said: “There is a need for investment now, as a consequence of worsening climate change is that issues of both flooding and the associated mental health consequences are expected to become worse in the future.
“It is important to build our capacity and ability to understand and manage these impacts and support those affected.
“Flooding is unpredictable and we do not know when the next flood will occur so we need to start building resilience and preparedness in these communities.”
Professor Joseph Holden, Director of iCASP and water@leeds, University of Leeds said:
“This is an innovative pilot project and we aim to share new learning to help support the mental wellbeing of people at risk of flooding.
“It is another great example of strong partnership working between organisations.
“We are delighted that our hard work in coordinating WYFLIP also ensures that academic research can feed into enhanced flood resilience in the region, and we now have another important project that will add significant value.”
West Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme (WYFLIP) is a partnership of the five local authorities in West Yorkshire, the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and the Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme (iCASP) at the University of Leeds.
It has support from local stakeholders including the local resilience forum, emergency responders, the third sector and community groups and local councillors.
The WYFLIP board will support the delivery of the project by organising annual stakeholder workshops including mapping, sharing learning and exploring ways to build on existing projects.
