Over the past few years, devastating terrorist attacks have occurred across Europe. There is an urgent need for coordinated efforts across Europe to develop outreach strategies to provide high quality care and support for terror victims.
The 2011 Norway attacks and 2015 Paris attacks killed many civilians and impacted thousands. The survivors, their close ones and the bereaved families were at risk of severe consequences, such as posttraumatic stress reactions, depression, traumatic grief and inability to work or study. Different intervention models were implemented after the Norway and the Paris attacks. There is a need for knowledge about to what extent the outreach strategies succeeded in providing care for the affected individuals.
The unpredictability of terrorist attacks makes it extremely challenging to conduct methodologically sound research in the wake of such events. Yet it is essential to provide knowledge on the health care needs of affected individuals to develop post-terror outreach strategies to provide high quality care to individuals and communities affected by terrorism.
Longitudinal studies of the health impact and psychosocial follow-up of the survivors of the terrorist attacks have been developed in Norway and France. The proposed project seeks to develop a long-term collaboration between the research teams conducting the studies in both countries. The Aurora exchange project will be a unique opportunity for the French and Norwegian research teams to jointly develop ideas and collaboration with respect to post-terror research in an international context.Young researchers from both countries participate in the exchange, which will contribute to building capacity for the future. The overall aim is to generate knowledge that will improve the public health response to terrorist attacks across national borders.