Special Issue Editorial: First International Conference on People in Disasters.

The first International People in Disasters Conference was held in Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand, from 24 to 26 February 2016. The conference showcased the dilemmas of living and working within a disaster context, and best practice approaches to response and recovery. The Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, particularly the earthquake of 22 February 2011, were the disasters of most interest to delegates. Key messages driving this conference were: that people’s narratives are healing; to learn from lessons of past disasters; that human-animal bonds are important; to trust each other; that shared leadership and decisionmaking works best; that ethnic minorities contribute to a holistic response and recovery; that long-term mental health care is required; and to transform to a new future. These key messages were embedded in the conference themes: response, recovery, and resilience. New insight was provided on the value of community and cultural groups as first responders. The significant role of community responses after the Christchurch Earthquake led to Aotearoa/New Zealand’s Ministry of Social Development revising its disaster policy to support community initiatives. Other important topics included: 1) diminished psychosocial wellbeing, 2) treatments for disaster-related mental illness, 3) initiatives that have empowered the psychosocial recovery of Christchurch’s population, and 4) resilient individuals and communities managing their own recovery. This Special Issue includes papers on: caring for companion animals, compassion fatigue of nurses, promoting Māori psychosocial recovery, family violence, managing diabetes post-disaster, comparing community recovery projects in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Japan, wellbeing of older people, and posttraumatic growth. As Guest Editors for this special edition, we are delighted with the results of the conference and hope that the following papers will be useful to researchers and practitioners working in the fields of disaster response, recovery, and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]