KATIVA-NOLA's Early Findings and Publications

New Orleans East Vietnamese shops, Post KatrinaDates: 2005-Present

Funding Source: The National Institutes of Health (NICHD; NIMH) Tulane University's Research Enhancement Award; The Thomas C. Keller Professorship at Tulane University

The Research Team and Partners:

  • Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (Primary Recipient), Principal Investigator: Mark J VanLandingham, PhD, MPH
  • Mary Queen of Viet Nam Community Development Corporation
  • Vietnamese Initiatives in Economic Training (VIET)
  • Vietnamese American Community in Louisiana (VAC)
  • Boat People SOS (BPSOS)

Countries: US

Early Findings

  • Vietnamese New Orleanians had among the highest rate of return among all ethnic groups
  • Crime and lack of health care were major concerns among those who had returned by the first-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
  • Use of routine health care services declined among Vietnamese Americans during the first two years after Katrina. Declines were particularly steep among women and the middle-aged.
  • Vietnamese New Orleanians have elevated levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following Katrina compared to Vietnamese Americans nationally.
  • Vietnamese New Orleanians have far lower rates of PTSD than those reported for other groups affected by Katrina.
  • Being comfortable in both American and Vietnamese cultures appears to provide substantial resilience in the face of a major catastrophe such as Hurricane Katrina.
KATIVA-NOLA's Peer-reviewed books, journal articles, and book chapters
  • VanLandingham, Mark. 2017. Weathering Katrina: Culture and Recovery among Vietnamese-Americans. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. 
  • VanLandingham, Mark. 2017. Resilience among vulnerable populations: the neglected role of culture. In Zakour, Michael, Nancy Mock, and Paul Kadetz, Editors. Creating Katrina, Rebuilding Resilience: Lessons from New Orleans on Vulnerability and Resiliency. Elsevier Press.  
  • Zhang, Mengxi and Sofia C Pendley. 2017. Shifting Methods when Disaster Strikes: The Conversion of a Cross-National Comparative Approach to a Longitudinal Cohort Study of Vietnamese Americans. SAGE Research Methods Cases. March issue.  
  • Do, Mai. et al., 2014. Perceptions of Mental Illness and Related Stigma Among Vietnamese Populations: Findings from a Mixed Method Study. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 16(6):1294–1298.
  • Vu, Lung and Mark VanLandingham. 2012. Physical and mental health consequences of Katrina on Vietnamese immigrants in New Orleans: A pre- and post-disaster assessment. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 14(3):386-394.
  • Carlin, Kathleen, Alexandra Priebe, Mai Do, Carl Bankston, and Mark VanLandingham. 2011. Culture and Resiliency within a Vietnamese-American Enclave post-Katrina. Global Horizons, Center for Policy and Resilience, University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, Long Beach, MS.
  • Carlin, Kathleen. 2011. A hurricane is nothing!  Louisiana Folklore Miscellany 21.
  • Do, Mai, Paul Hutchinson, Kathryn Mai, and Mark VanLandingham. 2009. Disparities in health care among Vietnamese New Orleanians and the impacts of Hurricane Katrina. Research in the Sociology of Health Care 27:301-319. 
  • Norris, Fran, Mark VanLandingham, and Lung Vu. 2009. PTSD in Vietnamese Americans Following Hurricane Katrina: Prevalence, Patterns, and Predictors. Journal of Traumatic Stress 22-2: 91-101. 
  • Vu, Lung, Mark VanLandingham, Mai Do, and Carl L. Bankston III. 2009. Evacuation and Return of Vietnamese New Orleanians Affected by Hurricane Katrina. Organization and Environment 22: 422-436. 
KATIVA-NOLA's Other publications
  • Kaji, Aiko. 2016. Health Needs Assessment for Vietnamese Americans in New Orleans. CSDP Working Paper #2017-01
  • VanLandingham, Mark. August 14, 2015. Opinion/Editorial: Post-Katrina, Vietnamese Success. Sunday Review; Gray Matter. The New York Times. 
  • VanLandingham Mark. 2014. How culture - and other factors – help the Vietnamese of New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina. Policy Brief for the Scholars Strategy Network. Cambridge, MA: Scholars Strategy Network.
  • Tran, Thanh Cam and Mark VanLandingham. 2013. Hurricane Katrina’s Impacts on Vietnamese Americans in New Orleans, Louisiana (KATIVA-NOLA): Project Report. Manuscript.
  • Carlin Kathleen, Alex Priebe, Caitlin Canfield, and Mark VanLandingham. 2012. Uống Nước Nhớ Nguồn (When you drink from the spring, remember the source); a narrative of Vietnamese American resilience. In Mendenhall E and A Koon, eds. Environmental Health Narratives: A Reader for Youth. University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque, NM.
  • Carlin, Kathleen, Alexandra Priebe, Mai Do, Carl Bankston, and Mark VanLandingham. 2011. Culture and Resiliency within a Vietnamese-American Enclave post-Katrina. Global Horizons, Center for Policy and Resilience, University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, Long Beach, MS.
  • Carlin, Kathleen. 2011. A hurricane is nothing! Louisiana Folklore Miscellany 21.
  • VanLandingham, Mark. 2010. A second disaster tests Vietnamese American resilience on the Gulf Coast. Social Science Research Council’s Items and Issues 6(3). http://itemsandissues.ssrc.org/a-second-disaster-tests-vietnamese-ameri…
  • Vu, Lung and Kathleen Carlin. 2008. New Orleans’ Vietnamese-American Community continues to recover post-Katrina. Image Magazine. Spring/summer 2008; pp 32-33.
VCNHS Peer-reviewed publications
  • VanLandingham Mark. In press. Promoting teamwork, from within and from afar. In Dingwall, Robert, and Mary McDonnell (eds). The Handbook of Research Management. London: Sage.
  • VanLandingham, Mark and Mengxi Zhang. In press. Migration and health. In Ritzer, George and J. Michael Ryan (eds). The Encyclopedia of Sociology. Oxford: Blackwell Books.
  • Fu, Hongyun and Mark VanLandingham. 2012. Mental health consequences of international migration for Vietnamese Americans and the mediating effect of social networks: Results from a natural experiment approach.  Demography 49(2): 393-424.
  • Fu Hongyun and Mark VanLandingham. 2012. Disentangling the effects of migration, selection and acculturation on weight and body fat distribution: Results from a natural experiment involving Vietnamese Americans, returnees, and never-leavers. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 14(5): 786-796. 
  • VanLandingham Mark and Hongyun Fu. 2012. Migration and health in Southeast Asia. In Williams, Lindy and Philip Guest (eds). Demographic Change in Southeast Asia. Ithaca: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publications.
  • Fu, Hongyun and Mark VanLandingham. 2010. Mental and physical health consequences of repatriation for Vietnamese returnees. Journal of Refugee Studies 23(2): 160-182.
  • VanLandingham, Mark. 2010. A second disaster tests Vietnamese American resilience on the Gulf Coast. Social Science Research Council’s Items and Issues 6(3).
  • VanLandingham, Mark. 2009. Impacts of rural to urban migration on the health of young adult migrants in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In: Luong, Hy Van (editor): Urbanization, Migration, and Poverty in a Vietnamese Metropolis: Ho Chi Minh City in Comparative Perspective. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press.
  • Vu, Lung and Kathleen Carlin. 2008. New Orleans’ Vietnamese-American Community continues to recover post-Katrina.  Image Magazine. Spring/summer 2008; pp 32-33.