295262
A pilot study: Testing community-informed disaster risk reduction activities in delmas, Haiti
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Ashley Dyer, MPH,
Center for Community Health, Northwestern Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Chicago, IL
Alyssa Budoff, BA,
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago
Background/Purpose: In 2010, Haiti experienced an Earthquake that killed 230,000 people and injured 300,000 people. In response, national disaster plans were developed; however, little is known on how to best translate national policies to the community level. The purpose of this project was to pilot community-informed disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities to increase capacity of community members to manage hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities in Delmas, Haiti. Methods: Six DRR activities were developed for pilot testing among Delmas community members over a week-long period. Participants were eligible to participate if they were 18 years or older and living in Delmas. Two surveys were used to assess knowledge acquisition on disaster-related content and acceptability of activities. Results/Outcomes: Participants (N = 42) ranged in age from 18 to 58 years. The majority of participants (92.7%) could correctly identify a hazard, 85.3% could identify vulnerability, and 68.3% correctly identified a risk. Overall, participants found the DRR activities acceptable(95.2%); 93% reported they would be extremely willing to ask friends and 100% reported they would be extremely willing to ask family to participate in a future initiative. Most participants(97.6%) reported interest in becoming a community leader. Conclusions: Community-level DRR activities have the potential to improve the community's capacity to respond to a disaster. Pilot activities show the potential to increase knowledge and were found extremely acceptable. To improve knowledge acquisition, pilot activities will be used to inform a DRR training program and future studies will test the feasibility and acceptability of the DRR curriculum.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Program planning
Learning Objectives:
Describe methods to assess community level knowledge related to disaster risk reduction activities.
Discuss methods to assess whether the disaster risk reduction activities were acceptable to community members.
Identify key areas of improvement to inform the next iteration of the disaster risk reduction program.
Keyword(s): Disasters, Community-Based Public Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been involved in this disaster risk reduction project in Haiti for over three years and have acted as a team leader for the previous two years. My scientific interests include community-based participatory methodologies, photovoice, and program evaluation.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
