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Guided Preparedness Planning with Lay Communities: Enhancing Capacity of Rural Emergency Response Through a Systems-Based Partnership

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2012

O.Lee McCabe ,
Charlene Perry ,
Melissa Azur ,
Henry G. Taylor ,
Howard Gwon ,
Adrian Mosley ,
Natalie Semon  and
Jonathan M. Links
O.Lee McCabe*
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health and the Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland USA
Charlene Perry
Affiliation:
Kent County Health Department, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Chestertown, Maryland USA
Melissa Azur
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland USA
Henry G. Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland USA
Howard Gwon
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland USA
Adrian Mosley
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Johns Hopkins Health System, Baltimore, Maryland USA
Natalie Semon
Affiliation:
Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland USA
Jonathan M. Links
Affiliation:
Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center and the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland USA
*
Correspondence: O. Lee McCabe, PhD Johns Hopkins Hampton House 624 N Broadway, Ste 390 Baltimore, MD 21205 USA E-mail lmccabe@jshsph.edu
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Abstract

Introduction

Community disaster preparedness plans, particularly those with content that would mitigate the effects of psychological trauma on vulnerable rural populations, are often nonexistent or underdeveloped. The purpose of the study was to develop and evaluate a model of disaster mental health preparedness planning involving a partnership among three, key stakeholders in the public health system.

Methods

A one-group, post-test, quasi-experimental design was used to assess outcomes as a function of an intervention designated Guided Preparedness Planning (GPP). The setting was the eastern-, northern-, and mid-shore region of the state of Maryland. Partner participants were four local health departments (LHDs), 100 faith-based organizations (FBOs), and one academic health center (AHC)—the latter, collaborating entities of the Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins Health System. Individual participants were 178 community residents recruited from counties of the above-referenced geographic area. Effectiveness of GPP was based on post-intervention assessments of trainee knowledge, skills, and attitudes supportive of community disaster mental health planning. Inferences about the practicability (feasibility) of the model were drawn from pre-defined criteria for partner readiness, willingness, and ability to participate in the project. Additional aims of the study were to determine if LHD leaders would be willing and able to generate post-project strategies to perpetuate project-initiated government/faith planning alliances (sustainability), and to develop portable methods and materials to enhance model application and impact in other health jurisdictions (scalability).

Results

The majority (95%) of the 178 lay citizens receiving the GPP intervention and submitting complete evaluations reported that planning-supportive objectives had been achieved. Moreover, all criteria for inferring model feasibility, sustainability, and scalability were met.

Conclusions

Within the span of a six-month period, LHDs, FBOs, and AHCs can work effectively to plan, implement, and evaluate what appears to be an effective, practical, and durable model of capacity building for public mental health emergency planning.

McCabeOL, PerryC, AzurM, TaylorHG, GwonH, MosleyA, SemonN, LinksJM. Guided Preparedness Planning with Lay Communities: Enhancing Capacity of Rural Emergency Response Through a Systems-Based Partnership. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2012;28(1):1-8.

Keywords

at-risk populationsbehavioral health surgedisaster preparedness and response planninglay/faith communitiespublic health systems researchpublic/private collaborationrural emergency preparedness
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , February 2013 , pp. 8 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2012

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