Improving Disaster Resilience Among Older Adults: Insights from Public Health Departments and Aging-in-Place Efforts

Abstract

This study uses interview data collected from public health departments and aging-in-place efforts-specifically, from coordinators of age-friendly communities and village executive directors-to explore how current aging-in-place efforts can be harnessed to strengthen the disaster resilience of older adults and which existing programs or new collaborations among public health departments and these organizations show promise for improving disaster resilience for older populations. Interviews with stakeholders revealed that most age-friendly communities and senior villages did not place a high priority on promoting disaster preparedness. While most public health departments conducted or took the lead on disaster preparedness and resilience activities, they were not necessarily tailored to older adults. Aligning and extending public health departments' current preparedness activities to include aging-in-place efforts and greater tailoring of existing preparedness activities to the needs of older adults could significantly improve their disaster preparedness and resilience. For jurisdictions that do not have an existing aging-in-place effort, public health departments can help initiate those efforts and work to incorporate preparedness activities at the outset of newly developing aging-in-place efforts.

Keywords: Community Organizations; Community Resilience; Emergency Preparedness; Natural Hazards; Public Health; The Elderly.

Figure 1.

Building Blocks of a Resilient Community

Figure 2.

Aging-in-Place Initiatives and Public Health Departments Rarely Collaborate to Bolster Preparedness Specific to Older Adults