Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

158 Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness
Disasters will happen, whether they are man-made or natural; having
an emergency plan for the disaster as it occurs and to assist in the
aftermath and rebuilding of the community’s ability to care for its citizens
is critical. Volunteers can and should play a role. In many other countries,
volunteers are integral to the delivery of health and social services
during and after emergencies (Padraig, 2008). Community level interventions
foster community competence and ownership of problems and
solutions and help strengthen and sustain the community after the disaster
(Somasundaram, Asukai, & Murthy, 2003).
This chapter explores the need for volunteers in community emergency
preparedness: which types of people tend to volunteer, recruiting
and training volunteers, the benefits of reaching out to older adults as volunteers,
and using volunteers to assist older people in particular during
emergencies.
To the extent possible, this chapter references evidence-based practice
in utilizing volunteers during emergencies. However, the literature
review conducted for this chapter did not result in extensive research
on evidence-based practice. Current research indicates evidence-based
practice is not the norm in some areas of emergency management (Perry &
Lindell, 2003; Ronan & Johnson, 2005).
PREPARING FOR DISASTERS
Little is known about a community’s level of preparedness to meet the
basic needs of its citizens immediately following a disaster, yet the health
and safety of the community following a disaster depends on that level
of preparedness (Adams & Canclini, 2008). Communities benefit enormously—before,
during, and following a disaster—by investing the time
and resources to develop an emergency plan involving as many community
resources as possible. It will make the community more resilient while
providing a sense of control to those involved in the emergency planning
and a sense of security for the residents. Community resilience emerges
from four primary sets of adaptive capacities: economic development, social
capital, information and communication, and community competence,
which together provide a strategy for disaster readiness (Norris,
Stevens, Pfefferbaum, Wyche, & Pfefferbaum, 2008). These four elements
were echoed throughout the literature review that informed this
chapter. Developing a community emergency plan by using volunteers
will tap into the social capital of the community as well as develop com-