Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART ... - OU Medicine

Tool: Capacity and Vulnerability Assessment
Brief description
The capacity and vulnerability assessment tool is a framework for analyzing the strengths
and weaknesses of individuals and groups within your community. Using it, you can
generate information that fosters strengths-based, developmental community action to
enhance strengths and diminish vulnerabilities over time. (For more information about
capacity and vulnerability assessments, see, e.g., Anderson MB and Woodrow PJ (1998),
Rising from the Ashes: Development Strategies in Times of Disaster, Boulder, CO: Lynne
Rienner Publishers, Inc.)
Terminology
Capacities are existing strengths in individuals and groups that develop over time and
help to determine people’s coping ability and resilience during and in the aftermath of
crises. Vulnerabilities are long-term factors that limit the coping ability and resilience of
individuals, making them more susceptible to crises. While many capacities and
vulnerabilities are disaster-specific, others may be pertinent across a range of hazards.
Reasons for using it
Capacities and vulnerabilities help to determine the differential impact of a disaster on
individuals and groups within a community. Acquiring and sharing knowledge of
capacities and vulnerabilities within a population is a first step in helping a community to
use its strengths to mitigate its challenges, thereby potentially reducing the severity of a
crisis and enhancing community development.
When to use it
Capacity and vulnerability assessment is especially useful when groups within a
community may be impacted differently depending on, for example, socio-economic
status, health, ethnicity, or location. The assessment can be used at any phase of
emergency management. Ideally, it is undertaken prior to a disaster as part of prevention
Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART) Page 46
Tool: Capacity and Vulnerability Assessment