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Emergency Preparedness Communication

Reaching Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and Older Adults

HRA is examining emergency preparedness communication for two particularly vulnerable populations: Deaf/hard-of-hearing and older adults. Few emergency preparedness communications are directed to these groups. And both groups have special communication needs.

Hurricane Katrina and other recent disasters showed us that emergency response efforts often fail vulnerable populations. As a result, in 2006 Congress called for research to evaluate and improve public health preparedness and response systems.

The CDC funded the UC Berkeley Center for Infectious Diseases and Emergency Readiness (CIDER) and eight other university centers to conduct this research.

HRA's project is part of CIDER's research. HRA will:

  • Examine national recommendations on preparedness communication for the Deaf/hard-of-hearing, assess their adoption at state levels, and propose strategies to improve their adoption.
  • Assess the availability, accessibility, relevance, and literacy of preparedness communication materials for Deaf/hard-of-hearing and older adults in Alameda County, California.
  • Conduct a systems analysis of the all-hazards communication capacity and networks of a sample of CBOs that serve Deaf/hard-of-hearing and older adult populations in Alameda County.
  • With a community advisory board, assess and improve the content, format, and delivery of preparedness materials and assess the effectiveness of the revised materials.