Assessing and Addressing the Needs of Socially Vulnerable Populations to Enhance Community Emergency Preparedness and Resilience: A Mixed Methods Study

Background: A robust understanding of the needs of individuals and communities can help reduce the impact of a disaster, especially on those communities that already have associated health disparities. By strategically including these populations into mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery planning, emergency management plans can be enhanced to be more inclusive and effective by identifying targeted resources during a crisis. Additionally, understanding and improving upon individual resiliency can potentially bolster a community’s resiliency level and reduce overall susceptibility to a disaster event, and expedite the recovery phase. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the emergency needs and individual resiliency levels of socially vulnerable populations and determine how they can be addressed across the emergency management lifecycle. This approach aims to enhance the overall community’s emergency preparedness and resilience capacities by providing programmatic recommendations to improve emergency management practices and health equity in Sangamon County, Illinois. Methods: A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used, combining quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to assess individual resilience and emergency preparedness needs. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) was utilized to identify the more socially vulnerable geographic regions in Sangamon County and to identify the study population and associated SVI characteristics. Results: The survey results indicated that a low percentage of households had adequate emergency plans and supplies, highlighting the need for better preparedness. Interviews revealed themes of personal resilience, the importance of family and community, trust in authority, the value of preparedness, and the need for accessible information and resources. Integrated results provided context to both the quantitative and qualitative findings, illustrating a desire from the study population for inclusion in emergency management planning and for shared responsibility with the health department. Conclusion: Recommended programmatic enhancements to Sangamon County's emergency management plan were identified for each of the four phases: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery to improve health equity and resilience. The implementation science framework, equity-focused implementation research (EquIR) was applied to the recommended enhancements to ensure the interventions prioritized the needs of the socially vulnerable. The use of EquIR provides a framework to ensure that emergency management enhancements are inclusive and effective for bolstering community resilience.