Public health and the faith community: An emerging evidence-base for a sustainable disaster preparedness model

PURPOSE: Faith communities are an excellent resource for behavioral health surge capacity. They already provide social and spiritual support and are highly trusted sources of information. However, differences in organizational culture, management structures, information transfer, and jargon inhibit sustained collaboration for public health preparedness. In addition, academic partners often conduct isolated trainings and short-term grants rather than nurturing community partnerships. METHODS: This session will share findings from three years of Faith Community Preparedness programs and describe plans for continued collaborations and research between Johns Hopkins faculty, local health department emergency preparedness coordinators, and faith communities. Community-based participatory research methods were combined with interactive trainings and structured, post-intervention technical assistance. A particular emphasis was placed on serving populations with mental, physical, financial, geographic, racial, or ethnic vulnerabilities. RESULTS: One hundred faith communities participated in Motivational Preparedness Training (MPT), Guided Preparedness Planning, and Targeted Technical Assistance in four rural Mid-Shore counties of Maryland. More than one-fourth of those trained in MPT subsequently applied to the Maryland Professional Volunteer Corps. Relatively brief, specialized protocols and templates improved the willingness, ability, and readiness of faith communities to plan for disasters. After 4 months, approximately one-tenth had developed site-appropriate preparedness plans. CONCLUSIONS: Bi-directional learning informed a best-practice model for enhancing the capacity and competency of communities to protect against, respond to, and recover from public health disasters. Mutual learning, organizational strengthening, and operational effectiveness resulted from systematic strengthening of trust relationships. These are necessary and perhaps sufficient elements for successful preparedness planning.