Emergency Preparedness of Nursing Homes Providers: A Qualitative Study

Almost two million Americans rely on nursing homes for care. The care requirements and fragility of nursing home residents make them vulnerable to disasters and public health emergencies. Researchers from Emory University interviewed nursing home administrators in Georgia and San Diego, CA to determine vulnerabilities in provider-level preparedness planning and the public health system as well as other factors that influence preparedness. Factors assessed include public health system characteristics, facility capacities, and geographic factors that can influence preparedness levels. Results indicate that San Diego nursing homes, all of which were affected by the 2008 wildfires, are more likely than Georgia nursing homes to regularly interact with public health preparedness officials on issues, such as disaster training, disaster drills, and assistance with maintaining and revising disaster plans. Nursing homes in Georgia that have experienced emergencies and evacuations due to hurricanes and wildfires had varied experience with local and state emergency management services, in terms of both transportation and notification of evacuation. However, nursing homes in both regions work with their trade associations to address disaster preparedness. San Diego's chapter of the statewide nursing home association has developed a disaster preparedness system that requires key nursing home contacts, or “area coordinators,” to communicate disaster and evacuation information to nursing homes in their area. This model could serve as a sustainable and inexpensive method of fostering preparedness planning in other disaster-prone areas. Findings from these nursing home interviews are being used to design a national survey of nursing homes' disaster preparedness planning.