250619 Role of Pastors in Disasters Curriculum Development Project (ROPID): A Unique Partnership Between a Bible College and a Public Health School

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Learning Areas:
Program planning

Learning Objectives:
Issue Addressed: As the risks and impact of natural and manmade disasters increases, so does the need for informed leadership, particularly those attending colleges and universities. FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute higher education initiative states that a broad range of college students and professionals need courses that introduce them to disasters and what to do about them. Hundreds of universities have since developed emergency management courses or degree programs at their schools; however, none of these institutions are bible colleges. Project Description: To address this limitation a partnership between Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy and the Washington Bible College was formed to develop a disaster preparedness course. The course was designed to give faith leaders an introduction to theological themes as a foundation for understanding their unique role as agents of safety before, during, and after a disaster. The course was also developed with input from theologians, public health and emergency management educators, researchers, and practitioners. Results: This effort resulted in the development of a course consisting of 6 modules and 15 lessons intended for use in higher education bible colleges. The culturally appropriate curriculum uses both theological and emergency management principles to create awareness about many facets of disasters. Recommendations: Although the course was vetted with many faith leaders and representatives of the emergency management field, the next logical step is to pilot and evaluate the ROPID curriculum and to develop a plan to disseminate the course to other bible colleges throughout the US. The learning objectives of this presentation are: 1) Describe the unique partnership between a bible college and a public health school; 2) Describe barriers to engaging leaders and volunteers from faith communities in disaster preparedness, response and recovery; 3) Describe the theological, emergency management, and course development frameworks used to develop the course; and 4) Discuss lessons learned and next steps.

See more of: Advancing Faith Based Research: The Role of Faith in Healthy Communities
See more of: Caucus on Public Health and the Faith Community