Using a community engagement hierarchy model in improving relationships for disaster preparedness

Local health department (LHD) emergency preparedness coordinators can better promote emergency and disaster preparedness in communities through relationships and collaborations with community- and faith-based organizations (CBOs/FBOs). As part of a larger mixed-methods study, we conducted a national survey of emergency preparedness coordinators (n=273) to evaluate their level of community engagement. Our formative research findings were used to develop the Community Engagement Hierarchy, which ranks LHDs according to their outreach and engagement activities in disaster preparedness. This hierarchy is a set of practices that has five levels ranging from no engagement to extensive community/collaborative partnerships. Reliability (Cronbach's alpha, 0.71-0.88) and factor analysis (Varimax rotation) validated each dimension of the hierarchy. The model assesses social, contextual, organizational capacity, and personal experience variables to place a LHD on our scale of community engagement. LHDs higher on the scale have more robust and meaningful relationships that result in more effective preparedness activities than those who were lower on the scale. Most LHDs who participated in the survey were low on the hierarchy, indicating that their relationships with CBOs/FBOs are not fully developed; these relationships are characterized by one-way “push” communication and little interaction. LHDs scoring higher on the hierarchy demonstrated mutually beneficial and rewarding partnerships leading to better community disaster preparedness, characterized by shared resources, trust, and increased organizational capacity. This assessment tool will be part of a toolkit to improve local LHD-CBO/FBO relationships and networks.

Learning Objective: To evaluate the quality of LHD to CBO/FBO engagement regarding emergency and disaster preparedness.