141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

286638
Emergency preparedness and disaster activities: Linking the backstretch worker to culturally appropriate response plans

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Rosemary Elliott, MSN, MA, MEd, RN , School of Nursing and Health Sciences, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA
The health of a community depends on the ability of the citizens to collectively prepare, initiate and promote community participation in reducing the impact of natural or man-made disasters. The terrorist events of September 11, 2001; violence in Colorado shootings in 2012, and recently Hurricane Sandy 2012 have all become sentinel events in United States to develop emergency preparedness plans. The backstretch community at the Philadelphia Race Track located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania is a vulnerable population based on the social determinants of migratory seasonal working racetrack employment, low English proficiency (LEP), housing units that are classified as a temporary residence, and chronic health concerns due to barriers of access to healthcare providers. Self-efficacy cognitive learning theory will be used in translating linguistically appropriate emergency preparedness messages in the disaster education initiative. The challenges are complex in nature due to access to LEP messages, lack of personal preparedness plans, and cultural views regarding preparedness. The goal is to initiate community partnership in backstretch worker community and Philadelphia Thoroughbred Race Track stakeholders in the development of a preparedness plan of action. Fostering intracollaboration can provide the communities of interest the motivation to engage in preparedness activities to improving health outcomes in a mass casualty incident.Key words: preparedness, backstretch worker, low English proficiency, self-efficacy

Learning Areas:
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the impact of culturally appropriate preparedness information on migrant workers' ability to respond to a man-made or natural disaster.

Keywords: Disasters, Immigrants

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal author in developing emergency preparedness and disaster activities as the fulfillment of clinical field study in graduate nursing program at La Salle University School of Nursing and Health Sciences.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.