Unraveling the complexities of disaster management: A framework for critical social infrastructure to promote population health and resilience

Tracey L O’Sullivan · Craig E. Kuziemsky · Darene Toal-Sullivan · Wayne Corneil

221 citations0/0 files storedSocial Science & Medicine

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Disaster Management and Resilience Disaster Response and Management Community Health and Development

Abstract

Complexity is a useful frame of reference for disaster management and understanding population health. An important means to unraveling the complexities of disaster management is to recognize the interdependencies between health care and broader social systems and how they intersect to promote health and resilience before, during and after a crisis. While recent literature has expanded our understanding of the complexity of disasters at the macro level, few studies have examined empirically how dynamic elements of critical social infrastructure at the micro level influence community capacity. The purpose of this study was to explore empirically the complexity of disasters, to determine levers for action where interventions can be used to facilitate collaborative action and promote health among high risk populations. A second purpose was to build a framework for critical social infrastructure and develop a model to identify potential points of intervention to promote population health and resilience. A community-based participatory research design was used in nine focus group consultations (n = 143) held in five communities in Canada, between October 2010 and March 2011, using the Structured Interview Matrix facilitation technique. The findings underscore the importance of interconnectedness of hard and soft systems at the micro level, with culture providing the backdrop for the social fabric of each community. Open coding drawing upon the tenets of complexity theory was used to develop four core themes that provide structure for the framework that evolved; they relate to dynamic context, situational awareness and connectedness, flexible planning, and collaboration, which are needed to foster adaptive responses to disasters. Seven action recommendations are presented, to promote community resilience and population health.

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References

2007Community Resilience as a Metaphor, Theory, Set of Capacities, and Strategy for Disaster Readiness 2010Measuring Capacities for Community Resilience 2010Managing Transboundary Crises: Identifying the Building Blocks of an Effective Response System 2006Mission Impossible? Planning and Preparing for Crisis1 2011Building Community Resilience to Disasters: A Way Forward to Enhance National Health Security 2007Building Resilience to Mass Trauma Events

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