title: Locating and communicating with at-risk populations about emergency preparedness: the vulnerable populations outreach model.
abstract: Vulnerable populations tend to have the worst health outcomes during and after disasters; however, these populations are rarely included in the emergency planning process. In Philadelphia, the Department of Public Health and the Office of Emergency Management have reached out to community-based organizations that serve vulnerable populations to include these key stakeholders in emergency planning. In this article, we outline strategies for locating, engaging, and communicating with vulnerable populations about both organizational and personal emergency preparedness. Such strategies include creating a method for bidirectional communication via a free quarterly health newsletter that is distributed to community-based organizations serving vulnerable populations. We also note successes and next steps from engaging vulnerable populations in the planning process in Philadelphia.
authors.affiliation: Jefferson School of Population Health, 1015 W. Walnut Street, Curtis 115, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. klaiman@jefferson.edu
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Klaiman
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Knorr
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Demara
authors.forename: Chad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Heake
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hausman
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003146:Communications Media; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods*; D004522:Educational Status; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D015143:Philadelphia; D011361:Professional Competence; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*