title: Reliability and validity of the Assessment for Disaster Engagement with Partners Tool (ADEPT) for local health departments.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study presents reliability and validity findings for the Assessment for Disaster Engagement with Partners Tool (ADEPT), an instrument that can be used to monitor the frequency and nature of collaborative activities between local health departments (LHDs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) and faith-based organizations (FBOs) for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used formative research to develop the instrument by ranking LHDs according to their disaster outreach and engagement activities. We validated the scale through a 2011 national survey of disaster preparedness coordinators (n=273) working in LHDs. We reduced the original measure of 25 items to a final measure comprising 15 items with four dimensions: (1) communication outreach and coordination, (2) resource mobilization, (3) organizational capacity building, and (4) partnership development and maintenance. We used internal consistency reliability m correlation and factor analysis to validate the measure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using internal consistency reliability, we found reasonable inter-item reliability for the four hypothesized dimensions (Cronbach's alpha: 0.71-0.88). These four dimensions were confirmed through correlation and factor analysis (Varimax rotation).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher scores on all four dimensions of ADEPT for organizational respondents suggest that more activities were conducted for inter-organizational preparedness in those organizations than in organizations whose respondents had lower scores. This finding implies that organizations with higher ADEPT scores have more active relationships with CBOs/FBOs in the realm of preparedness, a key element for creating community resilience for emergencies and disaster preparedness.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Deborah C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Glik
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Los Angeles, CA ; University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Eisenman
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Donatello
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Abdelmonem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Afifi
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stajura
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Prelip
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Jitka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sammartinova
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martel
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D011594:Psychometrics; D011634:Public Health; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires