title: Research and Evaluations of the Health Aspects of Disasters, Part VI: Interventional Research and the Disaster Logic Model.
abstract: Disaster-related interventions are actions or responses undertaken during any phase of a disaster to change the current status of an affected community or a Societal System. Interventional disaster research aims to evaluate the results of such interventions in order to develop standards and best practices in Disaster Health that can be applied to disaster risk reduction. Considering interventions as production functions (transformation processes) structures the analyses and cataloguing of interventions/responses that are implemented prior to, during, or following a disaster or other emergency. Since currently it is not possible to do randomized, controlled studies of disasters, in order to validate the derived standards and best practices, the results of the studies must be compared and synthesized with results from other studies (ie, systematic reviews). Such reviews will be facilitated by the selected studies being structured using accepted frameworks. A logic model is a graphic representation of the transformation processes of a program [project] that shows the intended relationships between investments and results. Logic models are used to describe a program and its theory of change, and they provide a method for the analyzing and evaluating interventions. The Disaster Logic Model (DLM) is an adaptation of a logic model used for the evaluation of educational programs and provides the structure required for the analysis of disaster-related interventions. It incorporates a(n): definition of the current functional status of a community or Societal System, identification of needs, definition of goals, selection of objectives, implementation of the intervention(s), and evaluation of the effects, outcomes, costs, and impacts of the interventions. It is useful for determining the value of an intervention and it also provides the structure for analyzing the processes used in providing the intervention according to the Relief/Recovery and Risk-Reduction Frameworks.
authors.affiliation: 1Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Physiology,School of Medicine and Public Health,University of Wisconsin, Madison,Wisconsin USA; Emeritus Editor-in-Chief, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine.
authors.forename: Marvin L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Birnbaum
authors.affiliation: 2Nursing Section Editor,Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, Executive Secretary,World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine,Madison,Wisconsin USA.
authors.forename: Elaine K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Daily
authors.affiliation: 3Assistant Professor,Department of Surgery,University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health,Madison,Wisconsin USA.
authors.forename: Ann P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: O'Rourke
authors.affiliation: 4Evaluation Specialist,Program Development and Evaluation,University of Wisconsin-Extension,Madison,Wisconsin USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kushner
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods*; D004190:Disasters; D006801:Humans; D008128:Logic; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011634:Public Health
keywords: DLM Disaster Logic Model; RCT randomized; UWEx University of Wisconsin-Extension; change; controlled trials; disaster logic model; evaluation; impact; interventions; recovery; relief; theory of change; transformation process