title: The Road to Resilience: Insights on Training Community Coalitions in the Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project.
abstract: Local health departments (LHDs) have little guidance for operationalizing community resilience (CR). We explored how community coalitions responded to 4 CR levers (education, engagement, partnerships, and community self-sufficiency) during the first planning year of the Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience (LACCDR) Project.
  
  
  
  Sixteen communities were selected and randomly assigned to the experimental CR group or the control preparedness group. Eight CR coalitions met monthly to plan CR-building activities or to receive CR training from a public health nurse. Trained observers documented the coalitions' understanding and application of CR at each meeting. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze structured observation reports around the 4 levers.
  
  
  
  Analysis of 41 reports suggested that coalitions underwent a process of learning about and applying CR concepts in the planning year. Groups resonated with ideas of education, community self-sufficiency, and engagement, but increasing partnerships was challenging.
  
  
  
  LHDs can support coalitions by anticipating the time necessary to understand CR and by facilitating engagement. Understanding the issues that emerge in the early phases of planning and implementing CR-building activities is critical. LHDs can use the experience of the LACCDR Project's planning year as a guide to navigate challenges and issues that emerge as they operationalize the CR model. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:812-821).
authors: 1Center for Community Resilience,Office of Public Health Practice,Loma Linda University School of Public Health,Loma Linda,California.
authors: Biblia S
authors: BS
authors: Cha
authors: 1Center for Community Resilience,Office of Public Health Practice,Loma Linda University School of Public Health,Loma Linda,California.
authors: Rachel I
authors: RI
authors: Lawrence
authors: 1Center for Community Resilience,Office of Public Health Practice,Loma Linda University School of Public Health,Loma Linda,California.
authors: Jesse C
authors: JC
authors: Bliss
authors: 3Center for Health Services and Society,UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior,David Geffen School of Medicine,Los Angeles,California.
authors: Kenneth B
authors: KB
authors: Wells
authors: 4RAND Justice,Infrastructure, and Environment,RAND Corporation,Arlington,Virginia.
authors: Anita
authors: A
authors: Chandra
authors: 5Emergency Preparedness and Response Program,Los Angeles County Department of Public Health,Center for Public Health and Disasters,UCLA Fielding School of Public Health,Los Angeles,California.
authors: David P
authors: DP
authors: Eisenman
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D003256:Community Participation / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009111:Local Government; D015141:Los Angeles; D016730:Program Development / Q000379:methods*; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D013663:Teaching / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: community health planning; disaster planning; emergency preparedness; public health; public health practice