Abstract
Natural or human-made hazards may occur at any time. Although one might assume that individuals plan in advance for such potentially damaging events, the existing literature indicates that most communities remain inadequately prepared. In the past, research in this area has focused on identifying the most effective ways to communicate risk and elicit preparedness by means of public hazard education campaigns and risk communication programmes. Today, web- and mobile-based technologies are offering new and far-reaching means to inform communities on how to prepare for or cope with extreme events, thus significantly contributing to community preparedness. Nonetheless, their practical efficacy in encouraging proactive hazard preparedness behaviours is not yet proven. Building on behaviour change interventions in the health field and looking in particular at earthquakes and fire hazards, the challenging RISK team has reviewed the currently active websites, Web, and mobile applications that provide information about earthquake and home fire preparedness. The review investigates the type of information provided, the modality of delivery, and the presence of behaviour change techniques in their design. The study proves that most of the digital resources focus on a single hazard and fail to provide context-sensitive information that targets specific groups of users. Furthermore, behaviour change techniques are rarely implemented in the design of these applications and their efficacy is rarely systematically evaluated. Recommendations for improving the design of Web- and mobile-based technologies are made so as to increase their effectiveness and uptake for a multi-hazard approach to earthquake and home fire preparedness.
Highlights
It is clearly in an individual’s best interest to take actions to reduce their vulnerability before a hazardous natural or human-made event occurs
Despite the relatively greater frequency of fires, it was observed that the quantity and level of detail of home fire preparedness information available on Web- and mobile-based resources are very limited compared to earthquake preparedness resources
For mobile applications it was observed that, with the exception of Emergency AUS for Android, none of the reviewed apps deals with home fire hazard preparedness
Summary
It is clearly in an individual’s best interest to take actions to reduce their vulnerability before a hazardous natural or human-made event occurs. The definition encompasses all activities and behaviours that either mitigate immediate risks of human and economic loss due to infrastructure or environmental damage, or prepare for and increase chances of survival, efficient response, and recovery in the aftermath of a destabilising major hazard event, natural or otherwise (Turner et al 1986; Mulilis and Lippa 1990; Lindell and Perry 2000; Spittal et al 2006; Joffe et al 2013) Such activities include, for instance, stockpiling of equipment/supplies, the development of coordination and emergency plans, evacuation and public information, and related training and field exercises, all of which must be supported by formal institutional, legal, and budgetary capacities (UNISDR 2009). As such the definition reflects, at least in part, the functional aspects of preparedness highlighted in Russell et al (1995)’s and Lindell et al (2009)’s work, more emphasis should be given to the community aspects of preparedness that are included as part of the following review
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