Inter-Agency Collaboration and Hazards Education in American Communities

Abstract

SUMMARY There is a growing literature on hazards education and its effectiveness in prompting appropriate mitigation, preparedness and response activities on the part of individuals and families. There has been virtually nothing written, however, on what factors tend to account for such hazards education activities in the first place. Factors that may account for varying levels of hazards education activities, such as prior disaster experience, hazards risk, and coordination between emergency management and planning offices, are examined in three separate multiple regression analyses. Generally, we found that (1) the frequency of engaging in oral and written hazards education activities is significantly affected only by the level of preparedness activities on the part of emergency managers that involve some sort of exchange with other city agencies; (2) the frequency of conducting hazards education workshops is affected by the level of inter-agency preparedness efforts (above), the breadth of hazards risks confronted by a community, and by the frequency of interaction between emergency managers and city planners; and (3) the breadth of hazards education audiences is also significantly affected by the level of interagency preparedness efforts, the breadth of hazards risks, and the frequency of interaction between emergency managers and city planners. Policy implications, particularly as they relate to social service delivery organizations, are also discussed.