Preparedness Messages Research Articles

Exploring women's perspectives of access to care during pregnancy and childbirth: A qualitative study from rural Papua New Guinea

Objectivesto explore women's perceptions and experiences of pregnancy and childbirth in a rural community in PNG. Designa qualitative, descriptive study comprising focus group discussions (FGDs) and in depth interviews. Settingthis study took place in a rural community in Eastern Highlands Province, PNG. Participants51 women participated in seven focus group discussions. In depth interviews were undertaken with 21 women, including women recruited at the antenatal clinic, women purposively selected in the community and three key informants in the community. Findingsthe majority of women mentioned the benefits of receiving antenatal care at the health facility and the importance of a supervised, facility birth. Women faced numerous challenges with regards to accessing these services, including geographical, financial and language barriers. Cultural and customary beliefs surrounding childbirth and lack of decision making powers also impacted on whether women had a supervised birth. Key conclusions and implications for practicedistance, terrain and transport as well as decision making processes and customary beliefs influenced whether a woman did or did not reach a health facility to give birth. While the wider issue of availability and location of health services and health system strengthening is addressed shorter term, community based interventions could be of benefit. These interventions should include safe motherhood and birth preparedness messages disseminated to women, men and key family and community members.

Gender, Place, and Social Contacts: Understanding Awareness of Vulnerability to Terrorism

Creating resiliency, accomplished in part by individuals preparing for disaster, is the primary strategy outside of law enforcement for responding to the threat of urban terrorism. Individuals prepare when they perceive a need to do so, yet little is known about what shapes a person's awareness of vulnerability to terrorism. Because evidence indicates that social contacts act as conduits of information and affect perception of risk to natural hazards, it is possible that such contacts also affect terrorism vulnerability awareness. Because social contacts are also known to be systematically segmented by gender and location, we hypothesized that conversations about terrorism vary by gender and place, specifically the home and work place. Drawing on data from 93 interviews with householders in Boston, the study demonstrates that: (1) family networks generated discussions of home preparedness, whereas workplace networks engaged a wider variety of topics; (2) women discussed terrorism more frequently and in greater depth than did men; and (3) women heard more preparedness messages for the home than did men, whereas men undertook preparedness activities external to the home. The findings bridge geography and terrorism studies by theorizing emplaced and subjective human experiences that prompt conversations about terrorism. These conversations, in turn, help urban emergency managers and risk-hazards geographers promote rational dialogue and action vis-à-vis terrorism. Hazards researchers have shown that the more people discuss terrorism, the less they seek extreme and unwarranted responses.

Who Responds to Emergency Preparedness Messages: The Story of Lions, Lambs, and Lone Wolves

Who Responds to Emergency Preparedness Messages: The Story of Lions, Lambs, and Lone Wolves

National Preparedness Planning: The Historical Context and Current State of the U.S. Public's Readiness, 1940-2005

n the United States, national public preparedness efforts meant to ready individuals and families for disasters have been driven primarily by international threats, actual or anticipated. These include terrorism, war and the potential for global instability such as the millennium Y2K computer error. The national dialogue on public preparedness following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the fall of 2005 is a notable departure from the more typical focus of public preparedness, which is oriented toward terrorism and international threats. However, the response to the hurricanes was largely viewed as an unanticipated test of the public’s readiness for a disaster and the penetration of the public preparedness messages that have been actively promulgated since 11 September 2001. As such, we argue that the poor state of public readiness that was found in the U.S. Gulf Coast region after the hurricanes actually reflects a national state of unpreparedness for emergency events despite the postSeptember 11th calls from all levels of government for the U.S. public to be prepared.1 Since 11 September 2001, a renewed national focus on the U.S. public’s readiness for international aggression emerged. This focus was heightened by the anthrax mailings shortly after September 11th and the alleged threat of an Iraqi attack using unconventional weapons, specifically smallpox, on the U.S. homeland. The postSeptember 11th focus on national public preparedness came almost two years after calls had ended for the public to prepare for the millennium Y2K computer error and its potential to disrupt everything from alarm clocks to the power supply. Prior to the millennium, the national public had engaged in a preparedness dialogue born during the Second World War amid calls for the public to engage in air raid and naval watches that continued throughout the Cold War and its threat of nuclear attacks. The post-September 11th national public preparedness dialogue reignited a

Public Perceptions and Risk Communications for Botulism

Formative research findings from 10 focus group interviews on botulism are described. Data were collected from a diverse sample of people throughout the United States in 2003, as part of a collaborative multisite initiative sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve communications materials on bioterrorism agents. Focus group guides included questions on knowledge, action, emotions, and information seeking in response to a series of scenarios on a hypothetical terrorist attack using botulinum toxin. Data were collected, transcribed, coded, and analyzed using content domains based on risk and health communications theories. Initial participant responses to scenarios were emotional, changing into immediate health and survival concerns conceptualized as information specific to the agent and event. Knowledge about botulism was low, and participants wanted clear, concise, and actionable messages. Broadcast media, the internet, and community-based sources were cited as sources of information. Findings have implications for botulism preparedness messages and for general public risk communications.