An official website of the United States government
Participatory asset mapping activities were used in both Arkansas and Nebraska to gain an understanding of existing organization-based assets and areas for improvement in the context of emergency preparedness. The main goals of the mapping activities that the Natural Hazards Center team led in Arkansas and Nebraska included: (1) Identifying organizational strengths, capacities, skills, and resources within organizations generally and for children in disasters specifically; (2) Deciphering organizations’ limitations and gaps both generally and in providing support for children in disasters; and (3) Facilitating potential cooperation between and among organizations by generating a shared awareness and understanding of organizations’ collective assets and areas for improvement. Our team constructed and facilitated a participatory asset mapping activity that was conducted during the two facilitated sessions held on December 10, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska and December 13, 2018 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and hosted by Save the Children for the Building Capacities to Protect Children Project. Participants in both states included individuals from state-level VOAD member organizations, community-based organizations, emergency management, and partners that provide services for children during disasters and emergencies. A total of 16 individuals participated in Arkansas, and 12 in Nebraska. This publication includes the verbal consent form, participatory asset mapping guidance document, and organizational asset mapping worksheets. The participatory asset mapping facilitator’s guide provides step-by-step instructions for individuals interested in conducting participatory asset mapping. This can be adapted to fit other research and evaluation objectives. The participatory asset mapping protocol was used to facilitate the participatory asset mapping activities among Arkansas and Nebraska VOAD participants and organizational partners in Little Rock Arkansas, and Lincoln, Nebraska, respectively. The organizational worksheets were used for conducting the participatory asset mapping activities in Arkansas and Nebraska and can easily be adapted for use in other contexts or organizational types.Between 2018 and 2020, the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder conducted an evaluation entitled: Building State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) Capacities to Protect Children in Emergencies. This project was designed to assess the capacity of state-level VOADs to address children’s needs before, during, and after disasters. This project involved multi-method research in the focal states of Arkansas and Nebraska and in collaboration with members of VOADs, emergency management, Save the Children, and other child-serving organizations in both states. The evaluation team conducted participatory engagement exercises, survey research, secondary data analysis and GIS mapping, and an interorganizational network analysis survey. This project includes research instruments and the final reports produced as part of this project. The envisioned audience for these materials includes researchers, emergency managers, and professionals who work for child-serving organizations.
more »
« less
Pre-Facilitated Session Survey Instrument:Building State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) Capacities to Protect Children in Emergencies: An Evaluation Research Project
As part of the larger Save the Children evaluation, our research team developed and disseminated an online survey to VOAD members and those partnered or affiliated informally with Arkansas and Nebraska state-level VOADs. The intent of this survey was to assess individual and organizational levels of disaster preparedness and the state of child-centered disaster preparedness activities. The Natural Hazards Center team created one survey, which was then updated to be specific to each state. The survey is divided into the following six sections: (a) organizational characteristics, VOAD involvement, and experience with disaster; (b) knowledge and awareness about children in disasters; (c) capacity for child-focused disaster response; (d) readiness for child-focused disaster response; (e) perceptions about child-focused disaster response; and (f) demographic information. We used the online survey platform Qualtrics to disseminate surveys through anonymous survey links. These links were sent to Arkansas and Nebraska VOADs and their partners on December 3, 2018. In all, a total of 24 surveys in Arkansas (7 of which were partially completed), and 46 surveys in Nebraska (13 of which were partially completed) were submitted via Qualtrics by December 17, 2018. This publication includes the final survey instrument, which may be of interest to other evaluation researchers.Between 2018 and 2020, the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder conducted an evaluation entitled: Building State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) Capacities to Protect Children in Emergencies. This project was designed to assess the capacity of state-level VOADs to address children’s needs before, during, and after disasters. This project involved multi-method research in the focal states of Arkansas and Nebraska and in collaboration with members of VOADs, emergency management, Save the Children, and other child-serving organizations in both states. The evaluation team conducted participatory engagement exercises, survey research, secondary data analysis and GIS mapping, and an interorganizational network analysis survey. This project includes research instruments and the final reports produced as part of this project. The envisioned audience for these materials includes researchers, emergency managers, and professionals who work for child-serving organizations.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1635593
- PAR ID:
- 10510393
- Publisher / Repository:
- Designsafe-CI
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- CONVERGE - Social Science/Interdisciplinary Resources and Extreme Events Coordination - University of Colorado Boulder
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- DesignSafe Cyberinfrastructure
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
A primary objective of this larger evaluation project was to develop a baseline understanding of the existing connections across Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) member and partner organizations in Arkansas and Nebraska, including identification of opportunities for additional or more extensive collaboration. To address this objective, the evaluation team constructed an interorganizational social network analysis (SNA) survey to measure the degree to which VOAD member organizations in Arkansas and Nebraska: (1) engage in various levels of collaboration, (2) contact one another, (3) exchange essential resources, and (4) perceive the benefits and challenges associated with collaboration. In addition to measuring VOAD collaboration and exchanges, we assessed the extent to which child-serving organizations were represented within Arkansas and Nebraska VOAD networks and whether they were sought after for child-focused resources. To do this, we developed two survey instruments that were identical other than one survey included VOAD, emergency management, and child-serving organizations in Nebraska, and the other included such organizations in Arkansas. We also updated the introductory text in each survey to represent the names of the focal states and organizational partners. In total, 34 participants from Arkansas VOAD and their partners and 43 participants from Nebraska VOAD and their partners completed the SNA survey. The intended audience for this survey instrument includes researchers as well as practitioners and policy makers interested in the use of social network analysis in disaster research. As indicated by the highlighted text in the instruments, future users of this survey will need to update organizational names in the text and network question rosters. Please see the highlighted instructions in the survey for further guidance on replicating the instrument.Between 2018 and 2020, the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder conducted an evaluation entitled: Building State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) Capacities to Protect Children in Emergencies. This project was designed to assess the capacity of state-level VOADs to address children’s needs before, during, and after disasters. This project involved multi-method research in the focal states of Arkansas and Nebraska and in collaboration with members of VOADs, emergency management, Save the Children, and other child-serving organizations in both states. The evaluation team conducted participatory engagement exercises, survey research, secondary data analysis and GIS mapping, and an interorganizational network analysis survey. This project includes research instruments and the final reports produced as part of this project. The envisioned audience for these materials includes researchers, emergency managers, and professionals who work for child-serving organizations.more » « less
-
Hurricane Maria (2017) was the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico in the last 90 years. The entire communication system collapsed, including cellular. Media organizations in Puerto Rico, with the exception of one radio station, were unable to transmit much-needed information during and immediately after Maria made landfall. This study examines changes in journalistic practices, organizational readiness and disaster coverage plans, and infrastructure preparedness almost 18 months after the event. This study extends the limited research examining long-term changes to news media preparedness plans in the context of disasters and expands theoretical understandings of media practices in the context of the hierarchy of influences model. The results suggest that infrastructure damage severely hampered the ability of news organizations to perform their work, but solidarity among media was useful in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Each media played a differentiated and important role after the disaster based on their resources and organizational structure. The study shows that preparedness plans were inadequate and that changes are slowly been implemented to deal with challenges related to infrastructure, electricity, and technology, but with limited focus on the long-term well-being of media workers. Recommendations to improve responses to future natural disasters are presented.more » « less
-
Bui, Tung X (Ed.)This study gauges the preparedness levels of individuals (younger and older) across hazards and investigates their willingness to use emerging technology for disaster preparedness. Older adults are among the most vulnerable during disasters and more likely to be displaced. As climate change contributes to the increased frequency, intensity, and scale of disasters, the number of areas impacted by multiple hazards has also increased. In December 2023, a nationwide survey with over 1,000 respondents was launched. The results indicate a variation in the perception of preparedness across hazards, at the individual level. Additionally, most respondents would use emerging technology to help them improve their disaster preparedness, including smart speakers, phones, mobile appliances, cars, wearable devices, robots, and virtual reality devices. Findings indicate that older adults may be willing to use emerging technology that they are uncomfortable with for disaster preparedness, necessitating training, exercises, and qualitative research to understand how and why.more » « less
-
Abstract Objective: This study investigated how the proximity of disaster experience was associated with financial preparedness for emergencies. Methods: The data used were from the 2018 National Household Survey, which was administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The working sample included 4779 respondents. Results: Logistic Regression showed that the likelihood of setting aside emergency funds tended to be the highest between 2-5 years after experiencing a disaster, which declined slightly but persisted even after 16 years. Recent disaster experience within 1 year did not show a significant impact, indicating a period of substantial needs. However, the proximity of disaster experience did not significantly affect the amount of money set aside. Conclusion: It is suspected that increased risk perception related to previous experiences of disasters is more relevant to the likelihood of preparing financially; whereas other capacity-related factors such as income and having a disability have more effect on the amount of money set aside.more » « less
