Richard Doll Seminar: Examining public health workers' perceptions toward response expectations in disasters

Abstract

An ever-expanding array of disasters and emergent public health threats has raised operationally-relevant research questions about the willingness of public health and other healthcare workers to fulfil organisational expectations in disaster response and recovery. Daniel and colleagues have examined organisational perspectives surrounding perceptual and attitudinal barriers and facilitators among these cohorts. Their findings have yielded novel, behavioural model-based curricular interventions to address ‘willingness gaps’ in public health and other stakeholder organizations.

This presentation will focus on findings from mixed-methods research regarding workers' commitment to, and sense of efficacy in the context of, their organisations in the face of disasters and emergent threats to public health and safety. It will include data on health department workers' perceptions toward disaster recovery in a variety of Hurricane Sandy-impacted U.S. jurisdictions from Maryland and New Jersey. Daniel will also address broader population health implications of these and related findings for current and future disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts.