Emergency Preparedness
Various factors can help improve an older persons preparedness in a disaster, such as caregiving considerations, tailored interventions, interprofessional collaborations, advocacy, and community mapping. For example, during a disaster, the caregiving and medical needs of older people may be temporarily or permanently disrupted. Hence, the household preparedness plan needs to consider this situation, such as by identifying shelters, medical facilities and other resources they might need during a disaster. This plan needs to be communicated and practiced by the family members.
For the next activity, ask students to tailor an emergency preparedness plan for one of the case stories. You can ask students to work and instruct each group to pick a case story. They can then present their plan to the class and discuss any similarities and differences in the plans. Students can use Public Safety Canada’s “72 Hours, is Your Family Prepared? Your Emergency Preparedness Guide” to help them tailor their plans.
Case Stories
Pick one case story. Create a tailored emergency preparedness plan for the older person in the story. Identify what unique needs and resources they need to be prepared for a disaster. The emergency plan may include transportation of medication and other supplies, a network of pharmaceutical services, a respite centre and professional caregivers, among other things.
During a disaster, older people with chronic illness or disability may require different types of support. They might need assistance from their family members or caregivers for optimal care. However, in many cases, support from volunteers, healthcare practitioners or service organizations becomes necessary as the caregivers or family members may be unable to provide care during an emergency or disaster.
Case Stories
Following up on the previous activity, what will you do to help the older person access the resources and support they need during a disaster? What are the barriers and strategies to address them? As a practitioner, what is your role in this?
Healthcare practitioners may find themselves in an advocate position during a disaster. For the next activity, ask students to identify relevant resources and services to help older people in a disaster. Using an older person they personally know as an example, ask students to identify informal support and services around this person.
Activity
Identify an older person you are familiar with. Who are the people they can rely on during a disaster? What other resources are available to them in their community? What resources are missing in their community?