Disaster
Disaster can occur at any time and can affect everyone. In most cases, when a disaster occurs, it leaves devastating effects on the environment and the community, including loss of lives. However, for many communities living in poverty, disasters hasten the existing healthcare disparities by restricting care continuity, especially for patients with chronic diseases. As indicated by WRITER, poor and medically underserved people disproportionately share the burden, which is reflected in healthcare disparities and increased mortality rate. It is essential for various stakeholders and the government to sensitize the communities on the importance of disaster preparedness to reduce the impact of a disaster. As such, developing an effective disaster recovery plan would help in detailing processes and procedures, including the establishment of an onsite medical center and how to evacuate the vulnerable to reduce the effect of the disaster.
Barriers that Impact Health and Safety during Disaster Recovery
Due to increased diversity in the healthcare system, the community’s social, cultural, and economic factors play a critical role in enhancing disaster recovery. When a disaster occurs, communities from low-income backgrounds are likely to be impacted due to lack of financial resources and healthcare practitioners. It is worth noting that these communities experience an increased rate of chronic diseases prior to a disaster, which leads to an increased mortality rate. Moreover, rural communities have poor public health infrastructure, meaning that medical help during the disaster recovery process is limited. Additionally, People living in areas with low income and low access to health services have low perceptions and less prepared for and after the disaster, which aggravates stressors that lead to a high prevalence of lifestyle diseases.
As indicated by WRITER, the most affected communities during and after a disaster are those with inadequate access to essential services such as healthcare, education, and employment. As such, disaster usually catalyze or enhance the existing healthcare disparities in the healthcare system. For instance, low SES regions have fewer healthcare practitioners who serve a large portion of the population. After a disaster, healthcare professionals may be unwilling to provide their services, which makes the communities prone to after-disaster illnesses. These characteristics are mostly found in low-income neighborhoods with limited financial resources to attend to their healthcare needs. However, for vulnerable communities, enhancing recovery necessitates addressing social determinants of health by enhancing coordination of health and human services, and building a culture of resilience.
Disaster Recovery Plan and Reduced Health and Healthcare Disparities
Currently, reducing the impact of disasters necessitates the formulation of culturally-centered approaches, which focuses on enhancing the determinants of health. It is worth noting that healthcare disparities have persisted for decades in the American healthcare system, and the occurrence of a disaster with inadequate preparedness leaves the communities struggling to meet their basic needs. Moreover, after the disaster, financial resources are lost, which exacerbates existing healthcare disparities. For instance, after Hurricane Katrina, vulnerable communities experienced increasing threats and disparities enabled by increased risk to environmental health risk and residing in disaster-prone regions. As such, addressing healthcare issues after a disaster necessitates the government to provide free medical cover for the communities, which would help in increasing access to medical care and improvement of population health.
Meeting the community’s health needs during and after a disaster is challenged by ineffective medical infrastructure. Moreover, untreated chronic conditions, including diabetes and hypertension, lead to increased deaths. However, addressing healthcare disparities in communities necessitates equipping communities with disaster preparedness knowledge, which allows the formulation and implementation of culturally-centered strategies to mitigate the impact of a disaster. Additionally, for medically vulnerable in the community, the healthcare sector should adopt strategies for providing remote healthcare services, which help in preventing the overstraining of the healthcare system.
Policies for Enhancing Disaster Recovery Process
Generally, the government, through its agencies, is tasked to provide adequate care to all communities, especially during a disaster. As such, the National Academy Medicine (previously Institute of Medicine) recommends disaster preparedness, provision of standard care, and quick response to disaster management. This recommendation is consistent with various policies established to safeguard community safety during and after a disaster. Under the structure of the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), there is a need to support the concept of the ‘whole community’ during recovery planning and operations. This approach helps in the provision of adequate care for all communities, leading to enhanced population health.
Moreover, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may waive requirements under Medicare and Medicaid upon declaring a public health emergency. This allows equitable access to healthcare services and addressing the impact of disasters in various communities. Additionally, the Stafford Act Public Assistance program ensures effective disaster recovery by providing support to states, communities, and non-profit organizations. In most cases, the Stafford Act facilitates support to local governments to ensure that the communities have adequate access to medical care and other necessitates. Moreover, the Stafford Act covers major disasters and emergencies to lessen the disaster burden to states and communities. Finally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides coordinated services during the disaster recovery process, providing essential services to the affected population.
Strategies to Overcome Communication Barriers
Effective communication during and after a disaster is critical in enhancing an individual’s ability to reduce the impact of a disaster in the community. However, improving coordination in such scenarios necessitates prior preparedness, which may be enhanced through nurturing a disaster mitigation mentality, involve communities in disaster preparedness, and facilitating quick response and recovery. In most cases, effective communication in a multicultural environment necessitates the utilization of translation services as recommended by FEMA. As such, medical practitioners are enabled to provide adequate care and allowing patients to participate in the medication process.