Challenges encountered by older adults when seeking safe shelter pre-disaster and receiving intervention post-disaster - 20th Annual John K. Friesen Conference - Growing Old in a Changing Climate

This video clip comprises the four presentations of Panel Session 2, “Mitigation and Prevention Strategies: Lessons Learned on the Front Lines” held at the 20th Annual John K. Friesen Conference, "Growing Old in a Changing Climate: Exploring the Interface Between Population Aging and Global Warming," MAY 25-26, 2011, Vancouver, BC. Dr. Lisa Brown, "Challenges encountered by older adults when seeking safe shelter pre-disaster and receiving intervention post-disaster" - Although most healthy older adults recover without assistance after extreme weather events, there are vulnerable subgroups that are at increased risk for negative health consequences. These include elders who are socially isolated, frail, physically ill, cognitively impaired, or with previous exposure to an extreme and prolonged traumatic stressor. Findings from two research projects – 1) Use of Psychological First Aid (PFA) with older adults, and 2) disaster literacy of older adults will be discussed. 1. The need for appropriate interventions for elders who have experienced traumatic events is paramount. PFA, like medical first aid, does not have to be delivered by a licensed clinician. Study results highlight methods to assess elders, strategies to enhance coping, and approaches to implement PFA at the personal, community, and healthcare system level. 2. The consequences of low health literacy on physical health have been well documented with older adults, people from diverse cultural backgrounds, and those with low incomes more likely to have health literacy problems. Because people who were either unable or unwilling to adequately prepare for and respond to the 2004 or 2005 hurricanes experienced dire consequences, the number of publications describing steps that should be taken to ensure personal safety has grown considerably. This study evaluated if the target audience possessed sufficient disaster literacy to use the information as intended. We also gratefully acknowledge a grant from the SFU Library's Scholarly Digitization Fund for videography and post-production editing. See webpage for more information on the 20th Annual John K. Friesen Conference: http://www.sfu.ca/grc/friesen/friesen2011/