Objectives. To determine how community-based organizations (CBOs) define priorities for bolstering community resilience, challenges in addressing these priorities, and strategies to address challenges. Methods. The Community Resilience Learning Collaborative and Research Network (C-LEARN) is a multiphase study examining opportunities to improve community resilience to the threats of disaster and climate change in South Louisiana. Phase I of C-LEARN involved using the National Health Security Strategy and Implementation Plan for directed content analysis of key informant interviews with CBO representatives from 47 agencies within South Louisiana between February and May 2018. Results. CBO interviewees highlighted the importance of forging relationships and building trust through diverse cross-sector collaborations and partnerships before disasters. Such collaborations and partnerships were shown to tailor disaster response to the needs of particular communities and populations as well as address key challenges such as gaps in information, services, and resources. Conclusions. Our results encourage a culture of community resilience and community preparedness through partnerships and community-engaged strategies. C-LEARN will utilize the results of our interviews in the design of phase II of our agency-level coalition-building intervention.

This manuscript presents the protocol and participatory planning process for implementing the Community Resilience Learning Collaborative and Research Network (C-LEARN) study. C-LEARN is designed to determine how to build a service program and individual client capacity to improve mental health-related quality of life among individuals at risk for depression, with exposure to social risk factors or concerns about environmental hazards in areas of Southern Louisiana at risk for events such as hurricanes and storms. The study uses a Community Partnered Participatory Research (CPPR) framework to incorporate community priorities into study design and implementation. The first phase of C-LEARN is assessment of community priorities, assets, and opportunities for building resilience through key informant interviews and community agency outreach. Findings from this phase will inform the implementation of a two-level (program-level and individual client level) randomized study in up to four South Louisiana communities. Within communities, health and social-community service programs will be randomized to Community Engagement and Planning (CEP) for multi-sector coalition support or Technical Assistance (TA) for individual program support to implement evidence-based and community-prioritized intervention toolkits, including an expanded version of depression collaborative care and resources (referrals, manuals) to address social risk factors such as financial or housing instability and for a community resilience approach to disaster preparedness and response. Within each arm, the study will randomize individual adult clients to one of two mobile applications that provide informational resources on services for depression, social risk factors, and disaster response or also provide psychoeducation on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to enhance coping with stress and mood. Planned data collection includes baseline, six-month and brief monthly surveys for clients, and baseline and 12-month surveys for administrators and staff.

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Trauma from natural disasters affects hurricane-impacted populations with accelerating frequency and often recurrently as a result of climate change. Policy guidance to support community resilience has emerged to mitigate trauma to populations facing disaster and climate change risk, but the guidance itself may be met with mistrust due to historic and recurrent government failures to support traumatized, hurricane-affected communities. The aim of the Community Resilience Learning Collaborative and Research Network study is to address trauma and improve community resilience in response to disaster and climate change-related events in South Louisiana. Key informant interviews from 47 communitybased organizations across New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Coastal Louisiana were analyzed and compared with the Key Messages of the 4th National Climate Assessment to determine efficient strategies for building resilience. Community-based organization interviewees emphasized the importance of organizing community-led coalitions and partnerships, implementing trauma-informed care in schools and health care settings, providing infrastructures and educational resources to navigate housing and financial barriers, and creating dialogue to better understand and accept climate change. The strategies revealed in the key informant interviews will be used to design the agency-level coalitionbuilding interventions of Community Resilience Learning Collaborative and Research Network.