A Facebook Page Created Soon After the Amatrice Earthquake for Deaf Adults and Children, Families, and Caregivers Provides an Easy Communication Tool and Social Satisfaction in Maxi-Emergencies

Abstract

Although international and Italian conventions have issued numerous communication protocols to assist people with disabilities during earthquakes or other maxi-emergencies, no tailored strategies exist to create and disseminate information online to deaf people. On August 24, 2016, a devastating earthquake destroyed Amatrice in Central Italy. This natural disaster underlined the lack of information on disabled people possibly involved and the lack of tailored, online communication tools. Having various registries listing disabled residents in the earthquake area might have benefitted emergency procedures. To access information easily and expedite risk management, the authors developed an online information tool for deaf persons, their families, and caregivers. Within hours after the earthquake, they published a Facebook page (Facebook, Inc.; Menlo Park, California USA) including a video provided with subtitles, Italian sign language, and service numbers. Those who accessed the Facebook page spread the information to other social media. Although no registry yet specifies figures, the annual incidence of approximately three to five/1,000 new deaf persons diagnosed in Italy implies that around 5.4% of the total 43,507 Italian deaf people live in the earthquake territory, and presumably 1.3% are younger than 18 years of age. The Facebook page obtained unexpectedly numerous accesses and satisfaction from deaf adults and families with deaf children, as well as hearing family relatives and caregivers. A total of 60% deaf and 10% hearing people asked for more information. Despite limitations, the effort to develop a page for deaf people and their families, via a world-wide social media, permits fast access, outlines safety precautions during maxi-emergencies, and disseminates essential information designed for deaf people on civil protection services. The Facebook page provides a replicable example for developing similar, user-friendly, online tools for disabled groups to disseminate important safety information after earthquakes or other maxi-emergencies.Rotondi L, Zuddas M, Marsella P, Rosati P. A Facebook page created soon after the Amatrice Earthquake for deaf adults and children, families, and caregivers provides an easy communication tool and social satisfaction in maxi-emergencies. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2019;34(2):137–141

Science communication for the Deaf in the pandemic period: absences and pursuit of information

“…This study is in line with international studies that analyzed the use of Facebook by Deaf people [Kožuh and Debevc, 2019]. Furthermore, an international experience during the disaster resulting from an earthquake in Italy has demonstrated the importance of this media to provide information for the Deaf community [Rotondi et al, 2019].…”

Communication in disasters to support families with children with medical complexity and special healthcare needs: a rapid scoping review

“…Twenty-one of the 26 papers were entirely or primarily about children with special needs. These were not limited to CMCs; for instance, some addressed children with sensory disorders, such as deafness ( 30 , 31 ), developmental disabilities, including autism ( 32 ), and chronic diseases, e.g., diabetes ( 33 ). While it has been suggested that there may be structural program differences between care for children with a single defined illness or disease, and care for CMC, with the former focusing on disease management and the latter on care coordination ( 34 ), we deemed that any information about communication strategies in the context of disaster would likely be transferrable.…”

“…So et al note their exclusion of social media and peer forums as sources of disaster planning information as one limitation to their research ( 42 ). Rotondi et al is one specific example of Facebook use ( 30 ). Social media is identified by parents as a channel of preferred communication ( 12 ) and has been a main source of information for parents of CMC during the COVID-19 pandemic ( 40 ).…”

Evaluating Social Media Response to Urban Flood Disaster: Case Study on an East Asian City (Wuhan, China)

“…The public began to pay more attention to social media and participate more in social media than before. Although there are some related studies, we found that most of them focus on disaster events in Western countries using data from several common social media platforms [5,6,10,12,27,28,33]. Yet, there are some differences between East Asian countries and the Western countries in terms of the ways of thinking, the concept of science, behavior, and collective or individual interests.…”