Long-Term and Immediate Impacts of Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM) Education Interventions in a Rural Chinese Earthquake-Prone Transitional Village

Abstract

Ma'an Qiao Village, a Dai and Yi ethnic minority-based community in Sichuan Province, China sustained complete infrastructure devastation during the 2008 Panzhihua earthquake. Health emergency and disaster risk management (Health-EDRM) education intervention programs were implemented in 2010 and 2011. This serial cross-sectional survey study aimed to examine the immediate and long-term impacts of the Health-EDRM interventions in this remote rural community. The findings demonstrate knowledge improvement in areas of water and sanitation, food and nutrition, and disaster preparedness immediately after the Health-EDRM education interventions. Temporal stability of knowledge retention was observed in household hygiene and waste management and smoking beliefs in 2018, 7 years after the interventions. Other important findings include knowledge uptake pattern differences of oral rehydration solution (ORS) between earthquake-prone and flood-prone communities. Usage of Internet and mobile technology for accessing disaster-related information was found to be independent of gender and income. Overall, this study demonstrated the knowledge improvement through Health-EDRM education interventions in a remote rural community. Promoting behavioral changes through interventions to raise awareness has the potential to reduce health risks in transitional post-disaster settings. Future programs should aim to identify evidence-based practices and explore how technology can support Health-EDRM education among vulnerable subgroups.

Sustainable Infrastructure Development, Risk Perception and Vulnerability Assessment in Indian Himalayan Region

“…Figure 12 shows the terraced cutting for roads. (Chan et al 2018). This also provides the basis for the communication of the disaster risks and the appropriate mitigation strategies.…”

CCOUC Ethnic Minority Health Project: A Case Study for Health EDRM Initiatives to Improve Disaster Preparedness in a Rural Chinese Population

“…Pre- and post-intervention cross sectional surveys were administered to participants to evaluate the effectiveness by assessing predetermined outcome measures: improvements in knowledge and beliefs were considered to indicate subjective level of preparedness as a proxy for possible future behavioural change for better disaster preparedness [ 4 , 11 ].…”

“…70% of respondents reported having access to the Internet and having an average of 2.6 mobile phones per household in 2018, whereas only 20% of the village households had some access to mobile telecommunication devices in 2010. Furthermore, over 35% of households reported in 2018 that they would use the internet to obtain disaster-related information and more than 60% of them would install a disaster-related mobile application [ 4 , 14 ]. Furthermore, many villagers had migrated to urban areas for work, which necessitated a substantial increase in the use of mobile phones and other digital communication devices to communicate with their family members.…”

“…One key element for the promotion of community disaster preparedness is the provision of Health EDRM education interventions in communities [ 3 ]. ‘Bottom-up’ health education initiatives originate from members of the community and promote community participation and empowerment by improving peoples’ awareness and knowledge of disaster health risks to strengthen their capacity-building behaviours to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies [ 4 ]. Designing and facilitating effective health education interventions is a complex process, involving planning, financing, coordination, implementation, and evaluation.…”

Food-Related Health Emergency-Disaster Risk Reduction in Rural Ethnic Minority Communities: A Pilot Study of Knowledge, Awareness and Practice of Food Labelling and Salt-intake Reduction in a Kunge Community in China

“…Yunnan is an earthquake-prone province in China. Keeping reserves of packaged food is a common practice in disaster-prone communities [24,25]. This project not only aimed to enhance the food-related health status of the community, but also to increase their capacity for Health-EDRM in rural community.…”