Perceptions of Older Adults Regarding Evacuation in the Event of a Natural Disaster

Abstract

Trust and belief in county officials and the media were the best predictors of willingness to evacuate. Participants in this study would need assistance with transportation, preparation, and support for serious health problems in order to evacuate. Further study is needed with a larger, more representative sample.

Surviving the Storm: Behavioural Economics in the Conflict Environment

“…Affiliative behaviour was clearly observable during the 1993 World Trade Centre (WTC) bombings 12 (Aguirre, Wenger, and Vigo 1998) and the evacuation of New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina (Rosenkoetter et al 2007). During the 1993 bombings over 75% of those surveyed indicated that they knew something serious had occurred but only 8.7% of the groups surveyed chose to act and evacuate.…”

A Comparison of pharmacologic and mechanical prophylaxis on the prevention of deep vein thrombosis in spinal cord injury

“…On the other hand, following disasters, some pre-existing medical problems may be aggravated (25,31,38,42,48).…”

“…The findings of some studies showed that chronic diseases may interfere with older people's ability to evacuate; for example, somebody with the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who is trying to go down the stairs may face difficulty in evacuating (32,33,38,42). Moreover, chronic diseases can interfere with access to services after disasters; for example, a person with arthritis may have problems standing in line for access to services (32).…”

Disaster and poverty : the differential impacts of disaster on the poor in the Gulf Coast region.

“…Studies in context of Hurricane Katrina revealed that elderly people needed assistance with transportation, preparation, and support for serious health problems, as well as anticipatory emergency plan that includes a kit of essential medical supplies and information, important contact information, and relocation sites in order to evacuate (Rosenkoetter, Covan, Cobb, Bunting, & Weinrich, 2007). Moreover, frail elders with serious physical, cognitive, economic, and psychosocial challenges, utilize most of their functional reserve on daily survival, dealing with health conditions, economic constraints, social isolation, and impaired mobility, as a result, they are likely to have difficulty coping with additional stress and subsequently may be even more adversely affected by disasters than the general population (Pekovic et al, 2007).…”