Planning of a Health Emergency Disaster Risk Management Programme for a Chinese Ethnic Minority Community

Greta Tam; Emily Ying Yang Chan; Sida Liu

doi:10.3390/ijerph16061046

Planning of a Health Emergency Disaster Risk Management Programme for a Chinese Ethnic Minority Community

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Mar 22;16(6):1046. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16061046.

Authors

Greta Tam¹, Emily Ying Yang Chan^{2

3

4}, Sida Liu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. gretatam@cuhk.edu.hk.
² Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response (CCOUC), The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. emily.chan@cuhk.edu.hk.
³ Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK. emily.chan@cuhk.edu.hk.
⁴ FXB Center of Health and Human Rights, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. emily.chan@cuhk.edu.hk.
⁵ Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response (CCOUC), The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. liusida2008@gmail.com.

Abstract

Rural populations living in poverty are the most vulnerable to disaster. Despite this increased risk of recurrent disaster, previous disaster experience is not a good predictor for disaster preparedness in these populations. This was evidenced on 31 August 2012, when a major flood occurred in Sichuan, China. A health needs assessment carried out in December 2012 showed that residents of Hongyan village, a Yi-minority community in Sichuan lacked disaster preparedness. This indicated that measures were necessary to improve Health Emergency Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM) in the community. Nutbeam's planning model for health promotion was used to guide the development of a Health-EDRM programme at Hongyan Village, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan. Relevant information was obtained from sources such as literature review, household surveys and stakeholder interviews. A team of stakeholders conducted an interactive workshop to train villagers on disaster preparedness in March 2014. Disaster kits and equipment for Oral Rehydration Solution preparation were handed out to villagers.

Keywords: China; Health-EDRM; ethnic minority.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

China
Disaster Planning / organization & administration*
Emergencies*
Ethnicity*
Health Promotion / organization & administration
Humans
Minority Groups*
Poverty
Risk Management / organization & administration*
Rural Population