Getting Actionable About Community Resilience: The Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project

TLDR

Community resilience, defined as the ability to withstand and recover from disasters, is a national policy goal that pushes health departments to combine preparedness with community health promotion and forge partnerships beyond government, yet guidance remains scarce. The authors conducted a baseline survey of health department and community‑based organization staff to identify barriers and facilitators to building community resilience, focusing on CBO engagement, government‑CBO partnerships, and community education. The survey revealed that health department staff and CBO members spent little time on disaster preparedness, had few actionable community resilience activities, and identified opportunities that guided the creation of a community action plan and toolkit.

Abstract

Community resilience (CR)--ability to withstand and recover from a disaster--is a national policy expectation that challenges health departments to merge disaster preparedness and community health promotion and to build stronger partnerships with organizations outside government, yet guidance is limited. A baseline survey documented community resilience-building barriers and facilitators for health department and community-based organization (CBO) staff. Questions focused on CBO engagement, government-CBO partnerships, and community education. Most health department staff and CBO members devoted minimal time to community disaster preparedness though many serve populations that would benefit. Respondents observed limited CR activities to activate in a disaster. The findings highlighted opportunities for engaging communities in disaster preparedness and informed the development of a community action plan and toolkit.