Eisenman David P, Cordasco Kristina M, Asch Steve, Golden Joya F, Glik Deborah
David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Los Angeles, and the RAND Corporation, Calif 90095-1736, USA.
Am J Public Health. 2007 Apr;97 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S109-15. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.084335. Epub 2007 Apr 5.
We studied the experience of Hurricane Katrina evacuees to better understand factors influencing evacuation decisions in impoverished, mainly minority communities that were most severely affected by the disaster.
We performed qualitative interviews with 58 randomly selected evacuees living in Houston's major evacuation centers from September 9 to 12, 2005. Transcripts were content analyzed using grounded theory methodology.
Participants were mainly African American, had low incomes, and were from New Orleans. Participants' strong ties to extended family, friends, and community groups influenced other factors affecting evacuation, including transportation, access to shelter, and perception of evacuation messages. These social connections cut both ways, which facilitated and hindered evacuation decisions.
Effective disaster plans must account for the specific obstacles encountered by vulnerable and minority communities. Removing the more apparent obstacles of shelter and transportation will likely be insufficient for improving disaster plans for impoverished, minority communities. The important influence of extended families and social networks demand better community-based communication and preparation strategies.
我们研究了卡特里娜飓风撤离者的经历，以更好地了解影响贫困且主要为少数民族社区（这些社区受灾难影响最为严重）撤离决策的因素。
2005年9月9日至12日，我们对随机抽取的58名居住在休斯顿主要撤离中心的撤离者进行了定性访谈。使用扎根理论方法对访谈记录进行了内容分析。
参与者主要是非洲裔美国人，收入较低，来自新奥尔良。参与者与大家庭、朋友和社区团体的紧密联系影响了其他影响撤离的因素，包括交通、避难所的获取以及对撤离信息的认知。这些社会联系具有两面性，既促进也阻碍了撤离决策。
有效的灾难应对计划必须考虑弱势群体和少数民族社区所遇到的具体障碍。消除避难所和交通等较为明显的障碍可能不足以改善针对贫困少数民族社区的灾难应对计划。大家庭和社会网络的重要影响需要更好的基于社区的沟通和准备策略。
