O3231: Todos Preparados: Assessing Climate Disaster Preparedness in Spanish-speaking Families

Background: Climate-related disasters such as wildfires, floods, droughts, and extreme heat affect all people, but they do not affect all people equally. California has the highest percentage of immigrant families in the United States and is also one of the most climate-stressed places in the world. It is therefore essential for California to equitably prepare people and systems for the impacts of climate change. In this project, we focused on household disaster preparedness for Spanish-speaking families as this is an area lacking in research and resources.

Methods: This is a mixed methods study based on focus groups and survey data. This study was conducted in collaboration with a community partner, Vision y Compromiso, an organization of Promotores de Salud (Spanish-speaking health liaisons). Promotores conducted focus groups in Spanish with 20 participants from at least 6 countries in North, Central and South America on past experience with disasters, current preparations and plans, and information and resources desired for the future. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and translated before being analyzed and coded for key themes by the research team. Study participants also completed a survey which was analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Key themes that emerged from this needs assessment include knowledge and educational needs, mental and emotional challenges in disasters, barriers to preparedness including lack of time and money, cultural and linguistic barriers, and lack of awareness of government and organizational resources. Participants demonstrated awareness of the need for physical disaster supplies, family emergency plans including safe meeting places and communication plans, and community resilience in the form of mutual support, varied skills, experience from past disasters, and a desire to conserve resources.

Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that while many Spanish-speaking households have experience with disasters and have made some disaster preparations, there are significant gaps in information and supplies, and a strong desire to learn more and become better prepared. While disaster resources at the community and government level exist, participants reported low awareness of these resources and many perceived barriers to improved disaster preparation. There is a clear opportunity and desire for culturally sensitive Spanish-language information and education on disaster preparedness, as well as opportunity to expand on this needs assessment to reach immigrant and non-English speaking households across the United States.