Confidence in Health-Services Availability during Disasters and Emergency Situations—Does it Matter?—Lessons Learned from an Israeli Population Survey

Odeya Cohen, Stav Shapira, Limor Aharonson-Daniel and Judith Shamian
Additional contact information
Odeya Cohen: Nursing Department, Recanati School for Community Health Professions, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
Stav Shapira: School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
Limor Aharonson-Daniel: School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
Judith Shamian: International Council of Nurses ICN President Emerita, FAAN, 88 Rockford Rd, Toronto, ON M2R3A7, Canada

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-12

Abstract: The association between health and community resilience is well established in the literature. However, maintaining continuity of healthcare services during emergencies, and their contribution in the context of community resiliency have not been sufficiently studied. This study aims to explore the relationship between the public’s confidence in the availability of healthcare services during and following emergencies, and community resilience. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 3478 Israeli adults, using the Conjoint Community Resilience Assessment Measurement (CCRAM) tool. Associations between confidence in health services availability during emergencies, socio-demographic variables, and community resilience as measured by the CCRAM score were analyzed. The results revealed that confidence in the availability of health services positively correlated with community resilience score (r(3377) = 0.580, p < 0.001), and that it contributed significantly to increasing resilience (OR = 2.67, 95% CI (2.4–2.9), p < 0.001). Maintaining continuity of healthcare services during emergencies has effects beyond the provision of medical treatment. For instance, the confidence of the population in the availability of these services contributes to community resilience. In turn, this finding can be translated into practical resilience building actions and to facilitate community health.

Keywords: CCRAM; community resilience; emergency management; health services availability; public health in disasters (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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