Self-Assessment of Emergency Preparedness for People with Disability
Self-assessment of emergency preparedness for people with disability
A report on the field application of the Individual Self-assessment Tool – Emergency Preparedness (ISAT-EP)
May, 2017
Professor Gwynnyth Llewellyn
Associate Professor Dale Dominey-Howes
Dr. Michelle Villeneuve
Hayley Brooks
Contact Details
Centre for Disability Research and Policy, Faculty of Health Sciences:
Hayley Brooks, Project Manager
T409, Cumberland Campus C43
Ph. +61 2 9351 9152
Centre for Disability Research and Policy, Faculty of Health Sciences:
Professor Gwynnyth Llewellyn
T407, Cumberland Campus C43
Ph. +61 2 9351 9533
Natural Hazards Research Group
Associate Professor Dale Dominey-Howes
Room 448, F09 - Madsen Building
Ph. +61 2 9351 6641
Centre for Disability Research and Policy, Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr. Michelle Villeneuve
J106, Cumberland Campus C42
Ph. +61 2 9356 7438
Acknowledgements
The study team would like to acknowledge the joint State/Commonwealth Natural Disaster Resilience Program for funding this project through the Office of Emergency Management NSW Justice Community Resilience and Innovations Program.
The team would also like to thank all the participants who engaged in the field test.
Table of contents
Acronyms 4
List of Tables 4
List of Figures 4
Executive Summary 5
1. Introduction 7
1.1 Report description 7
1.2 Specific aims of the field test of the ISAT-EP 7
2. ISAT-EP 7
2.1 Adaptation of DiDR tool to form ISAT-EP 8
3. Field testing of the ISAT-EP 9
3.1 Recruitment of participants 9
3.2 Field testing process 12
3.3 Data collection 12
3.4 Data analysis 14
4. Findings 14
4.1 Overall feedback 15
4.2 Feedback section by section and suggestions for improvement 17
5. Discussion 23
6. Conclusion 24
7. References 25
8. Appendices 26
9. Project reports 26
Appendix 1 – Draft ISAT-EP for external review – September 2016 27
Appendix 2 – ISAT-EP review question sheet 56
Acronyms
ABS – Australian Bureau of Statistics
ACOSS –Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS)
Auslan – Australian sign language
CALD – Culturally and Linguistically Diverse
CDRP – Centre for Disability Research and Policy at the University of Sydney
CSO – Community Service Organisation
DSO – Disability Support Organisation
DiDR Tool – Disability Inclusive Disaster Resilience Tool
DiDRR – Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction
DRR – Disaster Risk Reduction
DPO – Disabled People’s Organisation
EMs – Emergency Managers
FACS – NSW Family and Community Services
ISAT-EP – Individual Self-Assessment Tool – Emergency Preparedness
LEMC – Local Emergency Management Committee
LEMO – Local Emergency Management Officer
LGA – Local Government Area
NDIS – National Disability Insurance Scheme
NSW – New South Wales
NSW SES – New South Wales State Emergency Services
NSW RFS – New South Wales Rural Fire Service
NSW VRA – New South Wales Volunteer Rescue Association
RCO – Resilient Community Organisations toolkit developed by ACOSS
List of Tables
Table 1. Recruitment methods for the ISAT-EP field test
Table 2. Engagement with participants reviewing the ISAT-EP
Table 3. Participants in field testing of the ISAT-EP
Table 4.1 Overall feedback and suggestions for improving the ISAT-EP
Table 4.2. Feedback section by section and suggestions for improvement
List of Figures
Figure 1. DiDR Tool Framework
Figure 2. Participation by stakeholder group
Executive Summary
This report details the field testing of the Individual Self-Assessment Tool – Emergency Preparedness (ISAT-EP). This field test aimed to evaluate the utility of this tool from the perspective of people with disability and stakeholders in the disability, community and emergency management sectors as well as generate suggestions for improvement.
The project team adapted the Disability Inclusive Disaster Resilience (DiDR) Tool[1] for Australian conditions and renamed this tool the ISAT-EP. The original DiDR tool was based on the evidence about capacity and risk in the face of natural hazards for the general population in the absence of an evidence base in relation to people with disability.
The aim of the ISAT-EP is for individuals with disability or their families and carers to identify areas of capacity and risk in the face of natural disaster emergencies. The ISAT-EP comprises four components which are known to be related to capacity and risk in natural disaster situations: functioning and capacity, participation in the community, physical vulnerability of the individual’s house, and risk indicators. The ISAT-EP has 10 sections: general information; socio-demographic and cultural information; functioning and disability questions; participation in the community; physical vulnerability of home; attachment to place; natural hazards risk perception; natural hazard emergencies responses; risk communication preferences; and lived experience of past natural hazard emergencies.
For this field test application of the ISAT-EP, multiple methods were used to recruit participants. Attendees at the project’s Phase Two Local Emergency Preparedness workshops[2] reviewed the ISAT-EP as one component of the day. Disability specialists were also recruited from DPOs, peak disability organisations and disability-specific organisations to review the ISAT-EP. Participation was also invited via the project’s social media[3]. All participants were provided with copies of the ISAT-EP and review information in electronic/hard copy. In total, 60 people participated in this field test application, 29 of whom were people with disability. This was a particular heartening result in the face of many competing priorities in the disability sector in NSW including the transition to and roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Not surprisingly in this context, there were some barriers in the recruitment process. For some people with disability, having the time available to complete the review was problematic; for others, considering emergency preparedness at this stage was not a priority in their daily lives. As well, some organisations acted as ‘gatekeepers’ as they were not willing to share the ISAT-EP with the people they support. Their reasons included not wanting “to worry people unnecessarily” and thinking it unlikely people with disability could fill in a self-report questionnaire when typically their workers would be the ones assessing the needs of people with disability. This highlights the importance of creating awareness that people with disability can and must be part of developing community resilience in the face of natural disaster emergencies. A critical component of this is self-assessment of capacity, need for support and resources available – as indeed is the case for everyone else in the community.
Analysis of the data generated in this field test application was underpinned by the findings from the Disability and Disaster Risk Reduction / Emergency Preparedness Report Two: Scoping Review prepared for this project[4]. The overall findings demonstrate that people with disability regarded the ISAT-EP as highly relevant, given the increasing frequency of natural disaster emergencies and their lack of involvement in community preparedness activities to date. A standout finding not anticipated by the project team was the very positive feedback from people with disability on the ISAT-EP as an educative tool: completing this tool prompted a great deal of interest in and learning about the variety of factors that affect preparedness and including emergency preparedness in their individualised support plans. Further, there was support for the ISAT-EP as a tool which gives people with disability a say in matters that effect their lives, in line with Australia’s commitment to people with disability as engaged and participating citizens in their own right.
The availability of a self-report assessment tool which focuses on capacity and resilience as well as areas of need for support was warmly welcomed by the disability, community and emergency management sectors. A standout finding from emergency manager sector participants was the ISAT-EP as a relevant and useful tool to assist their task of mapping resilience as well as locating specific sources of risk in the community. The standout finding from the disability and community sector participants was their desire to have the ISAT-EP readily available as an individual assessment and support planning tool. Although there are many disability assessment and planning tools, none except the ISAT-EP address assessment and planning for natural disaster emergencies.
As hoped, participants in this field test application of the ISAT-EP provided very useful suggestions for improvement of the ISAT-EP. These are detailed in Table 4.1 on pages 15-16 Specific suggestions for improvement section by section of the ISAT-EP are detailed in Table 4.2 on pages 17-22. Suggestions for the next, further refined version of the ISAT-EP include multiple paper and electronic formats that meet high standard accessibility guidelines to ensure all people with disability can use the tool, and appropriateness of the tool for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. A highly desirable requirement would be that each individual, on completion of the ISAT-EP, can benchmark their capacity and risk and assess changes to capacity and risk over time as they gain more information, gather resources, and become an integral part of building resilience in their community.
This field test application has demonstrated the value of the ISAT-EP as a self-assessment and an educative tool, with participants warmly welcoming future development along the lines suggested in their overall feedback and suggestions for specific parts of the ISAT-EP. The next steps in tool development include submitting the findings from this field test application for international peer reviewed publication to meet scientific standards of transparency and knowledge sharing in tool development. Further testing of a revised ISAT-EP based on the findings is also required, with consideration given to developing a scoring or benchmarking component as foreshadowed in this report.
1. Introduction
The University of Sydney’s Hazards Research Group (HRG) and Centre for Disability Research and Policy (CDRP) partnered to lead a two-year project designed to enhance community resilience for emergency preparedness for natural hazard emergencies by developing knowledge and capacity for disability inclusion in disaster risk reduction (DIDRR). The focus of this project was enabling Community Service Organisations (CSOs), Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), Local Government and local businesses to work collaboratively with Emergency Managers (EMs) and involve people with disability in emergency preparedness. The project took place in three NSW local government areas: Sutherland, Hawkesbury, and Taree. The project was funded by the Community Resilience Innovation Program (CRIP), a scheme under the Natural Disaster Resilience Program, which involves the New South Wales and Commonwealth Governments through the National Partnership Agreement on Natural Disaster Resilience. To find out more about the project visit the project’s website at
http://sydney.edu.au/health-sciences/cdrp/projects/disasterdisab.shtml
1.1 Report description
This report details the field testing of the Individual Self-Assessment Tool-Emergency Preparedness (ISAT-EP). The ISAT-EP is the Australian version of the Disability Inclusive Disaster Resilience (DiDR) Tool.
The DiDR tool was developed by Llewellyn and colleagues as part of the Promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in disaster management in Indonesia project, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia Development and Research Award, 2013-2014. The full report and description of the Disability Inclusive Disaster Resilience (DiDR) Tool is available at
http://sydney.edu.au/health-sciences/cdrp/publications/technical-reports/Technical%20Report%20pdfs/Tech_Report_3_DiDR_Tool_Report_FINAL.pdf
As noted in the CRIP Agreement, Office of Emergency Management and University of Sydney, the project team proposed refining the DiDR tool to assist people with disability to identify their preparedness for natural hazard emergencies.
1.2 Specific aims of the field test of the ISAT-EP
The aims of the field testing of the ISAT-EP were to:
· Identify the usefulness of the ISAT-EP for people with disability to self-assess their preparedness for natural hazard emergencies;
· Engage people with disability and community service organisations working with people with disability in a process of learning more about emergency preparedness and self-reflection using the ISAT-EP;
· Develop suggestions for further refining the ISAT-EP to ensure maximum utility and acceptability for people with disability in the Australian context.
2. ISAT-EP
The ISAT-EP is the DiDR tool adapted for the Australian context. The development of the DiDR tool was informed by international guidelines on Disability-inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DiDRR) drawn from the work done following the Hyogo Framework (UNDISR, 2005) and the Sendai Framework for Action (UNDISR, 2015). The purpose of the DiDR tool was to identify the resilience and capabilities of people with disability to natural hazard emergencies in their family and community setting. The tool was available in two versions: one for people with disability, the other for family members or carers to complete together with of the person with disability. In Indonesia, people with disability and village kaders (health/ community workers) were trained to use the DiDR tool as a guided interview with people with disability or their family/carers living in the community.
In the absence of evidence about risk and resilience for people with disability in the face of natural hazard disasters, the framework for the DiDR tool was drawn from the best evidence on this topic for the broader population. The DiDR framework has four components: individual’s functioning and capacity, participation in the community, physical vulnerability of the individual’s house, and six risk indicators. The relationship of each component in this framework is graphically illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1. DiDR Tool Framework
More information on the development of the DiDR tool can be found at
http://sydney.edu.au/health-sciences/cdrp/publications/technical-reports/Technical%20Report%20pdfs/Tech_Report_3_DiDR_Tool_Report_FINAL.pdf
2.1 Adaptation of DiDR tool to form ISAT-EP
The project team reviewed the DiDR tool and adapted the language and content as needed for the Australian context. For example, in the section on socio-demographic and cultural information, job types were amended to be consistent with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2013) classification of occupations. In the section that focuses on the physical vulnerability of the home, refinements were made to suit buildings and infrastructure in the Australian context (e.g. building materials, water and electricity supply).