Guidance for Integrating Culturally Diverse Communities into Planning for and Responding to Emergencies: A Toolkit: Recommendations of the National Consensus Panel on Emergency Preparedness and Cultural Diversity
- Abstract
This toolkit offers a comprehensive framework and specific guidance for engaging communities to inform the integration of issues related to race, ethnicity, culture, language, and trust into preparedness plans, programs, and actions.By issuing the toolkit the Consensus Panel intends to achieve at least three goals: (1)To highlight the importance of taking specific actions that recognize and integrate distinct, individual and especially community -focused race, ethnic, cultural, and language priorities and perspectives into mainstream emergency preparedness, response and recovery plans and programs; (2)To “ground” efforts to reduce disparities with state-of-the-art leading practices and models, experience, expertise and research ar ound these recommended actions that can provide practical guidance for programs and services as well as communities; and (3)To provide for local, state and federal officials information and a specific set of initiative areas that can assist in informing decisions around programs and policies that work to assure effective outreach and engagement of diverse communities in critical emergency strategies.The toolkit is organized into two main sections. Section I presents the National Consensus Statement on Emergency Preparedness and Cultural Diversity, formally released on June 11, 2008. This section offers a vision and mission statement that sets the context for understanding the application of principles, actions, and strategies identified in Section II. Section II presents eight guiding principles that agencies, organizations, and providers should consider in planning and response to racially and ethnically diverse populations during public emergencies. To ground theory in practice, the toolkit provides recommended actions, potential strategies, promising practices, and resources to help implement and operationalize the objectives identified within each principle.
- Resource Type
- Report
- Author
- US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health (DHHS)
- Resource URL
- http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/resources/specialtopics/emergencypre/omh_diversitytoolkit.pdf
- Date
- February 2011
- Institution
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health
- Organization Type
- Us fed gov
- Solution
- Disaster preparedness
- Other
- Vulnerable populations