Engaging haitian community leaders in emergency preparedness
This paper examines the engagement of haitian community leaders in emergency preparedness. The Grand’Anse area of Haiti was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. The Health Education Action League for Haiti (HEAL-Haiti) provided an educational program in Dame Marie (Grand’Anse) on disaster management and emergency preparedness in June 2017.
This paper aims to educate community leaders on how to train their community members to respond to disasters. Workshops covering emergency preparedness, water-borne diseases, and post-traumatic stress were presented. The results from post-intervention focus groups were collected by community partners. After ten months, HEAL-Haiti evaluated the program. For the past three years, the program has been successful and ongoing on a yearly basis for new and returning participants.