Robert L. (Bob) McFalls, M.Div. Chief Operating Officer National Association of Area Agencies on Aging AIRS Conference May 24, 2010 Rochester, New York

Acknowledgments Funding for this project provided through AoA grant 90AM3126 to n4a Survey development, data collection, analysis and figure development conducted by Scripps Gerontology Center For further information: Abigail Morgan, Program Manager, n4a Robert McFalls, C.O.O., n4a National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Washington, D.C.

Plan for Today Background Survey of Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) Findings Implications & Challenges for the Aging Services Network

Older Adults and Emergencies Disproportional death rates in Katrina (64% of deaths age 65+) Less likely to be willing to evacuate Adults 55+ least personally prepared for disaster High reliance on first responders A third of those with a disability or caring for someone with a disability would need extra help Chronic conditions may be worsened in an emergency Medications, medical care present challenges

How do we think about disasters? Disaster is when routines…are seriously disrupted and when unplanned courses of action have to be undertaken to cope with the crisis (Quarentelli, 2000). there is no such thing as a natural disaster. In every phase and aspect of a disaster…the difference between who lives and who dies is to a greater or lesser extent a social calculus (Smith, 2006). Preparedness prevents emergencies from becoming disasters. AAA preparedness involves services to older adults and preparedness as a business entity

Hazards/Disaster Catalysts Dam Failure Earthquake Fire or Wildfire Flood Hazardous Material Heat Hurricane Landslide Nuclear Power Plant Emergency Pandemic Influenza Terrorism Thunderstorm Tornado Tsunami Volcano Winter Storm

States with Federal Major Disaster Declarations, 2008 One Two Three

Assessing Preparedness of AAAs Purpose-Developed Survey n4a Advisory Council AAA Directors AoA Project Managers AoA Office of Preparedness and Response Focus on What programs/policies/provisions they had in place What elements were covered in their emergency plans Perceptions about or experience with their plans Needs for the future

AAA Survey Internet SurveyMay 2009 All 629 AAAs invited to participate via Survey in the field 3 weeks 58.6% response rate (N=369)

FindingsPlan Participation Three-quarters are part of one emergency plan (local, SUA, other statewide) About 2/3 (64.5%) are part of a local plan About 1/3 (33.9%) are part of an SUA plan Only 7 out of 100 (7.3 %) did not have a plan

What does the plan include?

Challenges for Future Plans Collaborations with nursing homes and assisted living facilities (only about ¼ have this) Planning for pets (less than 20% have this) Plans for obtaining essential back-up supplies (over half, but not all have this) Of 11 plan elements, average was 5

Communications in a Disaster

Important Locations

Business Practices

Maintaining Services

Maintaining Services (cont.)

Experience with Disasters About one-quarter (90 AAAs) had been part of federally declared disaster How well did their systems work? Only 3 out of 90 rated their plans as least effective Over half said their plans were effective(52.4%) Only 2 said their plans were most effective

Confidence Among those with No Recent Experience How confident are you about your organizations capacity to respond? (n=366) Over 1 in 10 (11.5%) were not at all confident Over half (53%) were somewhat confident Over 1/3 were confident (28.1%) or very confident (7.4%)

Challenges for the Future AAAs would like training/technical assistance in the following: Process for obtaining immediate $$ to respond Best practices for different types of disasters Establishing external communication systems Establishing roles and responsibilities with their partners and other local organizations Processes for tracking disaster-related expenses

Strengths of AAA Preparedness Highly involved in planning Multiple components to their plans Almost all (only 8 do not) review their plans at least yearly Survey process had an educational element

Questions? Abigail Morgan, Robert McFalls,