WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en-US 00:00:01.350 --> 00:00:07.255 [silence] 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:09.440 Good morning, and happy autumnal equinox. 00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:11.200 Welcome to the Earthquake Science Center 00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:15.920 seminar series for September 22nd, 2021. 00:00:15.920 --> 00:00:19.600 As a reminder, please turn off your cameras and mute your microphones. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:22.240 All of these functions are available through the menu bar at the top 00:00:22.240 --> 00:00:26.240 of your Teams window. Live captioning is also available if you 00:00:26.240 --> 00:00:31.336 click the three-dot More button and choose “turn on live captions.” 00:00:31.360 --> 00:00:35.176 Before we begin today, we have just a couple of announcements. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:37.120 First I wanted to let you know that next week’s seminar 00:00:37.120 --> 00:00:40.616 will be from Greg McLaskey at Cornell. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:45.736 And the next all-hands meeting is going to be Friday, October 8th, at 11:00 a.m. 00:00:45.760 --> 00:00:49.600 Also, our seminar schedule is filling out for the fall, but we still have 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:52.240 a couple of openings in October. So, if you have anybody that you’d 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:56.240 like to hear from who might have a talk already mostly prepared, 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:59.976 please shoot me an email, and I’m happy to invite them. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.240 Today our speaker is Nnenia Campbell with the Natural Hazards Center at 00:01:04.240 --> 00:01:06.400 University of Colorado-Boulder. I’m going to hand it over to 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.760 Sara McBride who will introduce her. If you have any questions for the 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:14.136 speaker, you can type them into the chat at any point or raise your hand. 00:01:14.160 --> 00:01:17.520 We’ll be monitoring the chat and read out the questions at the end of her talk. 00:01:17.520 --> 00:01:20.640 But feel free to unmute yourself at that point and turn on your video 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:24.376 to chime in and talk to the speaker yourself when we call on you. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.389 And, with that, I’ll turn it over to Sara. 00:01:27.389 --> 00:01:29.760 - Good morning, everyone. It is my great pleasure to introduce 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:33.600 Dr. Nnenia Campbell. Nnenia is the deputy director 00:01:33.600 --> 00:01:36.000 of the Bill Anderson Fund and a research associate at the 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.096 Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.920 Her work at the Bill Anderson Fund supports leadership and professional 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:45.920 development training among historically under-represented minorities pursuing 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:50.056 doctoral degrees in fields related to the hazards and disaster research. 00:01:50.080 --> 00:01:54.000 Her projects at the Natural Hazards Center translate empirical research into 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:57.760 tools and information products designed for practitioners and decision-makers, 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:01.760 such as guidance on risk communication involving marginalized communities. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:05.120 Her previous research includes studies examining risk perceptions associated 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:08.800 to induced seismicity and toxic exposure. And, for my colleagues who are 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:12.616 interested and do induced seismicity, I highly recommend you check out 00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:17.520 Nnenia’s article on induced seismicity. It is really formative in the social science 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:21.016 space regarding induced seismicity. It’s a great article. 00:02:21.040 --> 00:02:24.000 Nnenia also analyzes scientific collaboration and communication 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.120 in disaster scenario development and the role of social capital, 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:30.080 community context, and organizational capacities 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:33.576 in shaping disaster outcomes among older adults. 00:02:33.600 --> 00:02:35.840 With that, Nnenia, I’m going to hand it over to you. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:39.351 Thank you so much for agreeing to speak to us today. 00:02:39.351 --> 00:02:41.520 - Thank you so much for the warm introduction. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:45.120 I feel very, very welcome in this space, and I hope that 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:48.960 you’ll enjoy my talk today. Again, my name is Nnenia Campbell, 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:52.080 and I’m with the Bill Anderson Fund and the Natural Hazards Center. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.200 And today I’m going to be talking about disaster vulnerability 00:02:55.200 --> 00:02:58.080 among older adults. This is a population that is 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:00.560 often overlooked in disaster planning and doesn’t receive 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:05.280 much attention in disaster research. So I’m really thrilled to be able to 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:09.016 share some of my insights about this population with you today. 00:03:09.040 --> 00:03:12.640 To give you a quick overview of the topics that I’ll be covering on this – 00:03:12.640 --> 00:03:17.176 on this general idea of disaster vulnerability in older people, 00:03:17.200 --> 00:03:20.560 there are a lot of different perspectives on social vulnerability, 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:24.696 so I want to get into that concept as a framing lens for my research. 00:03:24.720 --> 00:03:29.840 And so I’ll start by defining social vulnerability as the lens that I apply 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:34.960 to my work, and then I’ll go into disaster vulnerability specifically among 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:39.360 older adults and the issues that older adults experience that tend to expose 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:44.400 them to greater risk from disasters. And I’ll move on to then discussing 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:48.080 the research on older people and earthquakes and other disasters, 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:51.040 before concluding with some remarks about how to foster resilience 00:03:51.040 --> 00:03:54.696 and leadership in planning among older adults. 00:03:54.720 --> 00:03:58.560 I’ll just walk through a few examples from both my research and other 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:03.816 examples from the literature on that. So we’ll get into it. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:07.360 First, on social vulnerability to disasters – I think that this 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:10.560 is important to kind of contextualize what we’re talking about because 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.920 there are a lot of different, again, definitions of disaster vulnerability. 00:04:13.920 --> 00:04:19.120 So social processes influence decisions about where people are located, 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:22.320 how their built environment functions to protect them from environmental 00:04:22.320 --> 00:04:25.280 hazards, and also whether people have the resources that they need to 00:04:25.280 --> 00:04:29.416 prepare for, respond to, and recover from the impacts that do occur. 00:04:29.440 --> 00:04:33.200 So there’s many different definitions and approaches to understanding 00:04:33.200 --> 00:04:36.240 social vulnerability within the disaster literature broadly. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:39.840 But, for practical purposes and to guide our discussion today, 00:04:39.840 --> 00:04:44.000 I just want to describe social vulnerability as a condition that results 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.560 from a combination of historical and ongoing social forces that create 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:52.880 a disproportionate potential for loss and negative outcomes resulting from 00:04:52.880 --> 00:04:56.960 socially – from extreme events. And social vulnerability doesn’t 00:04:56.960 --> 00:05:01.600 guarantee poor outcomes in disasters. And, in fact, many socially vulnerable 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:05.440 groups are – can be incredibly resilient, as we’ll be discussing today. 00:05:05.440 --> 00:05:09.176 And social vulnerability is dynamic rather than static. 00:05:09.200 --> 00:05:12.720 It’s driven by social systems and processes, not by individual 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:15.440 characteristics. So I just want to be really clear about that. 00:05:15.440 --> 00:05:20.320 Because social vulnerability researchers emphasize that disasters are not caused 00:05:20.320 --> 00:05:24.240 by the occurrence of an environmental hazard, but instead are the result of 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:26.480 the vulnerabilities that are produced within these social, 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:29.896 economic, and political processes. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:34.160 These interconnected human systems, both the – influence both the likelihood 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:38.640 of – and exposure to extreme events. So following those perspectives, 00:05:38.640 --> 00:05:41.120 then – again, that’s the lens that I’m applying here, 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:47.462 is that disasters originate within the workings of everyday society. 00:05:48.400 --> 00:05:53.120 Socially and economically marginalized populations tend to experience 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:57.120 the worst disaster outcomes because they lack the resources 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:01.016 and protections that shield other groups from social protections. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:04.880 So, while the – some of the challenges that older people, then, face in the 00:06:04.880 --> 00:06:08.800 context of disaster result from the embodied experience of aging itself, 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:13.680 the issues like access to resources, social status, other markers of social 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:18.240 stratification – these things all arguably have a much greater significance and 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:22.640 influence on disaster outcomes than a person’s chronological age. And so 00:06:22.640 --> 00:06:27.336 that’s the understanding I want to make sure that we all have here today. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:31.040 Also, older people consistently have been reported to experience 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:36.136 disproportionate disaster-related morbidity and mortality. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.920 So, you know, we do see that these conditions do have real 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:44.240 consequences for older people. They’re more likely to be hospitalized 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:47.096 because of injuries suffered during disasters 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.600 and to perish from their injuries. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:52.800 So many elders also – in the post-disaster environment, 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:57.176 also suffer long-term strain, and many never fully recover. 00:06:57.200 --> 00:07:03.600 But, again, going back to the social vulnerability lens, it’s too easy to just 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:07.978 blame age alone for these outcomes, and that’s simply not the case. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:12.640 So I want to just take you down a little bit of a thought exercise for – 00:07:12.640 --> 00:07:16.480 very briefly. And I just want everyone to think about what words come to 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:20.936 mind when you think about older people in disaster settings. 00:07:20.960 --> 00:07:24.320 So I’ll just pause for a moment so that we can all ponder that a little bit. 00:07:24.320 --> 00:07:26.880 What have you learned about this population? 00:07:26.880 --> 00:07:30.147 What have you read in the news, for example? 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:36.080 It’s likely not a story of empowerment. And there are many stories that many 00:07:36.080 --> 00:07:40.560 of us – many of you in the audience may be familiar with about what 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:44.776 disasters can look like at later stages of the life course. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:50.640 For instance, during Hurricane Katrina, people aged 60 years and older 00:07:50.640 --> 00:07:54.856 comprised 71% of the deaths in Louisiana. 00:07:54.880 --> 00:07:59.120 Most people died in their homes. And people who did not live 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.440 independently within in the community, in some cases, 00:08:01.440 --> 00:08:04.760 were abandoned by their caretakers. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:10.720 Particularly those at older age – higher-age cohorts were significantly 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:14.800 over-represented among the dead. So, again, folks over 60, 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:21.176 but especially those over 70, over 80 – the percentage of deaths went up. 00:08:21.200 --> 00:08:25.280 It was also Black seniors, in particular, who suffered the highest casualty rate. 00:08:25.280 --> 00:08:29.360 So even more deaths occurred in the aftermath of the storm 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:32.136 within this population. 00:08:32.160 --> 00:08:35.760 In the weeks and months following the storm, many people perished for 00:08:35.760 --> 00:08:40.640 a variety of reasons, including neglect by institutions that are responsible 00:08:40.640 --> 00:08:44.320 for caring for older people. The location of Black neighborhoods 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:47.760 in more flood-prone areas as a result of discriminatory urban planning 00:08:47.760 --> 00:08:51.360 and segregationist policies. Lack of transportation access. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.440 Decisions that were made by city leaders to prioritize affluent and largely white 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:00.160 neighborhoods for power restoration and recovery resources in the aftermath 00:09:00.160 --> 00:09:02.800 of the storm, which worked to the detriment of low-income minority 00:09:02.800 --> 00:09:05.656 neighborhoods, among many other factors. 00:09:05.680 --> 00:09:10.480 But the key takeaway here is that, when we unpack this statistic about 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.840 who died and look at why these deaths occurred, it becomes clear that they’re 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:17.520 less a function of age and more a function of institutional and 00:09:17.520 --> 00:09:20.560 organizational failures, again, driven by social, political, 00:09:20.560 --> 00:09:22.941 and socioeconomic factors. 00:09:24.560 --> 00:09:29.360 Another example you may be familiar with is the 1995 Kobe earthquake, 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:34.320 in which older people accounted for 50% of those who perished immediately 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:39.280 and 90% of the subsequent deaths. One of the reasons for the steep rate 00:09:39.280 --> 00:09:42.800 of post-event deaths was the nature of housing conditions. 00:09:42.800 --> 00:09:46.480 Mass evacuations after this event were necessary to accommodate people 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:50.240 who were displaced by the earthquake. And displaced residents were placed 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:52.880 in temporary housing for several months before being moved 00:09:52.880 --> 00:09:55.840 into permanent housing. But often, these seniors had 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:58.800 no social connections in their new housing arrangements. 00:09:58.800 --> 00:10:02.776 And social isolation in these environments was deadly. 00:10:02.800 --> 00:10:06.560 Many residents died either alone in their units or outside 00:10:06.560 --> 00:10:10.056 in the elements after becoming lost and disoriented. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:13.760 The suffering, illness, and sometimes even deaths of people often went 00:10:13.760 --> 00:10:19.067 unnoticed due to lack of planning and lack of attention to older people’s needs. 00:10:20.640 --> 00:10:24.160 The percentages were nearly identical in the context of the 2011 Great East 00:10:24.160 --> 00:10:28.696 Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant failure. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:31.520 As you can see, it was – 50% of the immediate casualties 00:10:31.520 --> 00:10:35.096 were older people, and 89% of the subsequent deaths. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:38.720 So, while Japan does have a rapidly aging population with declining 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:42.240 numbers of young people, these figures illustrate how disaster 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:46.000 response and recovery programs often fail to recognize the specific 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:48.240 vulnerabilities and needs of older people. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:51.600 And they certainly often fail to recognize and build 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:55.760 from their capacities. So, while we observe that the – 00:10:55.760 --> 00:10:58.880 when we observe the persistence of this problem, it can be easy to 00:10:58.880 --> 00:11:02.320 simply assume that older people die at higher rates in earthquakes 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:07.520 and other disasters due to physical frailty associated with aging. 00:11:07.520 --> 00:11:11.520 But that’s an oversimplification of the issue, and I want to unpack that 00:11:11.520 --> 00:11:14.960 so that we know a little bit more about the specific issues that affect 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:20.216 how older people experience disasters. But first, I want to give a quote, 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:24.080 because I think it’s really powerful, from a woman who I interviewed 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.880 for my own research. This was a quote from – 00:11:26.880 --> 00:11:29.200 this is a quote from someone in a flood-affected community 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:33.040 but suffered displacement and a loss of community 00:11:33.040 --> 00:11:36.240 in the aftermath of that disaster. And I think that this quote helps to 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:38.616 add context to what I – to the numbers 00:11:38.640 --> 00:11:43.760 and percentages I just shared. She said, after 35 years in this little, 00:11:43.760 --> 00:11:46.000 tiny community where, if you fell down, 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:50.000 you had a dozen neighbors there to pick you back up, it’s not like that anymore. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.280 You can walk down that street, and nobody knows anyone. 00:11:53.280 --> 00:11:57.680 It’s not a town anymore. It’s not even a community, as far as I’m concerned. 00:11:57.680 --> 00:12:01.760 And they need to take the name Lyons away. This was the town of Lyons. 00:12:01.760 --> 00:12:06.240 And – because, as far as she was concerned, the town no longer existed. 00:12:08.800 --> 00:12:13.120 So there are a few reasons that have been attributed to older people’s disaster 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.760 experiences in the literature, and I want to go through these and 00:12:15.760 --> 00:12:21.920 kind of unpack them a little bit. The literature points to social isolation, 00:12:21.920 --> 00:12:26.080 socioeconomic pressures, and health concerns and disabilities as the primary 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:30.696 drivers of disaster vulnerability at later stages of the life course. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:34.560 So, starting with social isolation, the research suggests that the degree 00:12:34.560 --> 00:12:38.560 of social cohesion within various social networks in which older people 00:12:38.560 --> 00:12:42.376 are embedded is a strong determinant of disaster outcomes. 00:12:42.400 --> 00:12:46.480 Social isolation can render these people – these individuals invisible 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:49.200 to authorities and other people who might be able to provide 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:52.480 assistance during extreme events. So, again, the findings about 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.400 post-disaster mortality following the Kobe and Great East Japan 00:12:56.400 --> 00:12:59.440 earthquakes bear this out, right? The studies of these deaths revealed 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.720 that elders were disconnected from their broader community 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:05.176 and generally overlooked. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:08.240 One study in Kobe referred to these as lonely deaths. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:12.000 And that’s a term that’s become popularized since because isolation 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.056 in later stages of the life course has become increasingly common. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:19.440 I also want to unpack for a moment, though, what we mean about social – 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:22.960 when we talk about social isolation, why it needs to be understood 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:27.490 in this broader community context and not at the individual level. 00:13:28.640 --> 00:13:31.600 So, for a detailed example, I want to briefly walk through 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.080 the case of the 1995 Chicago heat wave, 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:39.176 which killed more than 700 people, 3/4 of whom were older adults. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:41.520 You’ll have to forgive this being a non-earthquake example, 00:13:41.520 --> 00:13:44.640 but I’m using it here because I think it’s a really helpful and insightful 00:13:44.640 --> 00:13:48.960 case study in understanding community context and social isolation 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:53.176 as drivers of risk in a variety of different contexts. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.680 So a sociologist named Eric Klinenberg wrote what he called a social autopsy 00:13:57.680 --> 00:14:01.440 of this event. And it describes in really vivid detail how the relationship 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:05.440 between individual and community social networks affected mortality risk 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:09.920 within the city’s older population. So, at face value, this disaster appeared 00:14:09.920 --> 00:14:12.880 to implicate advanced age and living alone as the primary 00:14:12.880 --> 00:14:16.800 determinants of heat-related death. But the underlying story actually 00:14:16.800 --> 00:14:20.936 challenges this conclusion by shedding light on how neighborhood conditions 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:25.200 shaped seniors’ daily lives. So comparing mortality rates between 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:27.520 two comparable neighborhoods, Klinenberg found that, 00:14:27.520 --> 00:14:31.760 despite observing similar objective risk factors, like high rates of poverty 00:14:31.760 --> 00:14:34.720 and living alone, elders in these two communities experienced 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:38.400 vastly different disaster outcomes. So, in North Lawndale – 00:14:38.400 --> 00:14:40.960 the neighborhood that, at the time, had the highest death rate, 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:45.176 was characterized by high rates of violent crime, degraded infrastructure, 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:47.680 and residential dispersion and other factors that really 00:14:47.680 --> 00:14:50.960 undermined public life. And that left older residents 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:56.536 more isolated and unwilling to venture from their homes during the heat wave. 00:14:56.560 --> 00:14:59.600 The comparison community, Little Village, had a far lower death rate 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:03.200 and was characterized by bustling commercial activity, low crime rates, 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:06.800 and residential concentration – more people around. And that created more 00:15:06.800 --> 00:15:11.576 opportunities for seniors to leave their homes and engage in public life. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:14.080 So the conditions in these two neighborhoods had a direct 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:19.040 influence on older residents’ opportunities for social activity. 00:15:19.040 --> 00:15:22.960 In one case – in the case of North Lawndale, constraining, 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:26.560 and in the case of Little Village, facilitating that social interaction. 00:15:26.560 --> 00:15:29.656 And there were obviously life-or-death implications here. 00:15:29.680 --> 00:15:33.600 This research is important because the generally accepted explanation at the 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:37.680 time, which was an assumption, was that living alone as an older person meant 00:15:37.680 --> 00:15:41.920 being more likely to die in a disaster. But the truth is that this work – 00:15:41.920 --> 00:15:46.320 that this work uncovered is that this assumption was really too simplistic 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:50.720 and that older people aren’t just passive victims who experience disaster. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:54.320 The community settings in which they’re embedded influence, you know, 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:57.840 many other aspects of their lives. And those settings can also 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:01.367 either amplify or reduce their vulnerability. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:07.760 So, independent of age, socioeconomic status also influences people’s ability 00:16:07.760 --> 00:16:10.480 to prepare for and respond to and recover from disasters. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:15.120 And many elders face financial strain as their workforce participation declines. 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.960 And that can limit resources available for protective measures in advance 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:23.336 of an extreme event or for recovery once one has occurred. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:26.000 Older people who are working have their – and have their livelihoods 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.600 destroyed may have a hard time regaining their financial independence 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:33.600 for a variety of reasons, including age discrimination, but not solely. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:39.440 So, for example, a study of older adults affected by the Bam earthquake in Iran 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:42.960 found that the event caused significant livelihood disruptions for seniors 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:48.056 who had previously had financial stability through local agricultural production. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:51.200 But, because the industry was disrupted by the disaster, 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:54.640 this caused a lot of financial hardship. And, at that stage in the life course, 00:16:54.640 --> 00:16:58.616 that can be really – that can amplify vulnerability. 00:16:58.640 --> 00:17:01.840 The situation is even more perilous for people who age without 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:05.120 a financial cushion. And that highlights the progressive effects 00:17:05.120 --> 00:17:07.760 of economic disadvantage across the life course as well. 00:17:07.760 --> 00:17:10.640 Because, when we consider the range of mitigation measures that can 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:13.840 potentially be taken to safeguard against earthquakes and other hazards, 00:17:13.840 --> 00:17:17.920 many seniors, especially those who have been low-income in their 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:22.640 working years into retirement, can really struggle to afford them. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:26.720 So revisiting that figure I cited earlier about how the vast majority of older 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:32.000 people, you know, live in community settings, not in institutions, it’s clear 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:35.520 that financing things like preparedness, mitigation, and recovery can be 00:17:35.520 --> 00:17:39.600 a really tall order for people who don’t have substantial savings. 00:17:39.600 --> 00:17:44.800 And poverty and fixed incomes can amplify the effects of disaster losses, 00:17:44.800 --> 00:17:48.800 then, among older people. And that can also even limit their 00:17:48.800 --> 00:17:52.160 ability to access certain types of disaster-related assistance, 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:56.936 such as Small Business Association loans here in the United States. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:01.840 As people age, and particularly as their capacity to generate income diminishes, 00:18:01.840 --> 00:18:06.240 financial pressures can drive them into lower-quality housing, can hinder them 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.840 from stockpiling supplies or other – or taking other preparedness or mitigation 00:18:09.840 --> 00:18:14.320 measures, and can leave them without the resources they need to rebuild. 00:18:14.320 --> 00:18:18.160 And these issues also highlight the importance of intersectionality 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:22.320 in shaping older people’s disaster experiences because the struggles 00:18:22.320 --> 00:18:25.440 with poverty, with systemic disenfranchisement, with lack of 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:29.589 attention to and representation among decision-makers can – 00:18:29.589 --> 00:18:34.000 it tracks along lines of race, gender, citizenship, and other factors as well. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:38.560 So, again, we see the impacts, not just of age, but of these other 00:18:38.560 --> 00:18:42.960 aspects of people’s identities in shaping that disaster vulnerability 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.976 at that stage of the life course. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.120 And finally, health concerns and disabilities factor into older people’s 00:18:49.120 --> 00:18:52.400 disaster experiences, particularly when they’re unable to access 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:56.000 adequate care and support. So, for example, medically frail 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.560 individuals are particularly vulnerable 00:18:58.560 --> 00:19:01.360 to power outages. And that can – because that 00:19:01.360 --> 00:19:04.320 can compromise their supportive equipment and cause dangerous 00:19:04.320 --> 00:19:07.280 fluctuations in body temperature. This is, again, one of the reasons 00:19:07.280 --> 00:19:11.120 why older people are more vulnerable to heat-related – 00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:13.816 heat waves and heat-related illnesses. 00:19:13.840 --> 00:19:18.000 Mobility impairment can also hinder elders’ ability to physically respond to 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:21.840 hazard threats, leaving them imperiled in the absence of assistive services. 00:19:21.840 --> 00:19:25.600 So, for example, we saw deaths among older people who couldn’t reach higher 00:19:25.600 --> 00:19:28.400 ground in response to the tsunami that followed the Great East Japan 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:32.960 earthquake and frustrations with drop, cover, and hold guidance among 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:37.581 less-mobile elders in the Canterbury earthquake sequence. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:42.400 So various forms of chronic illnesses are also more common in advanced age. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:48.800 And these conditions can be exacerbated by acute disruptions in medical care 00:19:48.800 --> 00:19:52.000 in disaster-damaged communities. So, when it’s hard to get around, 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:55.680 when facilities are closed, it’s harder to get that kind of 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.960 medical care that people need. And those things can worsen 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:02.696 medical conditions over the long term throughout the recovery process. 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:05.760 And disasters can also produce disabilities, particularly when the 00:20:05.760 --> 00:20:10.136 structures that people occupy aren’t designed to withstand hazard impacts. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:12.400 And so this was observed with a rise in disabilities 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.656 in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in 2010. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:18.800 So I just want to be clear that I’m not stating that health issues 00:20:18.800 --> 00:20:23.440 and disabilities are the reasons why older people suffer during disasters. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.640 And many scholars, myself included, would argue that physical strength 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:29.760 should not be blamed for the failure of emergency managers and community 00:20:29.760 --> 00:20:33.120 planners to accommodate diverse functional needs for the lack of 00:20:33.120 --> 00:20:36.216 structures designed to support people with different abilities. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:39.280 And, if emergency preparedness efforts, as well as things like access to 00:20:39.280 --> 00:20:42.720 healthcare, safe living conditions, and social supports, were equitable 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.520 and inclusive, these conditions could be accommodated. 00:20:45.520 --> 00:20:47.680 And so the poor outcomes that are associated with 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:51.920 these factors aren’t inevitable. These patterns emerge because people 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:56.027 often don’t have access to the protections and support that they need. 00:20:57.980 --> 00:21:02.480 [silence] 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:05.840 So finally, these leads me to another point that is understood but I think 00:21:05.840 --> 00:21:08.960 tends to receive less attention in the research literature, 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:12.240 and that’s that older people are often overlooked in decision-making. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:15.840 And so it’s interesting because, when you search disaster preparedness 00:21:15.840 --> 00:21:20.856 or planning guidance, or even when you look in the literature on disaster impacts, 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:25.096 what you find is that older people are often referenced as vulnerable, but – 00:21:25.120 --> 00:21:28.720 identified among the vulnerable, but they’re rarely discussed beyond that. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:33.496 So, even less common, is seeing them actually engaged in disaster planning. 00:21:33.520 --> 00:21:36.160 Instead, what you see is people making – you know, 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:39.680 planning and making decisions for elders but rarely seeking to 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:43.920 include or even consult with them. And that leaves disaster planners and 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:49.176 researchers to make a lot of assumptions about them that are sometimes incorrect. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.320 So, for example, deficit thinking is a real problem that I’ve noticed. 00:21:52.320 --> 00:21:57.120 The narrative is that aging is simply a process of decline. 00:21:57.120 --> 00:22:01.600 And aging past adulthood is – in our culture, is often thought of 00:22:01.600 --> 00:22:04.560 as a negative, as a loss, and rarely as an asset. 00:22:04.560 --> 00:22:07.760 And so it often doesn’t occur to people that, you know, elders may be able to 00:22:07.760 --> 00:22:13.736 make valuable contributions to disaster planning because we devalue the aged. 00:22:13.760 --> 00:22:17.120 Lonely deaths, though, are what happens when people don’t bother to 00:22:17.120 --> 00:22:22.015 check on you, don’t involve you, don’t seek out your perspective or your input. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:27.656 So why is this important? 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:30.960 That’s all very sad, and pretty disturbing, but why am I here telling 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:33.840 you in your earthquake seminar, you know, talking to you about old people? 00:22:33.840 --> 00:22:39.280 Well, awareness of these issues is – and why they occur is the first step 00:22:39.280 --> 00:22:41.360 towards actually doing something about them. 00:22:41.360 --> 00:22:44.880 So socially marginalized populations, such as vulnerable older adults, 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:48.376 suffer and die in silence because the rest of us aren’t listening. 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:51.760 So, whether you work in research or in practice, specializing in human 00:22:51.760 --> 00:22:55.680 behavior or natural phenomena, your work has implications for 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:59.576 how we build, plan for, and respond to upheavals in nature. 00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:02.320 And, downstream from our research, there are people whose lives, 00:23:02.320 --> 00:23:06.056 livelihoods, and wellbeing are affected by the things that we study. 00:23:06.080 --> 00:23:09.680 So, while it’s easy to – it’s not easy to quantify the concepts, 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:15.496 like human suffering or lonely deaths, it’s important to understand them. 00:23:15.520 --> 00:23:17.680 When we’re thinking about the consequences of earthquakes 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:20.800 and other disasters, we have to recognize that 00:23:20.800 --> 00:23:25.016 we’re talking about things that have implications for human lives. 00:23:25.040 --> 00:23:29.200 Also, because greater inclusion of older people and other socially marginalized 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:32.720 groups in disaster research and planning and in disaster management 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.880 can help to minimize the disproportionate harm 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:38.599 that they face form earthquakes and other hazards. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:47.760 Okay. So, although we know a little bit about the factors that contribute to 00:23:47.760 --> 00:23:53.120 disaster vulnerability and the underlying reasons why we’re more – 00:23:53.120 --> 00:23:55.680 older people are more – often more vulnerable to earthquakes and other 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:59.120 disasters, there’s a lot we don’t know. Because people who document these 00:23:59.120 --> 00:24:03.520 examples tend to treat older residents as a problem to be solved 00:24:03.520 --> 00:24:05.976 rather than an asset to be leveraged. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:09.840 Even – often not even discussed as a point of curiosity. 00:24:09.840 --> 00:24:14.456 And so far less is known than about what older people prioritize, 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:18.880 what they value in disaster recovery, about what their capacities are to 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:22.400 support community recovery, and definitely even less about how to 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:26.080 promote their leadership and involvement in community resilience. 00:24:26.080 --> 00:24:30.240 So the narrative of vulnerability is so loud and unquestioned in relation to older 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:35.181 people that it totalizes and homogenizes them in the things that we study. 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:40.696 There’s this generalized frame of feebleness and fragility. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:42.320 And so that’s a problem for our research. 00:24:42.320 --> 00:24:46.080 It’s a problem for our intellectual curiosity about these experiences. 00:24:46.080 --> 00:24:50.000 But there’s also been a newer wave of research that’s begun to discuss 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.880 how older people can make incredibly valuable contributions 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:56.240 to disaster-stricken communities and how they may potentially 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:58.856 serve as an untapped resource. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:00.720 Too often, though, that tap remains sealed 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:04.696 because there’s a blindness to other possibilities for aging. 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:08.560 So these remain kind of outstanding questions for research, 00:25:08.560 --> 00:25:12.560 but there are a few examples in the literature on both research 00:25:12.560 --> 00:25:15.440 and in practice that can inform new approaches to supporting, 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:18.160 to empowering, and including older people in disaster planning 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:22.240 and management. And so taking a more equitable and inclusive approach 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:25.600 to disaster-related outreach and planning can benefit the whole community. 00:25:25.600 --> 00:25:29.976 And, to show what I mean, I have a few examples. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.456 The first is the Retired Senior Volunteer Program. 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:37.600 So that’s – this program is part of AmeriCorps Seniors, 00:25:37.600 --> 00:25:41.736 and it’s funded by the Corporation for National Community Service. 00:25:41.760 --> 00:25:45.760 And then this program engages people aged 55 and older as volunteers to 00:25:45.760 --> 00:25:49.680 support disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, to increase community 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:52.080 resilience, in addition to a range of other activities. 00:25:52.080 --> 00:25:54.240 It’s not specifically disaster-focused. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:57.576 But it’s one of the largest volunteer efforts in the nation. 00:25:57.600 --> 00:26:02.080 RSVP often responds to disasters in the U.S. and provides this mechanism 00:26:02.080 --> 00:26:04.880 for tapping into the resources that older people can provide. 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:07.736 So the program’s been around for almost three decades. 00:26:07.760 --> 00:26:12.080 And, although it’s not solely focused on disasters, it is part of the – disasters are 00:26:12.080 --> 00:26:16.960 part of its mandate, and that’s long fallen under the program’s purview. 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:21.760 So RSVP volunteers do a variety of tasks, but they support their more 00:26:21.760 --> 00:26:26.376 vulnerable peers – so other seniors – as well as their broader communities. 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:29.520 For example, following the Northridge earthquake, many older residents in 00:26:29.520 --> 00:26:33.520 the Simi Valley faced difficulties accessing social and emotional support, 00:26:33.520 --> 00:26:38.640 securing appropriate housing – replacement housing for those 00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:41.520 who were displaced. And the Retired Senior Volunteer Program was 00:26:41.520 --> 00:26:44.880 instrumental in supporting the response effort, and specifically 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:49.096 supporting their more vulnerable peers – so those seniors who were struggling. 00:26:49.120 --> 00:26:53.200 Volunteers provided services like transportation, social support, assistance 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:58.936 with applications – you know, really dedicated support for seniors. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:03.520 Often, older people are able to apply this sort of lifetime of professional 00:27:03.520 --> 00:27:06.960 experience to support disaster response and recovery efforts. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:11.040 And we see the RSVP program acts as a vehicle for that. 00:27:11.040 --> 00:27:15.040 So, for example, older retirees with construction experience have managed 00:27:15.040 --> 00:27:17.680 and coordinated crews involved in some in-home repairs and 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:21.600 other kinds of rebuilding efforts. In research that I was involved in 00:27:21.600 --> 00:27:25.760 reviewing disaster response efforts throughout 2013, we looked at 00:27:25.760 --> 00:27:28.960 a diverse range of activities that they were involved in. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:32.960 So they responded to the industrial explosion in west Texas, 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:38.216 the Moore tornado in Oklahoma, Superstorm Sandy in New York, 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:43.120 flooding in Missouri, and wildfires and floods in Colorado. 00:27:43.120 --> 00:27:48.160 So this – just a really broad range of activities and expertise 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:52.160 that was generated – that was leveraged to be able to 00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:55.242 support the community response efforts there. 00:27:56.320 --> 00:27:59.520 In another example, the Ibasho Café was constructed 00:27:59.520 --> 00:28:03.280 in the city of Ōfunato in Japan after the area was devastated 00:28:03.280 --> 00:28:08.536 following the tsunami generated by the Great East Japan earthquake. 00:28:08.560 --> 00:28:11.840 The term “ibasho” references a place where one feels a sense 00:28:11.840 --> 00:28:14.640 of belonging and purpose and is accepted for oneself. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:19.496 And here, you see the basic logic behind the ibasho concept. 00:28:19.520 --> 00:28:23.040 The concept of the Ibasho Café aimed to engage elders as an – 00:28:23.040 --> 00:28:27.440 as essential contributors to community social capital and resilience 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:30.640 in the post-tsunami environment. So it was intended to provide 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:33.920 an outlet for older people to play a meaningful role in the 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:37.840 community’s recovery process. And the ibasho approach was designed 00:28:37.840 --> 00:28:41.760 to acknowledge elders as valuable assets, again, to their community 00:28:41.760 --> 00:28:46.000 and to empower them to be active participants as a way of changing the 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:49.600 harmful outcomes that are created by society’s negative perceptions of aging. 00:28:49.600 --> 00:28:53.920 So, you know, those things are rooted in – are the root causes 00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:57.920 of things like social isolation, of loss of dignity and respect, 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:01.976 a sense of uselessness and irrelevance and advanced age. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:05.920 It also aimed to support the whole community by enabling residents 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:09.896 to increase and deepen the connections that they had with each other across 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:13.440 intergenerational capacity. So, to expand the kinds of 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:18.470 social capital that are vital to community recovery and resilience. 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:25.120 So this photo here – you see the kind of mission 00:29:25.120 --> 00:29:28.536 and the principals of the Ibasho Café. 00:29:28.560 --> 00:29:32.960 It was opened in 2013 next to a large temporary housing site. 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:36.400 And older tsunami survivors, again, were actively involved in 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:41.096 the planning, the design, and construction of this site. 00:29:41.120 --> 00:29:43.920 Once it opened, they were also responsible for its operation 00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:46.000 and its management. And so the project created 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:49.600 this senior-led gathering space for the whole community. 00:29:49.600 --> 00:29:51.840 It strengthened the community’s informal support system, 00:29:51.840 --> 00:29:55.840 its social capital, and it produced positive psychosocial benefits 00:29:55.840 --> 00:30:00.240 for the people who – for the older tsunami survivors 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:02.560 who were at risk of social isolation. 00:30:02.560 --> 00:30:06.000 It connected residents of all ages and enhanced people’s sense of 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:09.520 belonging in the community. Research also found that people 00:30:09.520 --> 00:30:13.520 who attended lots of events at the Ibasho Café felt more strongly 00:30:13.520 --> 00:30:15.760 that they could make their community a better place than 00:30:15.760 --> 00:30:19.280 those who didn’t go to the café. So it had these positive benefits, 00:30:19.280 --> 00:30:22.080 both for older people and for the broader community. 00:30:22.080 --> 00:30:25.280 And I really like this example because it highlights the kinds of things 00:30:25.280 --> 00:30:28.880 that are possible when we – when there’s an intentional focus 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:32.136 on engaging older people as part of the community. 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:36.720 It also provides an important point of contrast to the narrative of lonely deaths, 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:41.840 which I think is a good counter-narrative to the idea that the kinds of negative 00:30:41.840 --> 00:30:45.976 outcomes for older people that we see often are inevitable. 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:49.520 Particularly in the context of a large event, like an earthquake, 00:30:49.520 --> 00:30:52.846 that has had such devastating consequences. 00:30:55.040 --> 00:30:58.400 The next example I want to draw on is from my dissertation research, 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:03.336 which is – which was on the historic 2013 Colorado flood disaster. 00:31:03.360 --> 00:31:07.176 It starts, though, with an event that preceded that. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:12.480 The 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire devastated a large swath of Colorado’s 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:17.840 Front Range. It destroyed 162 homes. It burned 5,700 acres. 00:31:17.840 --> 00:31:21.440 And one of the key challenges during those wildfires is that 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:26.880 information dissemination was not done particularly well. 00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:30.800 People had a hard time figuring out where they should go, what route they 00:31:30.800 --> 00:31:35.760 should take to evacuate, and so power – this was partially due to power outages 00:31:35.760 --> 00:31:39.120 disrupting communication networks and also the mountain terrain. 00:31:39.120 --> 00:31:41.256 Cell phone signals didn’t work very well. 00:31:41.280 --> 00:31:45.520 So the fire served as kind of a wake-up call to many communities because a lot 00:31:45.520 --> 00:31:49.840 of people lost everything, and there were major problems with the response. 00:31:49.840 --> 00:31:53.360 And so, afterward, the mountain community leaders held this meeting to 00:31:53.360 --> 00:31:57.680 connect – to connect with one another and start discussing the lessons learned. 00:31:57.680 --> 00:32:03.520 And that led to the development of the mountain community 00:32:03.520 --> 00:32:08.056 amateur radio-centered network. It was actually a network of networks 00:32:08.080 --> 00:32:09.920 for the different mountain communities. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:15.416 And these were largely spearheaded by older adults – typically retirees. 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:18.640 And so the elders who founded these networks incorporated emergency 00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:22.160 preparedness and social capital building into their activities. 00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:24.880 They formally partnered with a nonprofit organization – 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:30.136 an amateur radio – ham radio enthusiast organization that provides 00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:34.000 communication support in emergency response in the flatlands of 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:36.560 Boulder County. So they connected with this nonprofit. 00:32:36.560 --> 00:32:40.720 They started their training with them and started building their own 00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:43.440 mountain networks – ham radio operators’ networks – 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:45.336 in the mountain communities. 00:32:45.360 --> 00:32:48.800 They reached out to other residents through existing social connections to 00:32:48.800 --> 00:32:52.560 expand their membership base, and they helped train others in their community. 00:32:52.560 --> 00:32:56.560 So this started because individual seniors and other community members 00:32:56.560 --> 00:33:00.000 went through a really dangerous and scary event that led them to 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:02.960 feel vulnerable and to desire, you know, a greater sense of 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:05.976 control over their access to information. 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:10.320 But it grew into this broader inter- and intra-community resilience initiative 00:33:10.320 --> 00:33:16.616 between the mountain communities. So then, during the 2013 floods, 00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:19.520 the network was then sprung into – it sprang into action. 00:33:19.520 --> 00:33:24.720 So the communications backup that it provided ended up being a really – 00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:29.360 being really critical. As the – at certain points during the floods, 00:33:29.360 --> 00:33:31.840 they were – this event happened really quickly. 00:33:31.840 --> 00:33:35.416 People didn’t see it coming because it was the result of flash flooding. 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:41.656 And so, for instance, when the local – when local areas were cut off, 00:33:41.680 --> 00:33:46.296 these ham radio operators’ networks provided really important backup. 00:33:46.320 --> 00:33:51.360 They – for instance, when the local fire chief’s radios stopped working in the 00:33:51.360 --> 00:33:54.080 city of Allenspark during the emergency response period, when they were 00:33:54.080 --> 00:33:58.160 actively responding to the floods, you know, a lot of these ham radio 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:02.800 operators stepped in and provided really much-needed redundancy at that point. 00:34:02.800 --> 00:34:05.920 And so I really appreciated meeting some of these folks. 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:09.440 And one of the – one of them discussed this story to me about, you know, 00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:12.400 being able to be there for the fire chief after, you know, 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:17.256 he had only reluctantly added this ham radio to the fire station. 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:21.120 But then being really instrumental once the – once the other forms 00:34:21.120 --> 00:34:23.680 of communication had fallen out. And so he said to me, it was like 00:34:23.680 --> 00:34:26.080 the Army accepting help from the Boy Scouts. 00:34:26.080 --> 00:34:29.360 He was so proud of what they had created. And he still had a hard time 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:34.536 believing the level of impact that they had had in just a few short years. 00:34:34.560 --> 00:34:38.000 The most dramatic example, though, of their contributions was when a group 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:41.920 of seventh-grade schoolchildren and chaperones that were on an outdoor 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:45.840 education trip in the mountains had become stranded, as all the roads 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:49.920 were washed out by the flash floods. And a ham radio operator – again, 00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:52.800 another senior in the mountains – had been listening to the radio 00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:54.800 and heard a discussion with the sheriff’s office. 00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:59.280 And so he relayed information about where the group was located and then 00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:03.840 sent another ham radio operator – also another elder in the community – 00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:08.616 to go out and find this group to assist them in finding safe shelter. 00:35:08.640 --> 00:35:12.560 And then, after bringing them to a safe location, they continued to provide 00:35:12.560 --> 00:35:16.000 support to the emergency responders by relaying information to the 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:19.200 Office of Emergency Management and assisting them in finding 00:35:19.200 --> 00:35:22.480 an alternate off-road – because, again, all the roads were washed out – 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:26.480 evacuation route. And so these activities really laid the groundwork 00:35:26.480 --> 00:35:31.200 for what was ultimately a successful evacuation, starting with the 2010 fires 00:35:31.200 --> 00:35:35.840 and people’s concerns about not having access to information to, just a few years 00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:40.136 later, you know, having this robust ham radio operators’ network. 00:35:40.160 --> 00:35:44.480 And, you know, that particular technology – ham radio – was attractive 00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:48.160 to some seniors because it enabled them to master a new skill and to have 00:35:48.160 --> 00:35:52.776 some control, again, over this physically vulnerable environment. 00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:55.600 And that was empowering. And it produced benefits for, again, 00:35:55.600 --> 00:35:59.096 the seniors themselves as well as their broader community. 00:35:59.120 --> 00:36:02.376 And so, again, while each of these stories is a little bit different, 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:05.920 it shows the kinds of ingenuity and leadership that older people 00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:09.040 can demonstrate when it’s taken – when they’re taken seriously 00:36:09.040 --> 00:36:11.840 and engaged as partners in community resilience. 00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:16.160 So my research and other examples and studies that I’ve tried to highlight 00:36:16.160 --> 00:36:19.440 here show that older people, and particularly those who have 00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:22.960 experienced previous hardships, can be among the most resilient 00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:27.016 members of their communities, and they can help play a significant role 00:36:27.040 --> 00:36:31.099 in assisting their communities through the recovery period. 00:36:35.120 --> 00:36:38.320 So that knowledge should shift our thinking about outreach 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:41.416 and engagement regarding natural hazards. 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:44.560 So, returning to my comment earlier about how older people 00:36:44.560 --> 00:36:48.776 may represent an untapped resource, it’s time to open the tap. 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:52.480 And so how do we do that? How do we engage older people 00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:56.998 more inclusively in disaster preparedness and recovery? 00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:02.560 One of the core principles of risk communication is to tailor your 00:37:02.560 --> 00:37:06.480 messages and your information pathways to the target audience. 00:37:06.480 --> 00:37:10.560 So I think that risk communication is a good place to start with some of this, 00:37:10.560 --> 00:37:14.560 so – and considering how to more directly communicate with older adults 00:37:14.560 --> 00:37:18.560 about earthquakes and other hazards, the content of the message, 00:37:18.560 --> 00:37:22.960 and the information pathways that are used to reach them, 00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:27.176 need to be relevant and accessible to older people. 00:37:27.200 --> 00:37:31.366 They need to be relevant to their everyday lives. 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:35.680 They should, in other words, be customized so that they speak 00:37:35.680 --> 00:37:39.680 to older people’s concerns. And so the first step in doing that 00:37:39.680 --> 00:37:44.320 is in recognizing that there’s a lot of diversity among older people, just as 00:37:44.320 --> 00:37:48.800 with every other age group, right? And so it’s important not to fall into 00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:53.520 the special needs trap by simply lumping everyone in together 00:37:53.520 --> 00:37:56.880 with one another under a generic, or catch-all, category. 00:37:56.880 --> 00:38:01.816 Right, and so that’s across age groups and across ability levels as well. 00:38:01.840 --> 00:38:05.600 So, for example, a 75-year-old who is disabled and on a modest fixed 00:38:05.600 --> 00:38:08.720 income is in a very different position than a 75-year-old 00:38:08.720 --> 00:38:13.256 who has full mobility and sufficient wealth to meet their needs. 00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:16.640 They’re likely to need different kinds of support and have capacity for 00:38:16.640 --> 00:38:19.440 different kinds of preparedness and mitigation measures. 00:38:19.440 --> 00:38:22.800 So, while there may be some common concerns related to aging, there may 00:38:22.800 --> 00:38:28.216 also be – you know, like, for example, the feasibility of drop, cover, and hold – 00:38:28.240 --> 00:38:31.520 it’s also worth considering what kinds of information – how their 00:38:31.520 --> 00:38:35.840 information needs might differ and – because of their different circumstances. 00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:39.280 Because, again, we need to break away from this idea that, you know, 00:38:39.280 --> 00:38:41.920 older people are vulnerable, and that’s all there is to it. 00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:43.760 They’re not a monolith. And so we need to be more 00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:48.936 responsible to people’s functional needs, to their access needs. 00:38:48.960 --> 00:38:52.080 Information also needs to be disseminated, again, through channels 00:38:52.080 --> 00:38:55.200 that older people actually use – ideally, through multiple channels, 00:38:55.200 --> 00:38:58.880 so that increases their likelihood of being exposed to the information 00:38:58.880 --> 00:39:00.776 that you’re trying to share. 00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:04.000 So, for example, sending out all of your messages and announcements 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:07.120 through social media may not always be the best way to reach older people, 00:39:07.120 --> 00:39:13.040 although it can be. And I do have a great example of that that I cut for time 00:39:13.040 --> 00:39:16.480 but I’d be happy to talk about during the discussion as well, about, 00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:18.960 you know, some online tools that were generated – that were created, 00:39:18.960 --> 00:39:24.376 again, by older adults to facilitate their community’s recovery process. 00:39:24.400 --> 00:39:27.520 So there are certainly, and increasingly, probably, exceptions. 00:39:27.520 --> 00:39:32.080 But it’s helpful to understand how the seniors in a community of interest 00:39:32.080 --> 00:39:36.320 to you typically access information. So you can target that particular – 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:39.600 those particular channels. And that can require some exploration, 00:39:39.600 --> 00:39:42.720 right, to determine what sources are most often used and trusted by 00:39:42.720 --> 00:39:47.040 seniors in communities of interest. But doing so, though, maximizes the 00:39:47.040 --> 00:39:51.445 likelihood that they’ll actually get the information that you’re trying to share. 00:39:54.880 --> 00:39:57.760 There’s also the need for targeted outreach and engagement. 00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:00.640 So, you know, again, risk communication should be a two-way 00:40:00.640 --> 00:40:03.280 or multi-directional process. It’s not just a matter of sharing 00:40:03.280 --> 00:40:06.480 information with people, but creating this opportunity 00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:11.736 for dialogue and for understanding and for connection around these issues. 00:40:11.760 --> 00:40:15.120 So targeted outreach, then, is another area that I think is 00:40:15.120 --> 00:40:18.640 important to emphasize. And many community resilience 00:40:18.640 --> 00:40:21.840 initiatives do focus on those kind of goals of community engagement, right? 00:40:21.840 --> 00:40:26.560 So, for example, the Rockefeller’s 100 Resilient Cities program 00:40:26.560 --> 00:40:31.280 advocates for inclusion for an array of local stakeholders 00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:35.016 and building community capacity. 00:40:35.040 --> 00:40:38.720 The National Academies’ Resilient America Roundtable – 00:40:38.720 --> 00:40:41.360 similar kinds of objectives and guidance. 00:40:41.360 --> 00:40:44.480 But the question of who represents seniors’ interests 00:40:44.480 --> 00:40:47.040 in these kinds of efforts still remains problematic. 00:40:47.040 --> 00:40:51.520 So there are a few examples of efforts to bring older people to the – 00:40:51.520 --> 00:40:57.256 to the table, right? Like, they’re very – there’s very little documentation of this. 00:40:57.280 --> 00:41:00.960 But – and then there are even fewer examples of opportunities that have – 00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:05.840 or, initiatives that have been created to lead them into decision-making 00:41:05.840 --> 00:41:09.096 positions or to create those positions for them. 00:41:09.120 --> 00:41:13.520 But, as these kinds of resilience initiatives roll onward, there’s still 00:41:13.520 --> 00:41:19.040 this need to systematically ensure that members of vulnerable populations 00:41:19.040 --> 00:41:23.360 are not being lumped together and problematized, but rather that they’re 00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:26.720 genuinely being included in the process so that they’re involved 00:41:26.720 --> 00:41:29.760 in meaningful ways. So then asking about how to 00:41:29.760 --> 00:41:35.256 include older people by bringing – you know, how do you do that? 00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:38.960 One place to start would be by bringing in potentially associations 00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:41.840 and affiliation groups into resilience programming. 00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:44.000 And outreach can be really helpful in that regard. 00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:47.280 So it’s not just a matter of, you know, putting out an announcement and 00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:49.680 seeing who comes, but really targeting those specific areas. 00:41:49.680 --> 00:41:53.280 And that’s something that applies across a lot of different socially marginalized 00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:56.320 communities, whether we’re talking about older people who, again, 00:41:56.320 --> 00:42:02.936 also belong to these other categories of identity, but just making sure that, 00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:06.560 when we’re talking about inclusion, we’re also considering age and doing 00:42:06.560 --> 00:42:11.200 that kind of outreach to ensure that they’re people who – that the people 00:42:11.200 --> 00:42:16.240 who might otherwise be socially isolated are brought into these conversations. 00:42:16.240 --> 00:42:18.720 Sometimes, though, you have to meet people where they are. 00:42:18.720 --> 00:42:25.040 So that also needs to include outreach to the organizations and spaces that 00:42:25.040 --> 00:42:30.960 people – that older people regularly occupy – where they regularly associate. 00:42:30.960 --> 00:42:36.000 So one example of being able to make some of these connections is the AARP. 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:39.280 They’ve done some really great work in partnership with FEMA to develop 00:42:39.280 --> 00:42:43.336 disaster preparedness guidance specifically tailored to older people. 00:42:43.360 --> 00:42:47.896 But not all older people associate with organizations like AARP, either. 00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:52.320 And there – you know, so we need to, again, be careful to cast a wide net 00:42:52.320 --> 00:42:57.760 and to not make assumptions about where people spend their time, where 00:42:57.760 --> 00:43:02.080 they associate, but really talk to people in different communities and recognize 00:43:02.080 --> 00:43:07.496 that there may not be one single-shot answer to some of these issues. 00:43:07.520 --> 00:43:12.320 And finally – and closer to, I think, which is most of our realm, 00:43:12.320 --> 00:43:16.216 is research and awareness and inclusion in that research. 00:43:16.240 --> 00:43:21.840 So aging is something that we need to be considering when we’re talking about 00:43:21.840 --> 00:43:27.040 potential disaster impacts, when we’re talking about the infrastructure needs 00:43:27.040 --> 00:43:30.080 and the threats to infrastructure. It’s important to consider, okay, 00:43:30.080 --> 00:43:32.480 well, there are – there are aspects of infrastructure that are really 00:43:32.480 --> 00:43:36.880 important for older people. So, for example, a few years ago, 00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:42.000 during the 2017 hurricane season, there was a long-term care facility 00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:46.960 in Florida that lost power and was directly across the street from a hospital, 00:43:46.960 --> 00:43:51.120 but it wasn’t on the state’s prioritization list for power restoration. 00:43:51.120 --> 00:43:56.000 And a lot of residents died unnecessary deaths – heat-related deaths 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:59.920 because they – because they were not prioritized for that. 00:43:59.920 --> 00:44:04.320 And they didn’t – the organization – the facility didn’t have a good plan for 00:44:04.320 --> 00:44:07.600 addressing the needs of their residents. So, when we’re thinking about some of 00:44:07.600 --> 00:44:12.560 these issues, you know, whether with respect to specific population – 00:44:12.560 --> 00:44:16.936 population-specific services, human services, or infrastructure needs, 00:44:16.960 --> 00:44:21.120 understanding what the sources of vulnerability are for older people 00:44:21.120 --> 00:44:24.160 can be really important and help to move forward this 00:44:24.160 --> 00:44:27.656 more inclusive approach in our research. 00:44:27.680 --> 00:44:30.960 There’s also the need to emphasize functional needs 00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:35.576 and universal design principles. And by that, what I mean is 00:44:35.600 --> 00:44:40.640 going back to what I said earlier about not falling into the special needs trap. 00:44:40.640 --> 00:44:43.840 What that – what I mean by that is that often emergency planning, 00:44:43.840 --> 00:44:47.760 often research, kind of lumps these populations together and just – 00:44:47.760 --> 00:44:51.520 and doesn’t pay attention to what that actually means – what people – 00:44:51.520 --> 00:44:55.360 what supports people need to be able to respond to a disaster – 00:44:55.360 --> 00:44:58.800 to recover, to access resources and information. 00:44:58.800 --> 00:45:03.200 So, when we take a functional needs approach, instead of looking at the 00:45:03.200 --> 00:45:06.640 categories people belong to, but, you know, what do they need to 00:45:06.640 --> 00:45:10.640 be able to successfully navigate the world. Is it translation? 00:45:10.640 --> 00:45:13.440 Is it larger fonts in our information products? 00:45:13.440 --> 00:45:17.256 Is it something like a wheelchair ramp? 00:45:17.280 --> 00:45:20.720 So looking at what people need to be able to function and then 00:45:20.720 --> 00:45:25.760 incorporating these universal design principles so that – actually back to this 00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:29.680 example of having wheelchair ramps. They don’t only support wheelchair 00:45:29.680 --> 00:45:33.120 users, but are also really helpful to parents with strollers. 00:45:33.120 --> 00:45:36.240 When we think inclusively about design and inclusively about how 00:45:36.240 --> 00:45:40.960 we can accommodate a diverse array of functional needs, it brings us closer 00:45:40.960 --> 00:45:45.040 to being more inclusive and more equitable in the factors that we’re 00:45:45.040 --> 00:45:47.120 considering in our research and that we’re emphasizing 00:45:47.120 --> 00:45:51.120 as important for communities. So, with that, I don’t want to 00:45:51.120 --> 00:45:55.360 go over time. Oh, I’ve got a little bit of time, but I’ll dedicate it – 00:45:55.360 --> 00:45:58.160 the rest of it to the Q-and-A. I look forward to talking to you all 00:45:58.160 --> 00:46:01.051 and answering any questions you have. 00:46:03.645 --> 00:46:07.360 - Thanks very much, Nnenia, for that fascinating presentation. 00:46:07.360 --> 00:46:11.040 We do have about 10 minutes here for questions. 00:46:11.040 --> 00:46:14.400 If you have any, please either raise your hand, and we’ll call on you 00:46:14.400 --> 00:46:17.360 to unmute and show your video and ask your question, or you can 00:46:17.360 --> 00:46:21.736 type your question into the chat, and I’ll read it out. 00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:25.760 While we wait for some of those to trickle in, I have a question for you. 00:46:25.760 --> 00:46:31.840 It seems like, in your work, and some similar research that we’ve heard from 00:46:31.840 --> 00:46:37.040 other folks over the past year or so, the role the community plays in 00:46:37.040 --> 00:46:43.016 sort of building a framework for resilience is really important. 00:46:43.040 --> 00:46:48.640 And I’m curious whether you have any insights, specifically for those of us 00:46:48.640 --> 00:46:53.680 who are interested in outreach about disasters, how we might tap into 00:46:53.680 --> 00:47:00.240 that and sort of help facilitate that. I’m not quite sure where to go with 00:47:00.240 --> 00:47:03.816 that question other than just the observation it seems really important 00:47:03.840 --> 00:47:10.000 and something that we should both try to help reinforce and also might be useful 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:16.435 in sort of getting our message out in terms of how to prepare for disasters. 00:47:18.216 --> 00:47:21.920 - Yep, absolutely. I think that finding where the natural 00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:25.760 networks and leaders are in community in really important for this. 00:47:25.760 --> 00:47:30.240 So, by that I mean, looking at the community institutions, 00:47:30.240 --> 00:47:34.640 whether that’s neighborhood associations or affiliation groups. 00:47:34.640 --> 00:47:39.120 So there’s, you know, a particular group of – in one of the smaller towns, 00:47:39.120 --> 00:47:42.560 for example, in my flood research, there was – most of the seniors 00:47:42.560 --> 00:47:44.960 in the town got together, you know, on Wednesday evenings at 00:47:44.960 --> 00:47:48.080 the senior center for dinners. And so that was a great opportunity 00:47:48.080 --> 00:47:51.200 for me as a researcher and for other folks doing disaster-related 00:47:51.200 --> 00:47:54.480 outreach to go and connect with them. Because that was a central gathering 00:47:54.480 --> 00:47:57.760 spot for a lot of the community. But there’s also more creative 00:47:57.760 --> 00:48:03.600 approaches. So, for example, I was part of a seminar series recently from 00:48:03.600 --> 00:48:07.120 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And one of the presenters that they 00:48:07.120 --> 00:48:11.680 had last month was from a mutual aid network that formed in New Orleans 00:48:11.680 --> 00:48:15.440 last year for an organization called Imagine Water Works. 00:48:15.440 --> 00:48:18.160 And they initially had this – it’s a broader organization, 00:48:18.160 --> 00:48:22.456 but they initially had this focus on water resources issues and 00:48:22.480 --> 00:48:26.080 hazard mitigation along those lines. But they created this mutual aid network 00:48:26.080 --> 00:48:30.400 that then really jumped into action when the storms hit last – the hurricanes 00:48:30.400 --> 00:48:33.440 hit last summer in Louisiana and have been really active during 00:48:33.440 --> 00:48:37.280 Hurricane Ida and the relief efforts. And so that was – even though mutual 00:48:37.280 --> 00:48:41.360 aid – like, there’s a couple of different definitions of mutual aid, but by that 00:48:41.360 --> 00:48:44.960 I mean community-based mutual aid – not government mutual aid. 00:48:44.960 --> 00:48:47.360 But they really tapped into community networks. 00:48:47.360 --> 00:48:50.800 And so they were this trusted entity that was helping people, you know, falling 00:48:50.800 --> 00:48:54.320 between the cracks, access resources. But they were also working with the 00:48:54.320 --> 00:48:58.320 government to provide resources to people and to access information. 00:48:58.320 --> 00:49:02.800 And so it was this really partnership between grassroots-level social supports 00:49:02.800 --> 00:49:05.680 and then the official government structure. And so I think thinking 00:49:05.680 --> 00:49:09.776 creatively about those kinds of things can be really important. 00:49:10.811 --> 00:49:16.120 - Cool. Thanks. Andy Michael, you want to ask your question? 00:49:17.108 --> 00:49:19.440 - Yeah. Thank, Nnenia. That was a really fascinating talk. 00:49:19.440 --> 00:49:23.520 And I particularly think about these things because, you know, I’m – 00:49:23.520 --> 00:49:27.440 I fall above your 60-year cutoff you often use, so I’m not sure that’s 00:49:27.440 --> 00:49:30.960 thanks for that, but it’s a very diverse group of people who, 00:49:30.960 --> 00:49:35.920 you know, range across this. And one thing I know – my mom, 00:49:35.920 --> 00:49:40.880 who’s about to be 90, has noticed in her community is that the level of 00:49:40.880 --> 00:49:46.400 technology in people who are now seniors is changing drastically. 00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:51.040 You know, the younger seniors moving into her community, you know, 00:49:51.040 --> 00:49:55.896 have a much greater desire for everything to be available online. 00:49:55.920 --> 00:49:59.440 So my question is, you know, especially as a national organization, 00:49:59.440 --> 00:50:03.280 you know, we don’t necessarily always – able to identify individual 00:50:03.280 --> 00:50:05.576 communities of interest and go into them. 00:50:05.600 --> 00:50:12.720 How do we consider senior issues in our sort of national communications? 00:50:12.720 --> 00:50:16.056 You know, I’m sure you’re familiar with our website. 00:50:16.080 --> 00:50:18.480 Are there ways we can do these sort of broader things 00:50:18.480 --> 00:50:22.160 in a better way or – you know, I guess you mentioned AARP, 00:50:22.160 --> 00:50:24.960 but that being somewhat limited in other ways. 00:50:24.960 --> 00:50:28.218 How do we do better on a national scale? 00:50:28.218 --> 00:50:32.000 - I think connecting with organizations that do that ground-level work 00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:34.480 is really important. So one of the resources that 00:50:34.480 --> 00:50:39.520 I used in my outreach and my research was area agencies on aging. 00:50:39.520 --> 00:50:42.320 And there are associations of these area agencies on aging. 00:50:42.320 --> 00:50:45.280 And they connect senior services. So they connected me to the senior 00:50:45.280 --> 00:50:48.160 centers in different communities. Or, in the small communities that 00:50:48.160 --> 00:50:51.040 didn’t have a senior center, like the one person who was kind of liaising 00:50:51.040 --> 00:50:53.736 with the senior center for their community. 00:50:53.760 --> 00:50:58.320 And so I think it’s important not to just approach these organizations as if they 00:50:58.320 --> 00:51:01.736 have all the answers, but they are important communication partners. 00:51:01.760 --> 00:51:05.440 And so having – inviting those groups to webinars, providing resource kits that 00:51:05.440 --> 00:51:09.120 they can download and instructions for how they can conduct trainings 00:51:09.120 --> 00:51:12.240 or share resources with their constituencies to help improve 00:51:12.240 --> 00:51:14.640 that preparedness. I think that’s the way to go. 00:51:14.640 --> 00:51:17.840 And there’s some models for this. I also do some research with food banks. 00:51:17.840 --> 00:51:23.280 And the national food bank associations have these connections to food banks, 00:51:23.280 --> 00:51:26.400 and then the food banks themselves have connections to food pantries. 00:51:26.400 --> 00:51:30.560 And sometimes that’s, like, you know, two retirees in a church basement. 00:51:30.560 --> 00:51:34.240 But, you know, getting information about disasters through that network, 00:51:34.240 --> 00:51:37.520 in some cases, has been really, really successful by, you know, 00:51:37.520 --> 00:51:40.560 going – taking this top-down approach, but then using the networks that 00:51:40.560 --> 00:51:43.760 some of these organizations have to disseminate that information and 00:51:43.760 --> 00:51:46.240 creating products that they can do that easily with and sometimes 00:51:46.240 --> 00:51:49.440 maybe trainings, too, for how they can share that information, depending on, 00:51:49.440 --> 00:51:53.735 you know, the level of effort that you can put into it. 00:51:53.735 --> 00:51:56.640 - Great. That’s actually really insightful. Thanks a lot, Nnenia. Appreciate it. 00:51:56.640 --> 00:52:00.360 And the talk too. - Thanks for the question. 00:52:03.000 --> 00:52:06.696 - Jump over to the chat real quick. There’s a question from Ashley Piña. 00:52:06.720 --> 00:52:10.080 Is there a process for consulting experts like yourself with the social knowledge 00:52:10.080 --> 00:52:14.830 before designing research projects or disaster preparedness projects? 00:52:16.751 --> 00:52:20.720 - Ooh, that’s a good question. There are some resources that 00:52:20.720 --> 00:52:25.200 I can point to. You know, definitely, I think, there’s – I’m happy to discuss 00:52:25.200 --> 00:52:29.256 things to an extent [laughs] that I have – you know, that I have time to, 00:52:29.280 --> 00:52:34.560 to try to make connections too. I think one area that’s – could be 00:52:34.560 --> 00:52:40.480 of interest is, we have this social science research network at the Natural Hazards 00:52:40.480 --> 00:52:43.816 Center, where you can go and find social scientists in different areas. 00:52:43.840 --> 00:52:46.320 You know, you may or may not be able to find the exact – 00:52:46.320 --> 00:52:48.400 people working on the exact issues that you’re looking for, 00:52:48.400 --> 00:52:51.760 but it’s a good census of people doing social science research. 00:52:51.760 --> 00:52:53.600 But there are also lots of tools and products. 00:52:53.600 --> 00:52:57.736 So if you’re not – even if you’re not connecting to a particular individual, 00:52:57.760 --> 00:53:01.120 I think there are organizations that – like the Natural Hazards Center – 00:53:01.120 --> 00:53:02.880 that offer some pretty good guidance products. 00:53:02.880 --> 00:53:08.560 I recently did a talk on something that we created – a suite of resources 00:53:08.560 --> 00:53:11.040 that we created over the past couple of years with the Hazards Center 00:53:11.040 --> 00:53:14.480 on risk communication involving socially vulnerable populations. 00:53:14.480 --> 00:53:18.960 And I can pull up a link for that, but one of the most recent products 00:53:18.960 --> 00:53:22.480 that we created is a guidebook. So it’s a set of – or, it’s a set 00:53:22.480 --> 00:53:26.160 of worksheets – a booklet. So it walks through the risk 00:53:26.160 --> 00:53:29.760 communication process organized around these big, 00:53:29.760 --> 00:53:32.640 overarching core principles, but then really putting into practice. 00:53:32.640 --> 00:53:36.560 And I think that it’s beneficial for researchers and practitioners to think 00:53:36.560 --> 00:53:39.680 about, what does it mean to connect with a trusted messenger in a 00:53:39.680 --> 00:53:42.080 community and to connect with community-based organizations? 00:53:42.080 --> 00:53:45.120 What does it mean to tailor? What steps do you need to take to 00:53:45.120 --> 00:53:48.560 know how to tailor your message? So I’d really look at that risk 00:53:48.560 --> 00:53:51.520 communication worksheet booklet and – because I think 00:53:51.520 --> 00:53:55.840 it’s applicable beyond just the communication process too. 00:53:59.228 --> 00:54:01.176 - Thanks. 00:54:01.200 --> 00:54:05.520 And then we have a – well, it looks like Tom Hanks has his hand raised. 00:54:05.520 --> 00:54:10.080 Tom, you want to ask your question? - Yes. Yeah, thank you. 00:54:10.080 --> 00:54:17.095 Very interesting talk. And so I got to thinking about 00:54:17.120 --> 00:54:24.960 the care facilities – the elderly care facilities and what – 00:54:24.960 --> 00:54:31.760 and then also about – maybe they should be built with extra resilience, 00:54:31.760 --> 00:54:38.056 say, here in earthquake country. And I’m thinking of the Field Act 00:54:38.080 --> 00:54:41.816 that occurred after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, 00:54:41.840 --> 00:54:49.096 that legislated extra strength in public schools. 00:54:49.120 --> 00:54:53.229 And I think it’s been a huge success ever since. 00:54:53.840 --> 00:54:59.840 Is that possible for elder care – you know, in – you know, in the schools, 00:54:59.840 --> 00:55:04.216 the children are only there for six or – six or seven hours a day. 00:55:04.240 --> 00:55:08.696 In the elderly care facilities, they’re there for 24 hours a day. 00:55:08.720 --> 00:55:13.176 So it would seem to me that, in earthquake country, 00:55:13.200 --> 00:55:20.376 there should be an extra resilience built into the structure itself, 00:55:20.400 --> 00:55:29.143 which would be an earthquake engineering – in their domain. 00:55:29.600 --> 00:55:33.200 Trying to get that through the state legislature would be 00:55:33.200 --> 00:55:39.920 a more difficult problem, I think. And then, going on to flood zones, 00:55:39.920 --> 00:55:42.480 well, maybe it’s just not very smart to put 00:55:42.480 --> 00:55:46.709 an elderly care facility in a flood zone. 00:55:47.520 --> 00:55:53.065 And similarly, in, you know, fire-prone areas. 00:55:54.160 --> 00:55:57.520 If you’re going to put it there, then you have to have, you know, clear – 00:55:57.520 --> 00:56:03.416 you know, clear things added to 100 feet away from the care facility. 00:56:03.440 --> 00:56:08.160 There was some, you know, pretty bad incidents in the 00:56:08.160 --> 00:56:15.096 Santa Rosa fire – I forget the name of it – three or four years ago. 00:56:15.120 --> 00:56:19.896 Sarah Minson’s mother [chuckles] was evacuated from that, 00:56:19.920 --> 00:56:24.112 and she just tells us a horrible story about it. 00:56:25.040 --> 00:56:30.800 And just even trying to find her mother after she was evacuated. 00:56:30.800 --> 00:56:36.320 So I’m – this is what I’m thinking about. How would you work this – I mean, 00:56:36.320 --> 00:56:42.135 this is something that’s – that is real implementation, 00:56:42.160 --> 00:56:50.376 not a – you know, a philosophy or research sort of thing. 00:56:50.400 --> 00:56:53.019 And does that make any sense? 00:56:53.019 --> 00:56:57.200 - It does make sense. And I don’t have expertise on 00:56:57.200 --> 00:57:00.560 the policy side of it and how to push policies through, but it is possible. 00:57:00.560 --> 00:57:05.600 I mean, there are – like you mentioned, with schools, and trying to create 00:57:05.600 --> 00:57:09.200 more legislation to protect schools. I think that these things are possible. 00:57:09.200 --> 00:57:14.376 It’s, in a lot of instances, I think, a case of – a matter of political will. 00:57:14.400 --> 00:57:20.856 And also enforcing building codes and land – you know, land use standards. 00:57:20.880 --> 00:57:25.840 We often – that’s often not done, even when the codes are in place. 00:57:25.840 --> 00:57:28.640 And so that’s a problem. And so your point you made about 00:57:28.640 --> 00:57:32.160 not locating elder care facilities in the flood plain. Point well taken, 00:57:32.160 --> 00:57:33.840 and I think it’s a pretty good one. [chuckles] 00:57:33.840 --> 00:57:36.216 We shouldn’t be building on the flood plain. 00:57:36.240 --> 00:57:39.920 Or certainly not without mitigation measures. 00:57:39.920 --> 00:57:45.120 But, you know – but there’s – so there’s already a lack of 00:57:45.120 --> 00:57:47.040 enforcement that’s an issue with some of these things. 00:57:47.040 --> 00:57:50.800 But getting new laws in, I think, is an important – new protections – 00:57:50.800 --> 00:57:54.160 actual legal protections is great. Although I do want to give a caveat, 00:57:54.160 --> 00:57:57.440 too, that most older people don’t live in institutional settings. 00:57:57.440 --> 00:58:01.280 And so those in institutional settings are the most vulnerable and the most – 00:58:01.280 --> 00:58:04.880 you know, it’s the most – it’s very important to make sure that those 00:58:04.880 --> 00:58:08.000 facilities are up to code, that they are designed in a way that, 00:58:08.000 --> 00:58:12.000 you know, is not placing people at risk. But I also think that that’s why 00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:15.760 we need these broader community-level mitigation measures too. 00:58:15.760 --> 00:58:19.760 To protect people who are trying to age in place and making sure that 00:58:19.760 --> 00:58:22.320 they’re not forced to occupy unsafe structures or that they’re 00:58:22.320 --> 00:58:25.280 able to access assistance to mitigate the structures that, you know, 00:58:25.280 --> 00:58:27.896 maybe were built before these codes were in place. 00:58:27.920 --> 00:58:32.176 And so I think that there’s also a broader conversation that’s needed around that. 00:58:32.200 --> 00:58:36.080 - Okay. Let me ask you a numbers question there. 00:58:36.080 --> 00:58:44.720 Of all the people that are older than 76.8, which is my age [chuckles], 00:58:44.720 --> 00:58:52.606 how many of them are in an elder care facility of some sort? 00:58:53.680 --> 00:59:02.640 You know, including people that just go for the day, like the schools, 00:59:02.640 --> 00:59:07.440 for example, or there as a permanent residence. 00:59:07.440 --> 00:59:16.533 What fraction of the – of the over 76-point-age population is that? 00:59:16.566 --> 00:59:19.680 - I’m not sure specifically with the age breakdown. 00:59:19.680 --> 00:59:26.056 I know it’s a higher percentage at – you know, once you get over 65, over 75. 00:59:26.080 --> 00:59:30.160 But, in general, if you’re looking at the over-65 population, at least according to 00:59:30.160 --> 00:59:35.440 data from a couple years ago, it was about 3% of the population, in general, 00:59:35.440 --> 00:59:37.920 of people over 65 that were in facilities. 00:59:37.920 --> 00:59:44.200 And then higher proportions of people at higher sections of the age spectrum. 00:59:45.927 --> 00:59:48.816 - Okay. Thank you for being there. 00:59:49.951 --> 00:59:56.320 - All right. It is 11:31. So I think we’ll take Sara’s question as our last one, 00:59:56.320 --> 01:00:00.160 and then we’ll finish the recording. - Oh, now I feel guilty now if someone 01:00:00.160 --> 01:00:05.656 has a better question than me. Nnenia, I just wanted to ask you 01:00:05.680 --> 01:00:08.080 and leave this sort of open to you on how you want to frame it, 01:00:08.080 --> 01:00:12.560 but a lot of the discourse around COVID-19 and deaths around 01:00:12.560 --> 01:00:16.960 COVID-19 have impacted elderly people more in the population. 01:00:16.960 --> 01:00:22.153 And I wanted to get sort of maybe your hot take, if you want to give it, 01:00:22.178 --> 01:00:30.800 on reflections on why we seem to be okay with discussions around death 01:00:30.800 --> 01:00:34.800 for elderly people and COVID-19. So I’m not sure how best to frame it, 01:00:34.800 --> 01:00:39.701 but I’m just going to leave it with you to smarten that question up. 01:00:39.739 --> 01:00:43.200 - [laughs] No, it’s a great question. And an issue that I’ve – you know, 01:00:43.200 --> 01:00:46.160 it’s definitely a vexing issue and something I’ve thought about a lot 01:00:46.160 --> 01:00:51.280 since the crisis started, is that it almost seemed immediate when it was clear 01:00:51.280 --> 01:00:55.600 that it was primarily, early in the stages of the pandemic, affecting older people, 01:00:55.600 --> 01:01:00.160 it’s like people stopped caring and didn’t feel any sense of interconnection, 01:01:00.160 --> 01:01:04.376 you know, with other people. As if our fates aren’t all linked. 01:01:04.400 --> 01:01:06.560 And so I think that that’s a huge problem, and I think 01:01:06.560 --> 01:01:10.696 that’s rooted in the ways that we devalue older people in our culture. 01:01:10.720 --> 01:01:15.920 We certainly – and I think this is rooted in a lot of economic processes too. 01:01:15.920 --> 01:01:19.680 We act as if, when people are no longer producing economically 01:01:19.680 --> 01:01:23.336 that they no longer have value. And that’s a problem. 01:01:23.360 --> 01:01:26.640 Even though a lot of older people work, you know, throughout their entire lives 01:01:26.640 --> 01:01:31.440 until the days that they die. But putting that aside, I think that 01:01:31.440 --> 01:01:35.920 that’s part of it, right, is that we have to stop viewing people’s contributions 01:01:35.920 --> 01:01:39.760 to society through an economic lens. And, you know, as a sociologist 01:01:39.760 --> 01:01:41.600 [laughs], you know, I have to make that point. 01:01:41.600 --> 01:01:44.000 Because I think it’s really important. That’s also why women’s labor 01:01:44.000 --> 01:01:50.000 is devalued, right? And so we have to do a better job of recognizing the 01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:54.880 kinds of – the inherent value of human beings, but also, you know, 01:01:54.880 --> 01:01:57.920 if we want to make it a case of, what do I get out of it, these examples 01:01:57.920 --> 01:02:02.240 that I showed today from this research, if we actually value people as they age 01:02:02.240 --> 01:02:04.800 and find ways to accommodate their abilities and, you know, 01:02:04.800 --> 01:02:07.120 what they can do to support their communities, we could 01:02:07.120 --> 01:02:10.720 also all benefit from that. Because, again, all of our fates are linked. 01:02:10.720 --> 01:02:15.040 So, you know, I could – yeah, you asked a hot question for me on that one. 01:02:15.040 --> 01:02:19.840 [laughs] I could talk about that all day. So I’ll stop. 01:02:19.840 --> 01:02:23.680 - Oh, I’m so sorry, Nnenia. I was just – you know, as you know, 01:02:23.680 --> 01:02:28.720 my mother was very ill with COVID. She almost died twice, and she’s 73. 01:02:28.720 --> 01:02:31.600 And, you know, listening to my friends and families and colleagues 01:02:31.600 --> 01:02:36.320 about elderly and impacted of COVID was a real eye-opener. 01:02:36.320 --> 01:02:42.880 And I just wanted to use this chance to put you on the spot on some of 01:02:42.880 --> 01:02:46.160 those issues. So thank you so much. And thank you so much for accepting 01:02:46.160 --> 01:02:49.265 our invitation to be here, by the way, Nnenia. 01:02:49.265 --> 01:02:52.080 - Thank you for inviting me and for having me and for the great questions, 01:02:52.080 --> 01:02:54.240 everyone. I really – you know, I love talking about this, 01:02:54.240 --> 01:02:59.041 and I’ve loved all the questions that came in, too, so thank you so much. 01:03:00.484 --> 01:03:03.920 - Thank you, everyone, for attending this week’s seminar, and thanks again 01:03:03.920 --> 01:03:07.280 to Nnenia for such a fascinating presentation. 01:03:07.280 --> 01:03:10.536 We’ll conclude the formal seminar and recording now. 01:03:10.560 --> 01:03:13.600 Unfortunately, Nnenia has let us know that she has to run off in a few minutes.