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Impacts of the Emergency Mass Evacuation of the Elderly From Residential Care Facilities After the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2013

Claire P. Heppenstall ,
Tim J. Wilkinson ,
H. Carl Hanger ,
Michelle R. Dhanak  and
Sally Keeling
Claire P. Heppenstall*
Affiliation:
Canterbury District Health Board, Department of Older Persons Health, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
Tim J. Wilkinson
Affiliation:
Canterbury District Health Board, Department of Older Persons Health, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Science, University of Otago, Department of Medicine, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
H. Carl Hanger
Affiliation:
Canterbury District Health Board, Department of Older Persons Health, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
Michelle R. Dhanak
Affiliation:
Canterbury District Health Board, Department of Older Persons Health, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
Sally Keeling
Affiliation:
Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Science, University of Otago, Department of Medicine, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Claire Heppenstall, PhD, The Princess Margaret Hospital, 1st floor F-block, PO Box 800, Christchurch, New Zealand (e-mail: claire.heppenstall@xtra.co.nz).
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Abstract

Objective

The 2011 earthquake that devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, led to the closure and evacuation of 7 residential care facilities and the partial evacuation of 2 more. Altogether, 516 elderly persons were evacuated. The emergent nature of the disaster was unexpected and largely unplanned for. This study explored the evacuees’ experiences and identified lessons learned for future disaster planning.

Methods

This qualitative study used a general inductive method. Semistructured interviews with evacuees were held in 4 centers throughout New Zealand. Their informal caregivers were also identified and interviewed. Answers were coded and grouped for key themes to provide lessons learned for future disaster planning.

Results

We conducted 50 interviews with older people and 34 with informal caregivers. Key themes that emerged were resilience and factors that promoted resilience, including personal attitudes, life experiences, enhanced family support, and social supports. Areas of concern were (1) the mental health of evacuees: 36% reported some symptoms of anxiety, while 32.4% of caregivers reported some cognitive decline; and (2) communication difficulties during the evacuations.

Conclusions

Older people were remarkably resilient to the difficult events, and resilience was promoted by family and community support. Anxiety was reported by older people, while informal caregivers reported cognitive issues. Communication difficulties were a major concern.

Keywords

earthquakedisaster responseaged residential careevacuationfrail elderly
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , August 2013 , pp. 419 - 423
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2013 

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