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Pictorial Representation of Threat Perception and Its Association With Emergency Preparedness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2020

Moran Bodas Open the ORCID record for Moran Bodas [Opens in a new window]
Moran Bodas*
Affiliation:
Israel National Center for Trauma & Emergency Medicine Research, The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Ramat-Gan, Israel The Department of Emergency Management & Disaster Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Moran Bodas, Deputy Director, Israel National Center for Trauma & Emergency Medicine Research, The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat-Gan, 52662, Israel (e-mail: moranb@gertner.health.gov.il)
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Abstract

Objectives:

Emergency preparedness is a key factor in public resilience when facing adversities. It is widely agreed that populations who are better prepared for crises and emergencies cope better and sustain fewer damages. Yet, promoting readiness continues to be challenging. In an effort to assess Israeli threat perception of emergencies, a novel visual tool measuring personally salient appraisals and attitudes (the Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self-Measure [PRISM]) was used.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study of 502 participants representing the adult Jewish population was carried out. An online version of the PRISM tool was used together with a set of validated questionnaires to assess household preparedness.

Results:

The results suggest that preparedness for emergencies (war or earthquake) is associated with the way subjects appraise preparedness in their lives, but is not associated to the appraisal of threat objects themselves. In other words, the results suggest that preparedness has little to do with threat perception.

Conclusions:

This study highlights the disparity between classic risk reduction strategies, which argue that awareness is key in promoting public preparedness, and the reality.

Keywords

emergencyperceptionpreparednessPRISMrepresentation
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 65 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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