Develop a disaster recovery plan to lessen health disparities and improve access to community services after a disaster. Then, develop and record a 10-12 slide presentation (please refer to the PowerPoint tutorial) of the plan with audio and speaker notes for the Vila Health system, city officials, and the disaster relief team.
Introduction
Nurses perform a variety of roles and their responsibilities as health care providers extend to the community. The decisions we make daily and in times of crisis often involve the balancing of human rights with medical necessities, equitable access to services, legal and ethical mandates, and financial constraints. In the event of a major accident or natural disaster, many issues can complicate decisions concerning the needs of an individual or group, including understanding and upholding rights and desires, mediating conflict, and applying established ethical and legal standards of nursing care. As a nurse, you must be knowledgeable about disaster preparedness and recovery to safeguard those in your care. As an advocate, you are also accountable for promoting equitable services and quality care for the diverse community.
Nurses work alongside first responders, other professionals, volunteers, and the health department to safeguard the community. Some concerns during a disaster and recovery period include the possibility of death and infectious disease due to debris and/or contamination of the water, air, food supply, or environment. Various degrees of injury may also occur during disasters, terrorism, and violent conflicts.
To maximize survival, first responders must use a triage system to assign victims according to the severity of their condition/prognosis in order to allocate equitable resources and provide treatment. During infectious disease outbreaks, triage does not take the place of routine clinical triage.
Trace-mapping becomes an important step to interrupting the spread of all infectious diseases to prevent or curtail morbidity and mortality in the community. A vital step in trace-mapping is the identification of the infectious individual or group and isolating or quarantining them. During the trace-mapping process, these individuals are interviewed to identify those who have had close contact with them. Contacts are notified of their potential exposure, testing referrals become paramount, and individuals are connected with appropriate services they might need during the self-quarantine period (CDC, 2020).
An example of such disaster is the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. People who had contact with someone who were in contact with the COVID-19 virus were encouraged to stay home and maintain social distance (at least 6 feet) from others until 14 days after their last exposure to a person with COVID-19. Contacts were required to monitor themselves by checking their temperature twice daily and watching for symptoms of COVID-19 (CDC, 2020). Local, state, and health department guidelines were essential in establishing the recovery phase. Triage Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in the case of COVID-19 focused on inpatient and outpatient health care facilities that would be receiving, or preparing to receive, suspected, or confirmed COVID- 19 victims. Controlling droplet transmission through hand washing, social distancing, self-quarantine, PPE, installing barriers, education, and standardized triage algorithm/questionnaires became essential to the triage system (CDC, 2020; WHO, 2020).
This assessment provides an opportunity for you to apply the concepts of emergency preparedness, public health assessment, triage, management, and surveillance after a disaster. You will also focus on evacuation, extended displacement periods, and contact tracing based on the disaster scenario provided.
Preparation
When disaster strikes, community members must be protected. A comprehensive recovery plan, guided by the MAP-IT (Mobilize, Assess, Plan, Implement, Track) framework, is essential to help ensure everyone’s safety. The unique needs of residents must be assessed to lessen health disparities and improve access to equitable services after a disaster. Recovery efforts depend on the appropriateness of the plan, the extent to which key stakeholders have been prepared, the quality of the trace-mapping, and the allocation of available resources. In a time of cost containment, when personnel and resources may be limited, the needs of residents must be weighed carefully against available resources.
In this assessment, you are a community task force member responsible for developing a disaster recovery plan for the Vila Health community using MAP-IT and trace-mapping, which you will present to city officials and the disaster relief team.
Begin thinking about:
• Community needs.
• Resources, personnel, budget, and community makeup.
• People accountable for implementation of the disaster recovery plan.
• Healthy People 2020 goals and 2030 objectives.
• A timeline for the recovery effort.
You may also wish to:
• Review the MAP-IT (Mobilize, Assess, Plan, Implement, Track) framework, which you will use to guide the development of your plan:
o Mobilize collaborative partners.
o Assess community needs.
o Plan to lessen health disparities and improve access to services.
o Implement a plan to reach Healthy People 2020 goals or 2030 objectives.
o Track community progress.
• Review the assessment instructions and scoring guide to ensure that you understand the work you will be asked to complete.
Instructions
Every 10 years, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion release information on health indicators, public health issues, and current trends. At the end of 2020, Healthy People 2030 was released to provide information for the next 10 years. Healthy People 2030 provides the most updated content when it comes to prioritizing public health issues; however, there are historical contents that offer a better understanding of some topics. Disaster preparedness is addressed in Healthy People 2030, but a more robust understanding of MAP-IT, triage, and recovery efforts is found in Healthy People 2020. For this reason, you will find references to both Healthy People 2020 and Healthy People 2030 in this course.
Complete the following:
1. Develop a disaster recovery plan for the Vila Health community that will lessen health disparities and improve access to services after a disaster. Refer back to the Vila Health: Disaster Recovery Scenario to understand the Vila Health community.
o Assess community needs.
o Consider resources, personnel, budget, and community makeup.
o Identify the people accountable for implementation of the plan and describe their roles.
o Focus on specific Healthy People 2020 goals and 2030 objectives.
o Include a timeline for the recovery effort.
2. Apply the MAP-IT (Mobilize, Assess, Plan, Implement, Track) framework to guide the development of your plan:
o Mobilize collaborative partners.
o Assess community needs.
o Use the demographic data and specifics related to the disaster to identify the needs of the community and develop a recovery plan. Consider physical, emotional, cultural, and financial needs of the entire community.
o Include in your plan the equitable allocation of services for the diverse community.
o Apply the triage classification to provide a rationale for those who may have been injured during the train derailment. Provide support for your position.
o Include in your plan contact tracing of the homeless, disabled, displaced community members, migrant workers, and those who have hearing impairment or English as a second language in the event of severe tornadoes.
o Plan to lessen health disparities and improve access to services.
o Implement a plan to reach Healthy People 2020 goals and 2030 objectives.
o Track and trace-map community progress.
o Use the CDC’s Contract Tracing Resources for Health Departments as a template to create your contact tracing.
o Describe the plan for contact tracing during the disaster and recovery phase.
3. Develop a slide presentation of your disaster recovery plan with an audio recording of you presenting your assessment of the Vila Health: Disaster Recovery Scenario for city officials and the disaster relief team. Be sure to also include speaker notes.
Presentation Format and Length
You may use Microsoft PowerPoint (preferred) or other suitable presentation software to create your slides and add your voice-over along with speaker notes. If you elect to use an application other than PowerPoint, check with your instructor to avoid potential file compatibility issues.
Be sure that your slide deck includes the following slides:
• Title slide.
o Recovery plan title.
o Your name.
o Date.
o Course number and title.
• References (at the end of your presentation).
Your slide deck should consist of 10–12 content slides plus title and references slides. Use the speaker’s notes section of each slide to develop your talking points and cite your sources as appropriate. Be sure to also include a transcript that matches your recorded voice-over. The transcript can be submitted on a separate Word document. Make sure to review the Microsoft PowerPoint tutorial for directions.
Supporting Evidence
Cite at least three credible sources from peer-reviewed journals or professional industry publications within the past 5 years to support your plan.
Graded Requirements
The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide, so be sure to address each point:
• Describe the determinants of health and the cultural, social, and economic barriers that impact safety, health, and recovery efforts in the community.
o Consider the interrelationships among these factors.
• Explain how your proposed disaster recovery plan will lessen health disparities and improve access to community services.
o Consider principles of social justice and cultural sensitivity with respect to ensuring health equity for individuals, families, and aggregates within the community.
• Explain how health and governmental policy impact disaster recovery efforts.
o Consider the implications for individuals, families, and aggregates within the community of legislation that includes, but is not limited to, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Helpance Act, and the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA).
• Present specific, evidence-based strategies to overcome communication barriers and enhance interprofessional collaboration to improve the disaster recovery effort.
o Consider how your proposed strategies will affect members of the disaster relief team, individuals, families, and aggregates within the community.
o Include evidence to support your strategies.
• Organize content with clear purpose/goals and with relevant and evidence-based sources (published within 5 years).
• Slides are easy to read and error free. Detailed audio and speaker notes are provided. Audio is clear, organized, and professionally presented.
o Develop your presentation with a specific purpose and audience in mind.
o Adhere to scholarly and disciplinary writing standards and APA formatting requirements.
Additional Requirements
Before submitting your assessment, proofread all elements to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it difficult for them to focus on the substance of your presentation.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
• Competency 1: Analyze health risks and health care needs among distinct populations.
o Describe the determinants of health and the cultural, social, and economic barriers that impact safety, health, and disaster recovery efforts in a community.
• Competency 2: Propose health promotion strategies to improve the health of populations.
o Present specific, evidence-based strategies to overcome communication barriers and enhance interprofessional collaboration to improve disaster recovery efforts.
• Competency 3: Evaluate health policies, based on their ability to achieve desired outcomes.
o Explain how health and governmental policy impact disaster recovery efforts.
• Competency 4: Integrate principles of social justice in community health interventions.
o Explain how a proposed disaster recovery plan will lessen health disparities and improve access to community services.
• Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly communication strategies to lead health promotion and improve population health.
o Organize content with clear purpose/goals and with relevant and evidence-based sources (published within 5 years).
o Slides are easy to read and error free. Detailed audio, transcript, and speaker notes are provided. Audio is clear, organized, and professionally presented.
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Steps on how to develop a disaster recovery plan to lessen health disparities and improve access to community services after a disaster.
Assess the community’s needs: Before a disaster strikes, conduct a needs assessment of the community to identify vulnerable populations and potential health disparities. This will help you to prioritize resources and services during the recovery phase.
Develop partnerships: Build relationships with community organizations, local government, and other stakeholders to ensure that resources and services are available and accessible to all residents.
Establish a communication plan: Develop a communication plan to ensure that accurate and timely information is disseminated to the community. This will help to reduce confusion and anxiety during a disaster.
Train community members: Provide training to community members on emergency preparedness and response, including evacuation procedures, first aid, and how to access resources and services.
Implement a triage system: Develop a triage system to ensure that resources and services are allocated equitably. This will help to ensure that the most vulnerable members of the community receive the care they need.
Implement contact tracing: Implement contact tracing to identify and isolate individuals who have been exposed to a disaster-related health threat. This will help to reduce the spread of infectious diseases and ensure that individuals receive the care they need.
Monitor and evaluate: Continuously monitor and evaluate the disaster recovery plan to identify areas for improvement and ensure that resources and services are meeting the needs of the community.
Coordinate with other agencies: Coordinate with other agencies, such as the Red Cross, to ensure that resources and services are available and accessible to all residents.
By following these steps, you can develop a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that addresses the unique needs of the community and reduces health disparities.

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