Problems of preparedness and its promotion in Germany

Authors

  • Henning Goetz Goersch, MA, PhD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2014.0208

Keywords:

preparedness, promotion of preparedness, theories of health promotion, civil protection, Germany

Abstract

The official strategy in Germany to promote preparedness is the appliance of mass communication instruments to inform the population about hazards and protection measures as well as to influence the risk perception of people. This is thought to be an appropriate method to raise the level of preparedness. A research project running from 2005 to 2010 investigated central assumptions of the current promotion measures. The results show that a change of paradigm is urgently needed.

Author Biography

Henning Goetz Goersch, MA, PhD

Prof. Dr. rer. pol., Director of Degree Programme Emergency Practitioner, Akkon Hochschule für Humanwissenschaften, Berlin

References

Mileti DS: Communicating public earthquake risk information. In Nemec J, Nigg J, Siccardi F(eds.): Prediction and Perception of

Natural Hazards. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1993, 143-152.

Peek LS, Mileti DS: The history and future of disaster research. In Bechtel RB, Arza C (eds.): Handbook of Environmental Psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002: 511-524.

Cuny FC: Disasters and Development. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.

Tierney K: Implementing a seismic computerized alert network (SCAN) for Southern California: Lessons and guidance from literature on warning response and warning systems. Final Project Report, No. 45. Delaware: University of Delaware, Disaster Research Center, 2000.

Drabek TE: Human System Responses to Disaster. An Inventory of Sociological Findings. New York: Springer, 1986.

Mileti DS: Public Hazards Communication and Education: The State of the Art. Available at http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/publications/informer/infrmr2/informer2.pdf. Accessed September 14, 2005.

Tierney KJ, Lindell MK, Perry RW: Facing the Unexpected. Disaster Preparedness and Response in the United States. Washington: Joseph Henry Press, 2001.

Perry RW, Lindell MK: Citizen knowledge of volcano threats at Mt. St. Helens. Environ Prof. 1990; 12: 45-51.

Weinstein ND: The precaution adoption process. Health Psychol. 1988; 7(4): 355-386.

Schwarzer R: Self-efficacy in the adoption and maintenance of health behaviors: Theoretical approaches and a new model. In Schwarzer R (ed.): Self-Efficacy: Thought Control of Action.

Washington: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, 1992: 217-244. 11. Rogers RW: A Protection Motivation Theory of fear appeals and attitude change. J Psychol. 1975; 91(1): 93-114.

Rogers EM, Shoemaker FF: Communication of Innovation. A Cross-Cultural Approach. New York: The Free Press, 1971.

Goersch HG, Werner U: Empirische Untersuchung der Realisierbarkeit von Maßnahmen zur Erhöhung der Selbstschutzfä higkeit der Bevölkerung. Bonn: Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe, 2011.

Schüz BEC: Health Behaviour Change: On the Role of Behavioural Stages and Postintentional Factors [dissertation]. Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, 2007.

Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge: Grunddaten der Zuwandererbevölkerung in Deutschland. Working Paper 27. Nürnberg: Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, 2009.

Published

11/01/2014

How to Cite

Goersch, MA, PhD, H. G. “Problems of Preparedness and Its Promotion in Germany”. Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 12, no. 6, Nov. 2014, pp. 449-56, doi:10.5055/jem.2014.0208.