Building community resilience to disasters through a community-based intervention: CART© applications

Rose L. Pfefferbaum, PhD, MPH; Betty Pfefferbaum, MD, JD; Richard L. Van Horn, PhD; Barbara R. Neas, PhD; J. Brian Houston, PhD

doi:10.5055/jem.2013.0134

Authors

Rose L. Pfefferbaum, PhD, MPH
Betty Pfefferbaum, MD, JD
Richard L. Van Horn, PhD
Barbara R. Neas, PhD
J. Brian Houston, PhD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2013.0134

Keywords:

CART, community, community assessment, community resilience, disaster management, disaster preparedness, participatory action research, terrorism

Abstract

The Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART)©* is a community-driven, publicly available, theory-based, and evidence-informed community intervention designed to build community resilience to disasters and other adversities. Based on principles of participatory action research, CART applications contribute to community resilience by encouraging and supporting community participation and cooperation, communication, self-awareness, and critical reflection. The primary value of CART lies in its ability to stimulate analysis, collaboration, skill building, resource sharing, and purposeful action. In addition to generating community assessment data, CART can be used as a vehicle for delivering other interventions and creating sustainable capacity within communities. Two models for CART implementation are described.

Author Biographies

Rose L. Pfefferbaum, PhD, MPH

Faculty Emeritus, Phoenix Community College, Phoenix, Arizona; Project Director, Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Betty Pfefferbaum, MD, JD

George Lynn Cross Research Professor and Paul and Ruth Jonas Chair, Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine; Director, Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Richard L. Van Horn, PhD

President Emeritus, Regent’s Professor Emeritus of MIS, Clarence E. Page Professor Emeritus of Aviation and Aerospace Studies, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma; Consultant, Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Barbara R. Neas, PhD

David Ross Boyd Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

J. Brian Houston, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri; Program Director, Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

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