Aging Families in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

关于包括飓风在内的灾难性自然灾害的社会科学文献侧重于灾害规划、救灾以及给个人和整个社区带来的压力源和压力。对老年家庭的关注很少，特别是有特殊照顾需求的非裔美国人家庭，他们通常依靠强大的亲属照顾网络和正式的日常支持资源相结合。在卡特里娜飓风的情况下，撤离者面临长期的流离失所，与家人的分离和财产损失加剧了这种情况。这一长期危机不仅对搬到巴吞鲁日的年长家庭成员构成重大挑战，而且对向撤离者敞开大门的家庭和社区也构成重大挑战。例如，来自新奥尔良和其他遭受卡特里娜飓风袭击的海湾地区的40多万居民现在将巴吞鲁日市作为家。一夜之间，这座城市的规模翻了一番；然而，人们几乎没有注意到这种增长对常住居民的影响。我们整合了两个理论框架--生命历程视角和人类发展的生态模型--来考察老龄化家庭在自然灾害后的功能。将对100个老年家庭进行访谈，这些家庭的定义是两个或两个以上成年人、60岁或以上、抚养孙子或由成年子女或其他家庭成员照顾的祖父母，以及100个因卡特里娜飓风而流离失所的老年家庭和100个长期居住在巴吞鲁日的老年家庭，他们正在应对社区的一夜之间的转变。此外，将邀请100个流离失所的家庭在最初面谈后的一个月内继续参与研究。那些同意的人将获得一个笔记本和一次性相机，以简要介绍事件和决定，因为他们建立了对生活的正常感。相机是一种基本的艺术形式，它将允许经常接触艺术的人使用熟悉的媒介捕捉他们的经历。将与归还笔记本和相机的参与者进行电话采访，以澄清任何书面信息，并获得选定图片背后的“故事”。数据的组合形式--书面文字、照片和验证性采访--将为他们在经历生活变化时提供进一步的洞察力。我们预计，个人资源(例如，教育、收入、健康、自我认知)和正在进行的家庭和其他非正式关系结合在一起，可以解释他们的整体家庭功能。研究结果将促进关于老龄化家庭在重大自然灾害和非规范性事件后的功能能力的理论和理解，特别是对于代表不足的群体，如穷人、非裔美国人和亚洲公民。研究结果将通过科学报告、出版物和研究简报的发展广泛传播，分发给社区领导人、服务提供商和政策制定者。

Social science literature that addresses catastrophic natural disasters, including hurricanes has focused on disaster planning, disaster relief, and the stressors and strains placed on individuals and communities at-large. Little attention has been given to older families, especially African American families with special care needs who typically rely on a combination of a strong kinship care network and formal resources for day-to-day support. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, evacuees are facing prolonged dislocation compounded by separation from family and property loss. This long-term crisis presents significant challenges not only to older family members who relocated to Baton Rouge but also to the families and communities that opened their doors to evacuees. For example, more than 400,000 residents from New Orleans and other Gulf areas hit by Hurricane Katrina are now calling the city of Baton Rouge home. Overnight, size of the city has doubled; yet, little attention is being given to the impact this growth is having on its permanent residents. We integrate constructs from two theoretical frameworks - the life course perspective and the ecological model of human development - to examine the functioning of aging families in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Interviews will be conducted with 100 aging families, defined as two or more adults, 60 years of age or older, grandparents parenting grandchildren, or elderly persons being cared for by their adult children or other family members, who have been displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina and 100 aging families who are long-term residents of Baton Rouge coping with the overnight transformation of their community. In addition, 100 displaced families will be invited to continue participation in the study for one-month beyond the initial interview. Those who agree will be given a notebook and disposable camera to provide a brief account of events and decisions as they establish a sense of normalcy to their lives. The camera, a basic art form, will allow persons who are regularly exposed to the arts to capture their experiences using a familiar medium. Telephone interviews will be conducted with participants who return the notebook and camera to clarify any of the written information, and obtain the "story" behind selected pictures. The combined forms of data - the written word, photos, and confirmatory interviews - will provide further insights about their experiences as they work through changes in their lives. We anticipate that personal resources (e.g., education, income, health, self perceptions) and ongoing family and other informal relationships coalesce into an explanation of their overall family functioning. Study findings will advance theory and understanding of aging families' functional capacities in the aftermath of a major natural disaster and nonnormative events, especially for underrepresented groups, such as poor, African American, and Asian citizens. Findings will be widely disseminated through scientific presentations, publications, and the development of a Research Brief distributed to community leaders, service providers, and policymakers.