NORTHWEST PREPAREDNESS AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE RESEARCH CENTER

描述（由申请人提供）：西北准备与应急响应研究中心（NWPERRC）将通过研究突发事件重要信息的传播，为改善公共卫生应急准备和响应系统做出贡献。西北六州的人口极其多样化，最近和潜在的紧急情况范围广泛。国家妇女研究中心的个别研究项目是一个共同主题的互补和相互关联的方面：如何最好地向基本或弱势受众，特别是保健提供者和弱势人口提供紧急情况下的关键信息。这些项目将来自其他学科的各种定量和定性研究方法应用于这些公共卫生系统问题。这三个研究项目是：项目一：英语水平有限人群的有效应急通信。该项目侧重于确定使用基于电话的紧急通信和响应系统到达英语水平有限的社区的障碍；项目2：公共卫生和卫生保健提供者之间沟通方法的随机试验。该项目侧重于向不同群体的保健提供者提供应急准备信息的最佳途径；项目3：突发公共卫生事件的短信处理。这个项目的重点是利用短信向不同的人群传递有说服力的信息，以便进行应急准备的可行性。研究地点包括西雅图-金县、基特萨普县（华盛顿州）、华盛顿中南部的五个县和蒙大拿州。参与研究的人群包括各种各样的卫生保健提供者：说西班牙语的，说普通话的，美洲原住民，聋人/重听；城市、农村和边疆。通过试点项目和三个主要项目的扩展，研究将包括其他州和地方，以及西北六个州的部落和社区组织。NWPERRC利用华盛顿大学广泛的研究资源，华盛顿大学的研究广度和跨学科研究得到广泛认可。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Northwest Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center (NWPERRC) will contribute to the improvement of public health emergency preparedness and response systems by conducting research on communicating important information for emergencies. The six Northwest states present tremendous diversity of populations and a wide range of recent and potential emergencies. The individual research projects of the NWPERRC are complementary and interrelated aspects of a common theme: how best to reach essential or vulnerable audiences, specifically health care providers and vulnerable populations, with critical information in emergency situations. The projects apply diverse quantitative and qualitative research methodologies from other disciplines to these public health system questions. The three research projects are: Project 1: Effective Emergency Communications with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Populations. This project focuses on identification of barriers to using phone-based emergency communication and response systems to reach Limited English Proficiency communities; Project 2: A Randomized Trial of Communication Methods Between Public Health and Health Care Providers. This project focuses on the best ways to reach diverse groups of health care providers with information for emergency preparedness; and Project 3: SMS Text Messaging for Public Health Emergencies. This project focuses on the feasibility of using text messaging for reaching diverse populations with persuasive messages for emergency preparedness. Research sites include Seattle-King County, Kitsap County (WA), five counties of South Central Washington, and Montana. Populations included in the research are a wide range of health care providers: Spanish-speaking, Mandarin-speaking speaking, Native American, deaf/hard of hearing; urban, rural and frontier. Through pilot projects and expansions of the primary three projects, the research will include additional states and localities, and tribal and community organizations of the six Northwest states. The NWPERRC draws upon the extensive research resources of the University of Washington, which is widely recognized for its breadth of research and for its interdisciplinary research.