NORTHWEST PREPAREDNESS AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE RESEARCH CENTER

描述（由申请人提供）：西北准备和应急响应研究中心（NWPERRC）将有助于公共卫生应急准备和响应系统的改进，通过进行紧急情况的重要信息沟通的研究。西北部的六个州呈现出人口的巨大多样性，以及最近和潜在的各种紧急情况。西北太平洋区域协调中心的各个研究项目是一个共同主题的相互补充和相互关联的方面：如何最好地向基本或弱势受众，特别是保健提供者和弱势群体提供紧急情况下的重要信息。这些项目将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1：英语水平有限的人群的有效紧急通信。该项目的重点是识别障碍，使用基于电话的紧急通信和响应系统，以达到有限的英语水平的社区;项目2：公共卫生和医疗保健提供者之间的沟通方法的随机试验。该项目的重点是向不同群体的保健提供者提供应急准备信息的最佳方式;项目3：公共卫生紧急情况短信。该项目的重点是利用短信向不同人群提供有说服力的应急准备信息的可行性。研究地点包括西雅图国王县，基萨普县（华盛顿州），五个县中南部华盛顿和蒙大拿州。研究中包括的人口是各种各样的卫生保健提供者：讲西班牙语的人、讲普通话的人、美洲土著人、聋人/重听人;城市、农村和边境。通过试点项目和扩大主要三个项目，研究将包括更多的州和地方，以及西北六个州的部落和社区组织。NWPERRC利用华盛顿大学的广泛研究资源，该大学因其研究的广度和跨学科研究而得到广泛认可。

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.