Aging Families in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

研究灾难性自然灾害（包括飓风）的社会科学文献主要关注灾害规划、救灾以及个人和社区的压力和压力。很少关注老年家庭，特别是有特殊照顾需要的非裔美国家庭，这些家庭通常依赖于强大的亲属照顾网络和正规资源的日常支持。在卡特里娜飓风的情况下，撤离者面临着长期的流离失所，与家人分离，财产损失。这场长期的危机不仅给搬到巴吞鲁日的老年人带来了重大挑战，也给向撤离人员敞开大门的家庭和社区带来了重大挑战。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多万居民现在称巴吞鲁日为家。一夜之间，这座城市的规模翻了一番；然而，很少有人注意到这种增长对其永久居民的影响。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——来研究自然灾害后老年家庭的功能。访谈对象包括100个老年家庭，定义为两个或两个以上的成年人，60岁或以上，祖父母抚养孙子孙女，或由成年子女或其他家庭成员照顾的老年人，他们因卡特里娜飓风而流离失所，以及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转变。此外，将邀请100个流离失所家庭在初次面谈后一个月继续参加这项研究。那些同意的人将得到一个笔记本和一次性相机，在他们建立正常生活感的过程中，简短地记录下事件和决定。照相机是一种基本的艺术形式，它可以让经常接触艺术的人用一种熟悉的媒介来捕捉他们的经历。电话采访将对归还笔记本和相机的参与者进行，以澄清任何书面信息，并获得所选图片背后的“故事”。数据的组合形式——书面文字、照片和验证性访谈——将为他们在生活变化中工作的经历提供进一步的见解。我们预计，个人资源（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起来，可以解释他们的整体家庭功能。研究结果将促进老年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，特别是对代表性不足的群体，如穷人、非洲裔美国人和亚洲公民。研究结果将通过科学报告、出版物和制定研究简报的形式广泛传播，分发给社区领导人、服务提供者和决策者。

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.