Doctoral Dissertation Research: Federal Disaster Relief and the Stafford Act: Analyzing Recovery Outcomes in Disaster Declared and Denied Areas of the U.S.

本博士论文研究项目考察了美国联邦灾难宣布县和被拒绝县的个人和社区生理和心理健康方面的灾难恢复结果。联邦灾难宣布是根据1988年罗伯特·t·斯塔福德灾难救济和紧急援助法案（称为“斯塔福德法案”）的规定由总统授权的。这项法案为灾后分配各种形式的个人和家庭援助创造了一种机制。有证据表明，在灾后恢复过程中，与差距有关的问题反复出现，这促使人们呼吁重新制定《斯塔福德法案》的政策。该研究项目将澄清有关社区充分和公平的健康相关恢复结果的问题，这些社区在获得总统灾难声明规定的一系列联邦资源方面存在差异。调查的理论背景利用霍布斯的“资源保护”模型作为框架来理解生理和心理健康与在总统宣布的灾难和被拒绝的地区保留、保护和重建个人和社区资源的能力之间的关系。该项目利用从医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心获得的加密经验数据，支持对伊利诺斯州宣布灾害和拒绝灾害的县的个人和社区健康相关福祉进行多层次纵向回顾性队列研究。利用定量档案分析和定性开放式访谈的混合方法方法将用于解决以下基本问题：通过个人和社区生物心理社会福祉指标的变化来衡量，在经历类似自然灾害的宣布或否认灾害的地方之间，灾后恢复是否存在显着差异？对伊利诺伊州受灾害影响地区的卫生地理的分析将使人们更好地了解灾害时资源损失的后果以及用于支持社区恢复的比较应对机制。分析结果将通过同行评议期刊上的研究文章及时传播。将编写一份政策摘要报告，以一种对政府机构、公共卫生部门制定公共政策有用的方式传达主要发现，并使非科学家读者能够理解。将制作并在会议和政策会议上提供视觉演示文稿。通过这些渠道，该项目将与公众利益相关者分享数据，并将社会影响扩展到研究界之外。这项研究将有助于将注意力集中在《斯塔福德法》政策的重新制定上，该政策将注意到在执行这一关键的灾难立法过程中存在的风险和潜在的不平等。作为博士论文研究进步奖，该项目将支持有前途的研究生建立独立的研究生涯。

This doctoral dissertation research project examines disaster recovery outcomes with respect to individual and community physiological and psychosocial well-being in federal disaster declared and denied counties of the U.S. Federal disaster declarations are authorized by the president under the provisions of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988 (known as the 'the Stafford Act'). This act created a mechanism for the distribution of various forms of individual and household assistance after disasters. Evidence of recurring problems associated with disparities in the recovery from disasters has led to a call for Stafford Act policy reformulation. This research project will provide clarity regarding questions pertaining to sufficient and equitable health-related recovery outcomes in communities that have differential access to the array of federal resources that are available under the provisions of a presidential disaster declaration. The theoretical context of the investigation utilizes Hobfoll's "conservation of resources" model as a framework for understanding the relationship between physiological and psychosocial well-being and the capacity to retain, protect, and rebuild individual and community resources in presidential disaster declared and denied areas. The project utilizes encrypted empirical data, obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to support a multilevel longitudinal retrospective cohort study of individual and community health-related well-being in disaster declared and denied counties in the state of Illinois. A mixed methods approach, utilizing quantitative archival analyses and qualitative open-ended interviews, will be employed to address the following fundamental question: Is there a significant difference in post-event disaster recovery between disaster declared or denied places that experienced similar types of natural disasters, as measured by changes in indicators of individual and community biopsychosocial well-being? The analysis of the health geography of disaster affected regions of Illinois will provide an increased understanding of the consequences of resource loss in times of disaster and the comparative coping mechanisms that are utilized to support community recovery. Analytical results will be disseminated in a timely manner through research articles in peer-reviewed journals. A summary policy report will be produced to communicate key findings in a manner useful for public policy formulation by government agencies, public health departments, and will be understandable to non-scientist audiences. Visual presentations will be produced and made available at conferences and policy meetings. Through these channels, the project will share data with public stakeholders and extend societal impacts beyond the research community. The research will assist in focusing attention on Stafford Act policy reformulation that is attentive to the risks and potential inequities that exist in the implementation of this critical disaster legislation. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Award, this project will support a promising graduate student in establishing an independent research career.