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NAVIGATING DISASTERS: A CASE STUDY VA AND NON-VA HOME-BASED LONG-TERM CARE IN PUERTO RICO FOLLOWING HURRICANE MARIA

This research describes how Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and non-VA home-based long-term care (LTC) environments prepared for and secured the safety and wellbeing of elderly and disabled persons in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. In-person intervie...

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Autores principales: Haverhals, Leah M, Hernandez-Lujan, Deisy
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6840224/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.1022
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author Haverhals, Leah M
Hernandez-Lujan, Deisy
author_facet Haverhals, Leah M
Hernandez-Lujan, Deisy
author_sort Haverhals, Leah M
collection PubMed
description This research describes how Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and non-VA home-based long-term care (LTC) environments prepared for and secured the safety and wellbeing of elderly and disabled persons in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. In-person interviews, home visits, and field observations were conducted in Puerto Rico from January-March 2019. Staff from three of the VA’s Caribbean Healthcare System’s home-based LTC programs were interviewed, as well as caregivers in non-VA LTC environments. Veterans, family members of Veterans, family members of VA caregivers, and community members with expertise in disaster recovery were also interviewed for a total of N = 58 interviews and N = 12 home visits. Preliminary results of qualitative content analysis show VA and non-VA LTC environments prepared residents and caregivers for Hurricane Maria through providing education and recommendations in advance, including having enough medications and food on hand. Participants described Hurricane Maria not simply as a disaster but a “crisis” and a storm unlike any they had ever experienced. The interconnected nature of the VA seemed to provide a stronger support network compared to non-VA environments that were often independently run. Health of Veterans and non-Veterans was reported to be mostly stable during recovery. Perspectives from VA and non-VA entities allowed for a fuller picture to emerge around how Hurricane Maria impacted home-based LTC environments in Puerto Rico. This research can inform policies and procedures for such environments caring for elderly and disabled populations in areas prone to disasters.
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spelling pubmed-68402242019-11-13 NAVIGATING DISASTERS: A CASE STUDY VA AND NON-VA HOME-BASED LONG-TERM CARE IN PUERTO RICO FOLLOWING HURRICANE MARIA Haverhals, Leah M Hernandez-Lujan, Deisy Innov Aging Session 1345 (Poster) This research describes how Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and non-VA home-based long-term care (LTC) environments prepared for and secured the safety and wellbeing of elderly and disabled persons in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. In-person interviews, home visits, and field observations were conducted in Puerto Rico from January-March 2019. Staff from three of the VA’s Caribbean Healthcare System’s home-based LTC programs were interviewed, as well as caregivers in non-VA LTC environments. Veterans, family members of Veterans, family members of VA caregivers, and community members with expertise in disaster recovery were also interviewed for a total of N = 58 interviews and N = 12 home visits. Preliminary results of qualitative content analysis show VA and non-VA LTC environments prepared residents and caregivers for Hurricane Maria through providing education and recommendations in advance, including having enough medications and food on hand. Participants described Hurricane Maria not simply as a disaster but a “crisis” and a storm unlike any they had ever experienced. The interconnected nature of the VA seemed to provide a stronger support network compared to non-VA environments that were often independently run. Health of Veterans and non-Veterans was reported to be mostly stable during recovery. Perspectives from VA and non-VA entities allowed for a fuller picture to emerge around how Hurricane Maria impacted home-based LTC environments in Puerto Rico. This research can inform policies and procedures for such environments caring for elderly and disabled populations in areas prone to disasters. Oxford University Press 2019-11-08 /pmc/articles/PMC6840224/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.1022 Text en © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Session 1345 (Poster)
Haverhals, Leah M
Hernandez-Lujan, Deisy
NAVIGATING DISASTERS: A CASE STUDY VA AND NON-VA HOME-BASED LONG-TERM CARE IN PUERTO RICO FOLLOWING HURRICANE MARIA
title NAVIGATING DISASTERS: A CASE STUDY VA AND NON-VA HOME-BASED LONG-TERM CARE IN PUERTO RICO FOLLOWING HURRICANE MARIA
title_full NAVIGATING DISASTERS: A CASE STUDY VA AND NON-VA HOME-BASED LONG-TERM CARE IN PUERTO RICO FOLLOWING HURRICANE MARIA
title_fullStr NAVIGATING DISASTERS: A CASE STUDY VA AND NON-VA HOME-BASED LONG-TERM CARE IN PUERTO RICO FOLLOWING HURRICANE MARIA
title_full_unstemmed NAVIGATING DISASTERS: A CASE STUDY VA AND NON-VA HOME-BASED LONG-TERM CARE IN PUERTO RICO FOLLOWING HURRICANE MARIA
title_short NAVIGATING DISASTERS: A CASE STUDY VA AND NON-VA HOME-BASED LONG-TERM CARE IN PUERTO RICO FOLLOWING HURRICANE MARIA
title_sort navigating disasters: a case study va and non-va home-based long-term care in puerto rico following hurricane maria
topic Session 1345 (Poster)
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6840224/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.1022
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