Strengthening disaster preparedness in community service organisations

Impact summary

Through a series of co-designed workshops and tailored activities, the researchers engaged with community partners to strengthen disaster preparedness in community service organisations. Adopting an action research methodology, collaborative partnerships were established between the researchers, disaster specialists and community service workers to develop organisational Disaster Resilience Plans. These plans involved undertaking organisational risk assessments, business continuity and recovery plans to facilitate the management of service disruption in the immediate and post-disaster period. Undertaking a local, place-based approach, the project took place in the regional centre of Wagga Wagga, NSW, where the researchers lived and worked.

Multiple outputs were co-produced by the project partners, including a workshop program, online short course, video series, and model of organisational disaster preparedness. Outcomes of the research involved the ratification of Disaster Resilience Plans within community service organisations by their governing bodies, and/or progress towards this endeavour. Additional disaster resilience activities have been adopted by organisations in direct practice with service users, such as the integration of disaster preparedness questions into assessment procedures with clients. Also, organisational intranet processes were modified to include disaster resilience in staff orientation processes. Impacts of the research have influenced key stakeholders at the local community and state levels. Local community impacts that have involved an increase in local knowledge and cross-sectorial collaborations as evidenced by post-project evaluations, as well as ongoing disaster resilience building activities developed by community service organisations. State level impacts have involved ongoing communication with the NSW State Department responsible for disaster resilience, the NSW Reconstruction Authority (formerly Resilience NSW) and the NSW Australian Council of Social Services (NCOSS).

Research and engagement activities leading to impact

Rationale: Community service organisations are embedded in their local communities, and they work to address a range of social justice issues. It is well-established that disasters have disproportionate impacts on disadvantaged groups and when disasters occur, community service organisations experience increased demand for services. However, the capacity for service continuity can be limited by a lack of preparedness to respond to the multilayered impacts of disasters. The aim of this project was to strengthen disaster preparedness in community service organisations. The project was undertaken in the regional centre of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales (NSW).

Background and relationships: A community consultation event facilitated by Charles Sturt University in 2018, to explore local needs with community stakeholders, was the catalyst for the project. One of the researchers attended the event and interacted with representatives from the Rural Fire Service and Police Service about disaster resilience in Wagga Wagga. This resulted in an invitation for her to attend a Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC) meeting. This led to researchers’ attendance at a series of follow-up meetings with emergency services leaders to discuss disaster resilience in the local community, including strengths and areas for development.
Emerging from these discussions were emergency services organisations’ experiences involving local community service organisations during the flooding of the Murrumbidgee River in 2010 and 2012. Anecdotally, emergency services received numerous questions and concerns from community service organisations about their role in responding to local needs during and following these events. These experiences corresponded with conversations the researchers had had with local social workers about their desire to learn more about their roles and responsibilities during disaster events. Outcomes of these meetings identified a need for greater awareness and an increase in the level of disaster preparedness, planning and cooperation among local community service organisations. A collaborative project was developed drawing on cross-disciplinary collaboration and an action-based participatory approach aimed at producing practical real-world outcomes. As the project was being planned, a grant opportunity from the NSW Natural Disaster Resilience Program became available and an application was submitted by the research team. The application was successful, and the research team was awarded $58,000. In addition, a small top-up grant from the Faculty of Arts and Education ($2000) assisted with the production of a video series, which provides an enduring multipurpose resource from the project.


Activities:
Advisory group: Consisting of members from local emergency services, an advisory was formed to provide expert, ongoing advice about the project. In particular, advice about the local context, emergency policies and procedures, and disaster-specific knowledge. Advisory Group membership comprised of leaders in emergency response services from local government, as well as health and welfare organisations:
• Janice Summerhayes, Director Environment and Community Services, Wagga City Council
• Kate Johanson, Workforce Coordinator, Red Cross NSW/ACT
• Donna Argus, Director, Riverina Murray, Resilience NSW
• Ian Leckie, Community Capability Officer, Southern Zone, SES
• Denise Garner, Disaster Manager, Murrumbidgee Local Health District, NSW Health
Workshop series: Three workshops were held focusing on the development of Disaster Resilience Plans in community service organisations. The workshops were underpinned by co-design principles, including participation and collaboration. Workshop activities centred on experiential, interactive, and applied approaches to policy planning and development within participating organisations. The aims of these workshops included the production of practical solution-focused outcomes such as the development of documentation such as revised risk registers, business continuity plans, recovery plans, client vulnerability identification, and disaster resilience toolkits.

Project evaluation: Evaluation was embedded into the project design. Evaluation strategies involved pre- and post-project surveys to evaluate community service organisations’ level of disaster preparedness prior to the project commencing and progress made six months following the project. Qualitative post-project interviews were also undertaken with participants to explore overall experiences of the project, knowledge-gained, enablers and barriers to disaster preparedness, and their perception of whether the participation in the project had impacted on organisational change with regard to improved disaster preparedness.

Research outputs associated with the impact

The research produced multiple project outputs, including the following:

Workshop program: A workshop series consisting of three co-designed workshop programs (with supporting resources, templates, etc.) was developed as a replicable resource to encourage the development of Disaster Resilience Plans in community service organisations. Using participatory approaches, workshop activities aim to produce tangible, solution-focused outcomes such as revised risk registers, business continuity plans, recovery plans, and disaster toolkits. In addition, the structure of the workshop program has been purposefully designed to encourage participant interaction and promote networking, relationship-building and the creation of sustainable, collaborative community partnerships.
Model of disaster preparedness for community service organisations: The ULTRIS model of disaster preparedness for enhancing resilient community service organisations was developed from the project findings. The ULTRIS model outlines six dimensions of preparedness and is designed to strengthen community service organisations’ resilience and capacity for service continuity in the immediate and post-disaster period. The model is a practical tool useful in supporting a range of future initiatives aimed at disaster resilience and as such, it is a replicable and sustainable outcome of the project.
Online, free short course: A cost-free, online short course was co-designed by the researchers in partnership with disaster specialists and community service workers. The self-paced course is structured using the ULTRIS model and it is open to all community service professionals, managers, and community members in general who are interested in enhancing disaster preparedness in community service organisations. The course is hosted by Charles Sturt University using the OpenLearning platform and is openly accessible to the wider community. The course is an enduring and sustainable outcome, providing practical information (such as templates, original multimedia content, checklists, follow-up reading, etc.) for organisations to enhance their organisational disaster preparedness.
Video series involving community stakeholders: A series of six short videos were created and co-designed by the research team and community partners. The videos explore aspects of the ULTRIS model of disaster preparedness in community service organisations, including understanding the role of community service organisations, knowing your local community, preparing your team, preparing service users, fostering relationships, implementing policies and procedures, and service user issues. These videos are featured in the OpenLearning course and have also been used as resources in symposia, professional engagement activities and teaching activities.
Organisational and service user preparedness kits: Each participating organisation received two disaster resilience toolkits – one aimed at the organisational level, and one aimed at the service user level. Each toolkit included practical items, detailed instructions and checklists to support organisations and individual service users and their families in the immediate post-disaster period. The exemplar toolkits may be replicated and adapted to specific contexts and localised needs in other organisational contexts and locations. The organisational-level toolkits added a practical component to their business continuity and Disaster Resilience Plans; and the service user toolkits may be used in direct practice with service users.
Publications: Research findings from the project evaluation have been used as the basis for publications, including the commissioned project report, a book chapter, and conference presentations:

Boetto, H.,Bell, K., & Ivory, N. (2021). Disasterpreparedness in social work: A scoping review of evidence for future research,theory and practice. British Journal of Social Work, 51(5) https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/article/51/5/1623/6329667?guestAccessKey=7e88d235-76e1-4eb7-beb1-f29b5c439173 

Boetto, H., & Bell, K. (2022). Strengthening disaster preparedness in human service organisations, Commissioned project report, Charles Sturt University. (ISBN 978-1-86-467422-4). https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/239654379/229274054_Published_report.pdf
Boetto, H., & Bell, K. (accepted). A model of disaster preparedness for building resilience human service organisations. In C. Adamson, M. Alston, B. Bennett, J. Boddy, H. Boetto, L. Harms, R. Tudor, R. (Eds.) (Contract signed 2022, February 17). Social work and disaster practice. Routledge.

Another publication is currently in-progress and will be submitted to a quality, peer-reviewed Social Work journal this year, and a conference presentation has also been submitted for peer review – International Federation of Social Workers’ Social Work and Social Development Conference, 2024.

Researcher involvement

Adopting an action research methodology underpinned by co-design principles, the researchers, A/Profs. Heather Boetto and Karen Bell, engaged with community partners throughout the project. The knowledge and skills adopted by the researchers to foster the process of co-design involved nurturing the group’s process (e.g., effective communication, building rapport, mediation) and outcomes (e.g., meeting deadlines, developing resources). The researchers were therefore deeply involved in the research as both leaders and co-collaborators, requiring a high level of complex functioning.

The Advisory Group, consisting of disaster specialists, provided expertise to inform the project and generously gave their time to support project activities, including the creation and delivery of the workshop series, provision of individual support to community service organisations, resource development, and evaluation processes. Advisory Group meetings occurred monthly over three years, and ongoing communication with Advisory Group member occurred between these meetings on a needs-basis.

Likewise, the community service workers also committed their time to collaborate in the project, particularly regarding the development of Disaster Resilience Plans and providing feedback and evaluation of the project activities.

Outcomes of research leading to impact

The project adopted an action research methodology, emphasising an egalitarian approach to the creation of knowledge and identification of practical solutions to strengthen disaster preparedness in community service organisations. A collective and participatory approach was therefore used to share knowledge, discuss issues, explore strategies and ultimately co-design tailored activities to facilitate community service organisations’ progress towards developing Disaster Resilience Plans.

As documented in the project report (Boetto & Bell, 2022), project evaluations revealed that all community service workers experienced an increase in knowledge about disaster preparedness from engagement in the project. The breadth of knowledge gained included an increased understanding of the holistic nature of disasters, greater clarity about their role and delegation of duties within a community context, the importance of sustainable networks and localised planning, and of how disasters impact upon service users, service delivery and the local community. Community service workers also referred to this knowledge as accelerating progress in creating their organisation’s Disaster Resilience Plans, moving them beyond abstract understanding towards the development of concrete, practicable plans, policies and procedures relevant to their specific organisation.

Community partners reported positive outcomes emphasising how the project had provided opportunities to develop cross-sectorial networks. The project included time allocation within the workshop program for all participants to network, problem-solve and share experiences in small groups was integral to fostering these relationships (Boetto & Bell, 2022, pp.19-26). Community service workers valued the presence and involvement of emergency services personnel and disaster resilience specialists, particularly the practical aspects of being able to a meet, speak with and problem-solve their specific organisational needs. Community service workers also reported positive outcomes from the opportunity to develop inter-professional collaboration with other community service professionals to share ideas and learn from one another’s experiences.

Throughout the project community service workers recognised the need to implement a multidimensional approach to disaster preparedness, including direct practice with clients. While increasing disaster preparedness within organisations at all levels was considered important, community service workers highlighted how the project had increased their understanding of client vulnerabilities and the importance of maximising their capacity for service continuity in times of disaster. A continuous and embedded approach to enhancing service user disaster resilience became evident, for example via the inclusion of disaster preparedness during intake, assessment, and intervention processes. Another example of project outcomes came from one community agency who described how they had used material from the workshops to map their organisation’s clients. This mapping exercise had revealed particular pockets of disadvantage and vulnerability within their client base. As a result of this increased awareness, the organisation began to tailor preparedness plans to account for the diversity of client needs (Boetto & Bell, 2022, p.20, p.26).

Beneficiaries of the impact

Beneficiaries of the research outcomes have included community service workers, community service organisations, the local community, and the health and welfare sector.

Community service workers: The project enabled the development of new knowledge and provided community service workers with the opportunity to engage with an emerging area of need within the health and welfare sector. Community service workers actively collaborated with the emergency service workers and other local community service organisations, which established relationships across intra and interdisciplinary networks.

Community service organisations: As evidenced by the project evaluations, the research project improved the capacity and capability for community service organisations to manage service disruption and adapt ongoing service provision in response to disasters. These small not-for-profit organisations often experience a paucity of resources in relation to disaster planning, and the project provided much-needed resources to create change in this area.
Local community: As key stakeholders in their local communities, community service organisations play a key role in a community’s response to disasters. Increasing disaster resilience and capacity in response to disasters enhances the community’s adaptive response to service delivery for people in need.

Health and welfare sector: As disaster resilience is brought into the foreground, and as more community service organisations complete Disaster Resilience Plans, organisational capacity for service continuity during disasters strengthens resilience within the health and welfare sector. While the project was a small, place-based study, the research outputs (e.g., online course, workshop series, model of organisational practice) provide an enduring and sustainable outcome applicable and adaptable to organisations in other locations. The local health and welfare sector will also benefit from the development of this new knowledge, networks and evidence-based outcomes that emerged from the project.

Details of the impact achieved

Impacts of the research have influenced key stakeholders at the local community and state levels.

Although the project was a small, placed-based project that took place in the regional centre of Wagga Wagga, the project has influenced stakeholders beyond the immediate local level. Community service organisations that provide services to other locations shared their knowledge across organisational networks. For example, one participating organisation located in Wagga Wagga shared knowledge with their offices located in Bathurst and Albury. The knowledge gained by participating community service organisations is also captured in the video series, which feature community service workers’ insights and real-world experiences. Examples from the videos include a description of “massive change” within one participating organisation with regard to especially vulnerable clients on NDIS plans, and another participant’s example of embedding disaster management goals within mental health plans (video 1). In video 2, a participant describes how this project has resulted in the organisation she manages moving from a reactive, ad hoc approach to a strategic disaster planning approach, while another participants details how she used project resources and knowledge-gained to complete a comprehensive disaster resilience plan. She also describes how the project has increased her organisation’s confidence in risk identification and management, as well as the external auditing of their disaster plan. Further, this project participant mentions the ongoing nature of disaster resilience planning improvement and the usefulness of using this project’s overarching framework as a reference point within her organisation: Fostering relationships https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsryUIr4F28 ; and implementing policies and procedures https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku7AR0nYc48

At the state level, the researchers have been approached by the NSW State Department responsible for disaster resilience, the NSW Reconstruction Authority (formerly Resilience NSW). Key contacts within the NSW Reconstruction Authority have expressed interest in promoting the project’s outcomes, particularly for other NSW government departments, social service providers, and a state-wide social services peak body.

Outcomes of the research leading to impact involved the ratification of Disaster Resilience Plans within community service organisations by their governing bodies, and/or progress towards this endeavour. One participant commented in the post-project interview, “……the CEO and the Board have seen a lot more progress in what we’ve done in the last six months in terms of disaster management and the framework of how we manage them than what we have done in the previous year” (Boetto & Bell, 2022, p.20).

Beyond the development of Disaster Resilience Plans, additional disaster resilience activities were adopted by community service workers as part of their direct practice with clients, such as the integration of disaster preparedness questions into assessment procedures with clients, and the integration of disaster resilience activities on the organisational intranet. One participant commented in the post-project interview, “…our admin forms were quite old, and so it was time to redo them anyway. So, it was almost on a risk assessment level. So, instead of just having- A, B, C D, we went a little bit further and had an E, F G H I.” The following video prepared as part of the video series also details some of the expanded direct practice interventions adopted by community service workers, and how the project has already improved participating organisations’ agility and proactive orientation with regard to disaster resilience. Moreover, one participant outlines how their organisation is keen to provide community leaderships in disaster preparedness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zGrd2kzhn0

The ULTRIS model of disaster preparedness for community service organisations represents a practical, replicable, and sustainable outcome of the project for use in other locations. This model, consisting of six dimensions, forms the framework for the online, short course, which is accessible to national and international participants. It also features as a chapter in an international social work book, due for publication is 2024. Current conversations with the NSW Reconstruction Authority to promote project outcomes provides prospective opportunity to roll-out the model to community service organisations at the state level.

The free, online, short course was launched in March 2023, and within the first three months over 50 people had enrolled in the course. We anticipate this course will garner interest in the wider community due to its accessibility and suitability for community service professionals, managers and community members interested in becoming disaster resilient. The researchers have embedded an evaluation within this course to further assess its effectiveness in the future. The course can be accessed by the following link: https://www.openlearning.com/csu/courses/disaster-resilience-in-community-service-organisations/homepage/?cl=1

Impact date	02 Jun 2020 → 04 Jul 2022
Category of impact	Social Impact
Impact level	State