The underlying question for this research is does stronger social capital in a state contribute to stronger health preparedness which then contributes to better health management generally? This study investigates the theory that the types of community planning and engagement involved in health system preparedness and other civic endeavors positively contributes to day-to-day health care operations. To test this theory, data from the Robert Wood Johnson National Health Security Preparedness Index was used. The analyses conducted did find statistically significant relationships between subdomains of community planning and engagement and health care delivery. Subdomains of countermeasures management and information management were found to be statistically significant as well. These findings suggest that particular aspects of community engagement and social capital should be focused on in order to promote improved health performance in different aspects of the field.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AldrichD. & MeyerM.2015. “Social Capital and Community Resilience.” American Behavioral Scientist, 59(2): 254–269.
2.
AldrichD. & SawadaY.2015. “The Physical and Social Determinants of Mortality in the 3.11 Tsunami.” Social Science and Medicine, 124:66–75.
AveryG. H. & WrightT.2010. “Does Federal Assistance to Health Departments for Bioterrorism Preparedness Improve Local Public Health Activity? An Empirical Evaluation Using the 2005 NACCHO Profile of Local Health Departments.” Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 7(1): 1–19.
5.
BurkleF.M., WilliamsA., & KissoonN.2011. “Pediatric Emergency Mass Critical Care: The Role of Community Preparedness in Conserving Critical Care Resources.” Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, 12(6): 1–13.
6.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2017, September 13. “Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Cooperative Agreement.” Accessed from https://www.cdc.gov/phpr/readiness/phep.htm on December 30, 2017.
7.
ChaB., LawrenceR., BlissJ., WellsK., ChandraA. & EisenmanD.2016. “The Road to Resilience: Insights on Training Community Coalitions in the Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project.” Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 10(6): 812–821.
8.
ChiG.C., WilliamsM., ChandraA., PloughA., & EisenmanD.. 2015. “Partnerships for Community Resilience: Perspectives from the Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project.” Public Health. Accessed from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2015.07.004 on January 10, 2018.
9.
ClevelandN. & PalenM.2016. “Community Preparedness: Expanding Existing Partnerships with Academia to Build Resilience through Experiential Learning.” Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association, Vol. 6, no. 1, 40–44.
10.
ColistraC., SchmalzD. & GloverT.2017. “The Meaning of Relationship Building in the Context of the Community Center and Its Implications.” Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 35(2): 37–50.
11.
DeanW., StarkeyJ., NaltyC., & XuJ.2014. “Government Capital, Intimate and Community Social Capital, and Food Security Status in Older Adults with Different Income Levels.” Rural Sociology, 79(4): 505–531.
12.
DreyzehnerJ.2018, January 23. Written Statement for “Facing 21st Century Public Health Threats: Our Nation's Preparedness and Response Capabilities, Part 2.”Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Accessed from https://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Dreyzehner.pdf on February 23, 2018.
13.
EisenmanD., ChandraA., FoglemanS., MaganaA., HendricksA., WellsK., WilliamsM., TangJ., & PloughA.2014. “The Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project-A Community Level, Public Health Initiative to Build Community Disaster Resilience.” International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, Vol. 11, p. 8475–8490.
FernandezK. & AlexanderJ.2017. “The Institutional Contribution of Community Based Nonprofit Organizations to Civic Health.” Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, 39(4): 438–469.
16.
GrossoA.2010. “Social Support as a Predictor of HIV Testing in At-Risk Populations: A Research Note.” Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, 33(1): 53–62.
KohH., ElquraL., JudgeC. & StotoM.2008. “Regionalization of Local Public Health Systems in the Era of Preparedness.” Annual Review of Public Health, 29: 205–218.
19.
LeeC. & KamJ.2015. “Why Does Social Capital Matter in Health Communication Campaigns?” Communication Research, 42(4): 459–481.
20.
Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project. No Date. Accessed from http://www.laresilience.org/ on January 10, 2018.
PloughA., FieldingJ.E., ChandraA., WilliamsM., EisenmanD., WellsK.B., & MagañaA.2013. “Building Community Disaster Resilience: Perspectives from a Large Urban County Department of Public Health.” American Journal of Public Health, 103(7), 1190–1197.
27.
PriestC. & StryckmanB.2015. “Identifying Indirect Benefits of Federal Health Care Emergency Preparedness Grant Funding to Coalitions: A Content Analysis.” Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 9: 704–711.
28.
ReckerN. & MooreM.2016. “Durkheim, Social Capital, and Suicide Rates Across U.S. Counties.” Health Sociology Review, 25(1): 78–91.
29.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 2018. “National Health Security Preparedness Index.” Accessed at https://nhspi.org/ on April 5, 2018.
ScutchfieldF. D. & KeckC.W.2017. “Deaths of Despair: Why? What to Do?” American Journal of Public Health, 107(10): 1564–1565.
32.
SobelsonR., WigingtonC., HarpV. & BronsonB.2017. “A Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management: Strategies and Best Practices of Seven Community Programs.” Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 14, no. 4, p. 349–357. Accessed from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5582971/ on Jan. 3, 2018.
ViswanathK., SteeleW.R. & FinneganJ.2006. “Social Capital and Health: Civic Engagement, Community Size, and Recall of Health Messages.” American Journal of Public Health, 96 (8): 1456–1461.
35.
WhiteB., HortonL. & SimpsonK.2017. “Community Level Characteristics of High Infant Mortality: A Tool to Identify At-Risk Communities.” Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, 10(2): 21–29.
