Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
After a relatively brief initial response to families' well-being in the immediate aftermath of disaster (e.g., mental health first aid programs), there is little continued support despite families often remaining in uncertain and stressful situations (e.g., temporary housing, without a clear picture of what their "new normal" is). There is a pressing need for programs to support families in building resilience skills in the weeks and months after disasters to reduce the mental health problems and negative impacts on parents and children. The goals of this project are to adapt existing materials from the flexible and accessible 9-week Families Tackling Tough Times Together (FT) program and develop an implementation plan that will train Cooperative Extension System (CES) professionals to help families build resilience in the aftermath of disasters. Our specific objectives are to (1) identify the unique needs of families in the aftermath of disasters with respect to building family resilience, (2) tailor existing FT materials to the identified needs, (3) create a manual to facilitate CES professionals' implementation of FT in response to disasters, and (4) distribute the materials, manual, and program. Our expected results include increased knowledge among CES professionals about family resilience and disasters, including available tools and plans for disaster response. We also expect to increase the preparedness of CES professionals to serve families in the aftermath of disasters and to have a mechanism in place for implementing the FT program in the aftermath of disaster. The proposed project holds significant potential impact for the well-being and resilience of families facing challenging situations such as natural disasters (e.g., tornados, floods, fires). We anticipate that CES professionals will better support families after disaster, and family resilience will increase.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
The goals of this NIFA grant are to tailor existing materials (Aim 1) and develop an implementation plan (Aim 2) that will enable extension educators in facilitating families to build resilience in the wake of disasters.Aim 1: Tailor existing Families Tackling Tough Times Together (FT) materials so they are suitable for use in the aftermath of multiple kinds of disasters(e.g., focusing on natural disasters that are likely to cause significant family disruption) will be met by achieving two objectives: we will identify the unique needs of families in the aftermath of disasters with respect to building family resilience (objective 1.1) and tailor existing FT materials to the identified needs (objective 1.2; see light blue boxes in Table 1). As illustrated in the logic model, short-term outcomes include increased knowledge among Cooperative Extension Service (CES) professionals about family resilience and disasters. The mid-term outcome of increased preparedness of CES professionals to serve families in the aftermath of disasters will support a longer-term outcome that family resilience will increase.Aim 2: Develop an implementation plan for rolling out revised FT materials in response to disasters in Indianawill be met by achieving two objectives: we will create a manual to facilitate Extension Educators' implementation of FT in response to disasters (objective 2.1) and disseminate the materials, manual, and implementation plan (objective 2.2, see light green boxes in Table 2). Short-term outcomes (see logic model) include increased knowledge among CES professionals about available tools and plans for disaster response. The mid-term outcome of having a mechanism in place for implementing the FT program in the aftermath of disaster will facilitate a longer-term outcome that the CES will better support families after disaster.
Project Methods
Our methods include literature review, and quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data will be collected via Qualtrics surveys of CES professionals, includingpre- and post- training surveys of the CES professionals attending the trainings.Items will include closed- and open-ended questions of that assess knowledge of family resilience and disasters, knowledge of available tools and plans, and practitioner self-efficacy for supporting family resilience in the aftermath of disaster. In addition, we will solicit feedback from CES professionals using the post-program survey and brief qualitative exit interviews. Questions will include topics such as likelihood of using the program in response to disaster, and strengths, weaknesses, and barriers that will help us to continue to improve the program in a follow-up implementation grant.Co-design workshops. Each of the four proposed co-design workshops will follow a similar format, although the content and materials being discussed will differ (e.g., 1: Guiding Framework, 2: FT Materials, 3: Manual, 4: Implementation Plan). Each co-designworkshop will last approximately one and a half hours in duration and will include members of the research team who will facilitate, take notes, and assist in data collection, as well as the participating Purdue CES educators. Participants will be split into groups, each with a facilitator, notetaker, and specific workshop materials. Educators will review specific materials and discuss ways the program meets their community needs and areas where modification is needed to meet their community needs. The facilitator in each group will guide discussion by asking questions about Purdue CES educators' interactions with the materials and their experiences providing resources to families in their community.In addition to verbal feedback, participants will be encouraged to write on the materials, apply sticky notes, and use stickers to note likes and dislikes (e.g., apply a star sticker to aspects they especially like and frowny face stickers to aspects they do not like). Reasons for sticker placement could pertain to resource accessibility issues, misalignment with educator goals, or irrelevance in meeting family needs, for instance. Discussions will be audio-recorded and transcribed.The data we collect from co-design workshops is qualitative, analyzed descriptively through a rapid analysis approach. In brief, transcripts and physical materials from the co-design workshop (the documents reviewed with participants' notes, sticky notes, and stickers from co-design activities) are reviewed and the team defines domains along with codes relevant to the goals of the workshop (e.g., what works, challenges and concerns, implementation barriers, alignment, gaps, and suggestions). The domains are entered into summary tables, and quotes, paraphrasing, and notes from transcripts and materials are sorted into the summary tables according to the codes (each transcript/material is independently sorted by two trained research assistants). Then, the summary tables are recapitulated by a small team of researchers into a single matrix that allows for quick comparison of qualitative data, identification of patterns and themes, discussed by the larger research team to identify specific changes to be implemented as a result of the co-design process.