How Natural Disasters Affect Nursing Home Residents

The purpose of this study is to pilot a qualitative aim for an eventual proposal. We will series of semi-structured interviews of those well-positioned to describe the effects of disasters on the health care system caring for LTC residents. These potential interviewees include managers of rural LTC facilities, hospitals, and other health care services in the community as well as other key informants, such as area agencies on aging. By understanding the effects of the disaster on the healthcare system, we can translate patterns of care utilization and health outcome data following natural disaster events to design mitigation strategies to minimize the disruption to vulnerable LTC residents.