Engaging the Public in Critical Disaster Planning and Decision Making: Workshop Summary (2013)

The Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events, part of the Institute of Medicine’s Board on Health Sciences Policy has released the summary of a workshop held in March 2013.  At this workshop, presenters discussed the key principles of public engagement during the development of disaster plans, the response phase, and during the dissemination phase when interested community partners and the general public are informed of the policies that have been adopted.

 Presenters provided specific examples of resources to assist jurisdictions in planning public engagement activities as well as challenges experienced and potential solutions. This report introduces key principles of public engagement, provides practical guidance on how to plan and implement a public engagement activity, and presents tools to facilitate planning.

TRB is a division of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.