"It's Good to Always Have a Plan": A Qualitative Study of Canadians' Preparedness During Power Outages.

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q3 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness Pub Date : 2025-08-22 DOI:10.1017/dmp.2025.10155

Vidursana Thiraviyarajah, Abhinand Thaivalappil, Fatih Sekercioglu, Greg Oulahen, Ian Young

{"title":"\"It's Good to Always Have a Plan\": A Qualitative Study of Canadians' Preparedness During Power Outages.","authors":"Vidursana Thiraviyarajah, Abhinand Thaivalappil, Fatih Sekercioglu, Greg Oulahen, Ian Young","doi":"10.1017/dmp.2025.10155","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Objectives: Power outages can lead to food-borne and water-borne illness risks for consumers if proper protective measures are not taken at home. The purpose of this study was to understand the behaviors of Canadians related to food and water safety preparedness at home during power outages and floods.Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted, consisting of 6 virtual focus groups, each with 8 people, in July 2023. Participants were selected from geographically dispersed locations in Ontario, Canada that had experienced power outages due to weather events. Thematic analysis was conducted to generate key themes.Results: Four themes were generated related to participants' food and water safety preparedness: 1) trusted information sources and lived experiences; 2) support and resources; 3) factors beyond one's control; and 4) differences in psychosocial determinants.Conclusions: Effective risk communication targeting misconceptions, incentivization programs, and community resilience planning may help prevent or reduce enteric illness risks during such emergencies.","PeriodicalId":54390,"journal":{"name":"Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness","volume":"19 ","pages":"e245"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2025.10155","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives: Power outages can lead to food-borne and water-borne illness risks for consumers if proper protective measures are not taken at home. The purpose of this study was to understand the behaviors of Canadians related to food and water safety preparedness at home during power outages and floods.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted, consisting of 6 virtual focus groups, each with 8 people, in July 2023. Participants were selected from geographically dispersed locations in Ontario, Canada that had experienced power outages due to weather events. Thematic analysis was conducted to generate key themes.

Results: Four themes were generated related to participants' food and water safety preparedness: 1) trusted information sources and lived experiences; 2) support and resources; 3) factors beyond one's control; and 4) differences in psychosocial determinants.

Conclusions: Effective risk communication targeting misconceptions, incentivization programs, and community resilience planning may help prevent or reduce enteric illness risks during such emergencies.

查看原文本刊更多论文

“有备无患”：加拿大人在停电期间的准备定性研究。

目的：如果在家中不采取适当的保护措施，停电可能导致消费者患食源性和水源性疾病的风险。本研究的目的是了解加拿大人在停电和洪水期间在家中与食品和水安全准备有关的行为。方法：于2023年7月进行定性描述性研究，包括6个虚拟焦点小组，每个小组8人。参与者是从加拿大安大略省地理上分散的地区挑选出来的，这些地区由于天气原因经历了停电。进行主题分析以产生关键主题。结果：产生了与参与者食品和水安全准备相关的四个主题：1)可信信息来源和生活经验；2)支持和资源；3)无法控制的因素；4)心理社会决定因素的差异。结论：针对误解的有效风险沟通、激励计划和社区恢复力规划可能有助于预防或减少此类紧急情况下的肠道疾病风险。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

4.40

自引率

7.40%

发文量

258

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness is the first comprehensive and authoritative journal emphasizing public health preparedness and disaster response for all health care and public health professionals globally. The journal seeks to translate science into practice and integrate medical and public health perspectives. With the events of September 11, the subsequent anthrax attacks, the tsunami in Indonesia, hurricane Katrina, SARS and the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic, all health care and public health professionals must be prepared to respond to emergency situations. In support of these pressing public health needs, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness is committed to the medical and public health communities who are the stewards of the health and security of citizens worldwide.