Factors Influencing Collaborative Activities between Non-Professional Disaster Volunteers and Victims of Earthquake Disasters

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Assistance from non-professional disaster volunteers (hereinafter, volunteers) is essential for disaster victims to recover physically and rebuild their lives; however, disaster victims in some areas are reluctant to accept assistance from volunteers. This study explored factors that may influence collaborative activities between volunteers and victims of earthquake disasters.</p> <h3>Methods</h3><p>From July to September 2008, a self-reporting questionnaire survey was conducted with all 302 leaders of neighborhood associations in a city within Niigata Prefecture at the time of the Niigataken Chuetsu-oki Earthquake in 2007. Each factor was determined based on the Health Belief Model. Multiple regression analysis was conducted, using collaborative activities as the objective variable.</p> <h3>Results</h3><p>From 261 valid responses received (response rate 86.4%), 41.3% of leaders collaborated with volunteers, and 60.2% of associations had residents who collaborated with volunteers. Collaboration with volunteers was significantly and positively related to perceived severity of an earthquake disaster (standardized partial regression coefficient β = 0.224, p<0.001) and neighborhood association activities during the earthquake disaster (β = 0.539, p<0.001). A positive and marginally significant relation was found between such collaboration and sense of coherence within a community (β = 0.137, p = 0.06), social capital (β = 0.119, p = 0.08), and perceived benefits (β = 0.116, p = 0.09).</p> <h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Collaboration between disaster victims and volunteers during the response to an earthquake may require the preemptive estimation of damage by residents during normal times and the enhancement of neighborhood association activities during a disaster. For residents to have such estimation abilities, public institutions should provide information related to anticipated disaster damage and appropriate disaster prevention training and education. In addition, residents should create a disaster prevention map with other residents. Lastly, promoting neighborhood association activities may require the participation of many residents in disaster drills and education as well as a preemptive discussion of neighborhood activities during a disaster.</p> </div

Results of multiple regression analysis with collaborative activity as the objective variable.

1)<p>Adjusted for damage circumstances and number of households.</p

Distribution of relative deprivation index.

<p>(+) is related to relative deprivation.</p><p>Distribution of relative deprivation index.</p

Proportion (95% Confidence Interval) of poor health in relation to relative deprivation and social support.

<p>Both figures show a low proportion of poor health in the presence of social support. Meanwhile, the proportion of those with poor health increases as the relative deprivation index score increases even with social support, indicating that social support does not fully cancel out the negative impacts of relative deprivation on health.</p

Distribution of control variable.

<p>Distribution of control variable.</p

Association of subjective health and relative deprivation by two-level Poisson regression analysis^a).

<p>***<i>p</i><.001 **<i>p</i><.01 *<i>p</i><.05 PR: Prevalence ratio.</p>a)<p>Each estimated coefficient of “unknown” category was omitted in above table.</p>b)<p>Random effect in null model:</p><p>SRH(men) = .147(SE = .034), SRH(women) = .197(SE = .037), GDS(men) = .093(SE = .027), GDS(women) = .101(SE = .026).</p><p>Association of subjective health and relative deprivation by two-level Poisson regression analysis^{<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0111169#nt103" target="_blank">a)</a>}.</p

Combination of relative deprivation and poverty.

<p>Combination of relative deprivation and poverty.</p

SMRs for pneumonia death

Dataset containing area, week from earthquake, observed number of pneumonia deaths, expected number of pneumonia deaths, standardized mortality ratios and p valu

Associations of BMI with morbidities according to Cr levels in male.

<p>Associations of BMI with morbidities according to Cr levels in male.</p

Patient selection.

<p>Fig 1 represented how to select and enroll the patients into analyses. Abbreviations are BMI: body mass index, ESRD: end-stage renal disease, PD: peritoneal dialysis, HD: hemodialysis and CRP: C-reactive protein.</p