International Journal of Health System and Disaster Management

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year
: 2015  |  Volume : 3  |  Issue : 3  |  Page : 163--168

Disaster preparedness amongst women, the invisible force of resilience: A study from Delhi, India


Rahul Sharma, Vikas Kumar, Dinesh Raja 
 Department of Community Medicine, University College of Medical Sciences, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi, India

Correspondence Address:
Rahul Sharma
Department of Community Medicine, University College of Medical Sciences, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi - 110 095
India

Context: Women participation in disaster risk reduction has been stressed as they are the �SQ�invisible force of resilience�SQ�. A sizeable number of the women in Delhi are homemakers. Objective: To study disaster preparedness amongst the women who are homemakers in a part of Delhi, India. Study Design: Cross-sectional community-based study. Setting: Four residential areas in east Delhi. Participants: Total 754 homemakers aged 18 years and above. Results: Amongst the women, 22.7% were illiterate while 19.7% had done college graduation or higher studies. The level of concern amongst them was highest for earthquake, fire and swine flu. Just 2.7% had the confidence that their household is well-prepared for a disaster situation. The top reasons for not being prepared were �SQ�nothing can be done during a disaster�SQ�, �SQ�disasters are God�SQ�s will�SQ� and �SQ�will prepare only after seeing a disaster�SQ�. Only 15.1% had a family member trained in what to do in case of a disaster. Conclusion: The current analysis revealed several gaps in the women�SQ�s preparedness. The adoption of positive behaviour by homemakers can directly impact the well-being of their family and their community.


How to cite this article:
Sharma R, Kumar V, Raja D. Disaster preparedness amongst women, the invisible force of resilience: A study from Delhi, India.Int J Health Syst Disaster Manage 2015;3:163-168


How to cite this URL:
Sharma R, Kumar V, Raja D. Disaster preparedness amongst women, the invisible force of resilience: A study from Delhi, India. Int J Health Syst Disaster Manage [serial online] 2015 [cited 2024 Mar 28 ];3:163-168
Available from: https://www.ijhsdm.org/article.asp?issn=2347-9019;year=2015;volume=3;issue=3;spage=163;epage=168;aulast=Sharma;type=0