Chapter 3.2 Disaster risk factors – hazards, exposure and vulnerability
Chapter 3.2 explains the key factors to consider when developing a study to assess risk factors relevant to health emergency and disaster risk management (Health EDRM), including:
- How hazards, exposure, and vulnerability/capacity create disaster risk.
- The unique challenges of defining, identifying and measuring risk in disaster research.
- Common issues of validity and quality in causal research in disasters.
- How to conduct a study to assess disaster risk factors.
What is this chapter about? People making decisions about Health EDRM need reliable information on factors that might affect the risks to people involved in a disaster. A better understanding of disaster risk factors and hazards would support evidence-informed decisions relevant to Health EDRM.
This chapter outlines areas of disaster risk and discusses how research can be used to determine the causes of the problem, and how these causes and the size of their effects can be measured reliably. It identifies aspects of research methodology that can impact the validity of causative studies and shows how studies with rigorous research methods can contribute reliable evidence on the causes of the health impacts of disasters.
Case studies presented in the chapter:
- Structural risks during a hazard: earthquakes and low-strength masonry in Nepal.
- Changing organizational behaviour to reduce exposure risk: vaccination to prevent congenital rubella syndrome.
- Understanding individual vulnerability as health risk: cold weather impacts and the social determinants of health.
Authors: Saulnier DD, Dixit AM, Nunes AR, Murray V.
