The special needs of elderly people in information dissemination

In his thesis about older adults' preparedness, Tuohy (2014) argues that older people have special information needs about preparedness as they want to know how they can prepare and behave to keep their relative independence during and after a disaster. They also seek information about how to evacuate given their limited capacities for instance. However, their sources of information did not differ significantly in relation to the general public.

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Cultural Factors: Age-related roles

Hazards: Natural hazards, Man-made non-intentional hazards or emergency situations, Man-made intentional hazards

Disaster Phases: Prevention, Preparedness, Response, Recovery, All disaster phases

Types of Actors Concerned: Non-active citizens

Recommendations:

• Use trustworthy, widespread, multi-lingual, culturally appropriate and inclusive means of alerting the target population in case of disasters
• Use cultural factors to improve the effectiveness of disaster communication