Living Well Iowa - Emergency Preparedness

PrepIowans logoWith funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Iowa Department of Public Health, the Center for Disabilities and Development (CDD) implemented the PrepIowans project. The project, based on the Oregon "Ready Now" materials, is intended to assist adults with disabilities living in the community to develop personal emergency preparedness plans and emergency kits. The training and materials, adapted for Iowa, guide participants through each of the seven steps to become fully prepared for an emergency.

Following the successful pilot testing of PrepIowans led by three community provider trainers, CDD staff has provided the training to community supported living services and case managers to assist their clients to prepare for emergencies. Participants have included county and Iowa Department of Human Services case managers, Iowa Association of Community Providers, Area Agencies on Aging, and Iowa Military One Source, with training participants reporting a high rate of increased knowledge and intention to use the PrepIowans approach. With current funding, CDD will continue to provide this training through webinars, and to identify and train community providers to deliver PrepIowans training in their communities. 

Download a copy: PDF icon PrepIowans Booklet Fill-in 2015

Prepkids logoCDD worked with the University of Iowa's College of Public Health (CPH) on a three-year research project called PrepKids from 2011 to 2014. Funded by the Department of Agriculture and modeled after PrepIowans, the project studied and tested the usefulness of model training for parents/custodians of children with disabilities who live in rural areas to development emergency preparedness plans for their children. In the first year of the project, CDD staff adapted the PrepIowans training and materials for a rural parent audience, and during the second year, they provided the training across the state. The effectiveness of the project was measured through surveys before the training, after the training, and again, at six and 12 months after the training. Survey results showed Prepkids to be very effective in increasing emergency preparedness, however, the challenge of rural geography also demonstrated the need to convert the training to an online interactive module. 

Families can access the PrepKids presentation about the 7 Steps to Preparedness discussed in PrepKids booklet on YouTube. 

Download a copy: PDF icon Prepkids Booklet Fill-in 2015

Prepwise logoCDD also worked with CPH on a yearlong research project, Prepwise, completed in 2014. For this project, PrepIowans materials were adapted for older Iowans living in the community and pilot tested for effectiveness. Analysis, again, showed the adapted training and booklet to be effective in helping to meet the overall goal of increasing the number of individuals in Iowa who are fully prepared in case of an emergency.

Funding for the Living Well Iowa program and related activities ended in 2021. For more information, get in touch with Meredith Field at [email protected].