A practical toolkit supporting communities to survive and thrive in times of disaster is now available to explore independently or through joining the Care through Disaster Community of Practice.
Women's Health Goulburn North East and Australia reMADE partnered in 2023 to explore the role of care in preventing and mitigating the long-term health and wellbeing impacts we see emerging as a result of climate change. Care through Disaster aimed to find out what initiatives, policy changes and infrastructure would enable rural communities to care for each other in a changing climate through qualitative research
The findings showed that access to basic necessities and services, mental health and wellbeing support and ongoing community connection are areas in which primary prevention work can make an impact in the context of health, climate and emergency management. In 2024 we built on these findings to ask practitioners, community leaders and policy makers to weigh in, resulting in the Care through Disaster in Practice toolkit - a practical resource to support practitioners, leaders and decision-makers to implement what we call an ‘infrastructure of care’, equipping communities to thrive in an increasingly unpredictable climate. The project has been effective in engaging people with the idea of applying a care lens to disaster preparedness and introducing the element of primary prevention to emergency management, enabled by the Care through Disaster Community of Practice underway throughout 2025.
Access our resources at https://www.whealth.com.au/research/care-through-disaster-2023/