Disaster Preparedness of Social Workers in the Southeastern United States: A Survey Focused on Hurricane-Pandemic Co- Occurrences

Background and Purpose: There is growing consensus of the need for a more multi-disciplinary and holistic approach to disaster management that includes greater involvement of social work professionals in disaster mitigation, planning, preparedness, and resilience efforts (Carlson-Ostroff & Ostrander, 2024; Dominelli, 2021; Gaillard & Mercer, 2013; Mathbor, 2007; Tang et al., 2024; Toro-Alzate et al., 2023; Wahlstrom, 2017). Compound disasters, such as a hurricane coinciding with a pandemic, presents unique challenges for emergency management and social service providers as well as opportunities for greater collaboration. A greater understanding of preparedness planning among social work professionals for such complex emergencies is needed. To address this need, we conducted a survey of social work professionals in hurricane-prone states who were practicing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study explored how well-prepared social work professionals are for hurricane-pandemic situations while also assessing, more generally, their levels of disaster preparedness and current integration into disaster management systems.

Method: A cross-sectional survey was administered online using Qualtrics and distributed through NASW chapters in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, as well as alumni networks from Florida State University and Florida A&M University. Distribution paused during the 2023 hurricane season and resumed in Spring 2024. A total of 267 responses were received. The survey included items on agency type and location, counties served, experience with hurricane-pandemic events, preparedness activities, lessons learned, anticipated challenges, and communication with emergency managers. Analysis includes descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and cumulative odds ordinal logistic regression.

ResultsFindings revealed varied levels of preparedness among social workers for both hurricane-pandemic and general disaster situations. A total of 76.3% reported that disaster preparedness plans were in place, while 23.7% indicated no plans existed. For hurricane-pandemic preparedness, 74.6% of social workers reported having plans. Preparedness levels varied: 32.5% reported high preparedness (four to six plans), 35.1% partial preparedness (one to three plans), and 32.5% no preparedness. Furthermore, preparedness varied by communication with emergency managers about client needs. While 38.6% of social workers reported communication, 61.4% had not. Among those who had not communicated, 31.3% reported no preparedness, 50.0% partial preparedness, and only 18.8% high preparedness. A chi-square test confirmed a statistically significant association between communication and preparedness levels (χ² (4) = 19.49, p < .001). To test whether this relationship remained after controlling for other factors, a cumulative odds ordinal logistic regression was conducted. The model included communication with emergency managers, agency type, plans for disaster, and past disaster-related service experience. The odds of reporting higher hurricane-pandemic preparedness were 3.15 (95% CI [1.07, 9.29] times greater for social workers who communicated with emergency managers (χ² (2) = 11.12, p .038.

Conclusions and Implications. Findings suggest that social workers are not consistently prepared for hurricane-pandemic scenarios. Communication with emergency managers appears to play an important role in shaping preparedness. These results point to the value of strengthening inter-agency collaboration and more clearly defining the role of social workers in emergency planning efforts. Future research is needed to understand how preparedness can be more consistently supported across organizations.