Facilitating Partnerships With Community- and Faith-Based Organizations for Disaster Preparedness and Response: Results of a National Survey of Public Health Departments

Objective: We identify characteristics of local health departments, which enhance collaborations with community- and faith-based organizations (CFBOs) for emergency preparedness and response. Methods: Online survey data were collected from a sample of 273 disaster preparedness coordinators working at local health departments across the United States between August and December 2011. Results: Using multiple linear regression models, we found that perceptions of CFBO trust were associated with more successful partnership planning (beta = 0.63; P=0.02) and capacity building (beta = 0.61; P = 0.01). Employee layoffs in the past 3 years (beta = 0.41; P = 0.001) and urban location (beta = 0.41; P = 0.005) were positively associated with higher ratings of resource sharing between health agencies and CFBOs. Having 1-3 full-time employees increased the ratings of success in communication and outreach activities compared with health departments having less than 1 full-time employee (beta = 0.33; P = 0.05). Positive attitudes toward CFBOs also enhanced communication and outreach (beta = 0.16; P = 0.03). Conclusions: Staff-capacity factors are important for quick dissemination of information and resources needed to address emerging threats. Building the trust of CFBOs can help address large-scale disasters by improving the success of more involved activities that integrate the CFBO into emergency plans and operations of the health department and that better align with federal-funding performance measures.