Working with Local, State and Federal Partners to Address Health Education Needs of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees in Houston: A CDC Case Study

For health educators to successfully meet the challenges of responding to public health emergencies, it is important to establish and understand the role of collaborations with local, state and federal partners in identifying potential public health issues and to develop theory-based models or strategies to address these issues before, during and after an event. This paper presents a case study examining the health education and communication response to Hurricane Katrina in Houston, Texas. CDC's Health Education and Communication Teams and the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services Division of Health Education worked with identified populations, environmental specialists, epidemiologists and other key partners to identify health education needs and develop appropriate messages and then developed and implemented a broad comprehensive health education and promotion plan. The paper discusses lessons learned and how health educators can use the model developed for this response to plan for future disasters and public health emergencies, including pandemic influenza.