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Older people's needs following major disasters: a qualitative study of Iranian elders' experiences of the Bam earthquake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2009

ALI ARDALAN ,
MONIR MAZAHERI ,
KOUROSH HOLAKOUIE NAIENI ,
MOHSEN REZAIE ,
FARIBA TEIMOORI  and
FARSHAD POURMALEK
ALI ARDALAN*
Affiliation:
School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
MONIR MAZAHERI
Affiliation:
Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
KOUROSH HOLAKOUIE NAIENI
Affiliation:
School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
MOHSEN REZAIE
Affiliation:
School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
FARIBA TEIMOORI
Affiliation:
Iranian Research Centre on Ageing, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
FARSHAD POURMALEK
Affiliation:
Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
*
Address for correspondence: Ali Ardalan, No. 78, Italia Ave, Health in Emergencies and Disasters Department, School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: aardalan@gmail.com or aardalan@tums.ac.ir
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Abstract

Elders have long been recognised as among the most vulnerable people in disaster events. This paper reports a qualitative study of the self-perceived needs of older people in the aftermath of the Bam earthquake in Iran in 2003. A total of 56 people aged from 65 to 88 years were recruited to the study using purposive sampling, including 29 men and 27 women. Six focus group discussions and ten semi-structured individual interviews were conducted. Each focus group involved six to ten people from the cities of Bam and Baravat and their rural suburbs. Content analysis was used to analyse the transcribed data. The analysis identified four major themes among the informants' concerns: inappropriate service delivery, affronts to dignity, feeling insecure and emotional distress. A disaster-prone country like Iran needs to be appropriately prepared with culturally sensitive plans to meet the needs of those who suffer from their effects, not least older people. Emergency relief managers should note that for many older people in a disaster zone, customary forms of relief are neither required nor appropriate, and that their distinctive immediate and long-term needs should be assessed and met. Relief agencies need to be trained to be age-sensitive and should mainstream older people's rights in the planning and implementation of both the response and recovery phases of assistance.

Keywords

older people's needsdisasterIranqualitative study
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 11 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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