What is going to move the needle on citizen preparedness? Can America create a culture of preparedness?

Abstract

The federal government has called for the creation of a Culture of Preparedness. A literature review confirms a variety of studies have found that citizens are woefully unprepared for disasters. Citizens are no more prepared now than prior to Hurricane Katrina. The thesis identifies two major hurdles for a Culture of Preparedness: (1) changing government itself to embrace citizen preparedness as a forward deployment of assets and to provide the necessary leadership and funding for preparedness efforts, and (2) changing the behavior of the American people to embrace and act upon the message of preparedness. The thesis reviews numerous federal documents highlighting the importance of citizen preparedness and juxtaposes stated policy to actual federal budget numbers. Lack of formal policy by state and local government is identified as a concern. Defining and measuring citizen preparedness have yet to be accomplished. A persuasive campaign to change human behavior has yet to be created that incorporates social marketing, cause marketing, psychology and sociology. Case studies including seatbelt usage and breast cancer awareness are identified as models. Israel is discussed as a Culture of Preparedness. Several recommendations and suggestions for developing a Culture of Preparedness are provided. Areas of further study are identified.