The aim of the PrepAGE-project which is co-funded by the European Commission’s DG ECHO was to introduce specific recommendations for older people in emergency and disaster preparedness and prevention programmes. The PrepAGE-project identified the needs, structures and measures to find out how to prepare and reach the target group of older people in case of emergencies and disasters. The project also took into account the resources and resilience of older people and brought together experts from the health and social sector and the field of disaster management. The project was implemented in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia and the United Kingdom from 1 April 2014 to 31 May 2016.
In order to introduce special requirements for older people into emergency and disaster preparedness and prevention programmes, the project developed recommendations on national and European level.
Please see them here:
The recommendations have been summarised and incorporated into five key themes:
- Improving cooperation and coordination among stakeholders
- Developing robust and updated databases to ensure that vulnerable older people can be reached in the case of emergency (at the local level)
- Raising awareness and providing information
- Encouraging community involvement
- Offering psychosocial support focusing on the needs of older people
Please find the recommendations in English, German, Bulgarian, Latvian and Croatian below:
- PrepAGE_Recommendations_English
- PrepAGE_Recommendations_German
- PrepAGE_Recommendations_Bulgarian
- PrepAGE_Recommendations_Latvian
- PrepAGE_Recommendations_Croatian
Each of the partner countries organized a community-based exercise in order to examine the existing situation regarding the disaster management preparedness in connection with older people. They included training in a real life situation (i.e., training of evacuating older people from a social care center where the inhabitants of the centre, the fire brigade and other assistant staff members and volunteers could test their knowledge on dealing with the emergency situation) or training and awareness raising sessions for older people. These community-based exercises helped to see how the needs and resources of older people are already being included in disaster response and which specific fields still should be improved.
A community-based exercise guide was made that summarises the experiences from the exercises conducted in partner countries and provides practical knowledge and recommendations for organisations to carry out such exercises themselves.
Please find the guides in English, German, Bulgarian, Latvian and Croatian below: