City & Metropolitan Planning | College of Architecture + Planning
Global Change and Sustainability Center
BUILDING RESILIENCE IN VULNERABLE OLDER ADULT COMMUNITIES FACING INCREASED EXPOSURE RISKS TO WASTEWATER CONTAMINATION FROM FLOODING IN PUERTO RICO
Ivis Garcia Zambrana, Associate Professor
The objective of this study is to gather data that will aid in building resilience in vulnerable populations against contamination risks posed by flooding. The underlying hypothesis is that even in vulnerable older adult communities exposed to natural disasters and resulting contamination, community-based risk reduction efforts can significantly decrease risk and increase the resilience of such populations especially when factors such as psychosocial vulnerabilities and the built environment are taken into consideration. Specifically, as researchers we are interested in determining:
1) What secondary/modifying psychosocial variables affect the vulnerability of older adults to risk posed by contaminant exposure.
2) Learning how to build resilience in vulnerable communities with older adults.