UCP’s My Life Without Limits recently met with Jenny Marceron, Ph.D. student at The George Washington University. Her study focuses on emergency preparedness among people with physical disabilities. It’s also very important to her, both professionally and personally, as she has cerebral palsy. See the information and video below for more details!
Do you think disasters are likely to happen in your city or town? Have you learned about disasters and emergencies likely to occur in your area?
Hi, my name is Jenny Marceron and I am a Ph.D. student studying Clinical Psychology at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. My research focuses on how people think about and prepare for disasters, both natural and human made. People have different ideas about the likelihood of disasters, the significance of possible consequences of disasters and beliefs about their ability to prepare. I am interested in how people think about disasters and prepare for them.
In particular, I am interested in how people with physical disabilities think about and prepare for disasters as this group can be more negatively impacted by disasters. For example, many people with physical disabilities would have difficulty evacuating in the case of a disaster. And if emergency shelters are available, they are often unprepared for the needs of people with physical disabilities.
I am currently looking for people to participate in my study by answering questions about disasters. If you are 18 years or older, live in the United States and self-identify as having a physical disability, you are eligible to participate. The survey is available online (approximately 20-30 minutes) or by telephone (approximately 40 minutes) and eligible participants will receive a $10 gift card (Amazon, Target or iTunes) for participating. Please contact emergencyprepstudy@gmail.com if you are interested!
I hope my research will help inform preparedness interventions across the United States. Thank you so much for your help with this research—it is very meaningful to me both professionally and personally!
Disability and Disasters Study, IRB #051428