The Effect of Educational Intervention on Health Care Providers' Preparedness in the Natural Disasters: A Case Study of Health Care Providers in Shahreza City, Iran

Every year, numerous natural disasters occur around Iran, with many casualties and financial losses. In these crises, the demand for health care suddenly and uncontrollably increases. In such circumstances, the readiness of health centers and their staff is critical in reducing injuries and mortality. This study aimed to determine the effect of disaster preparedness intervention on the attitude, knowledge, and practice of health care providers in Shahreza City, Iran.

This one-group quasi-experimental study was conducted on 55 health care providers in Shahreza health centers selected by the census method. The participants completed a researcher-made questionnaire in two stages before and two months after attending a disaster preparedness workshop, a top-table maneuver, and an operational maneuver. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS v. 23 using descriptive statistics and paired t-test.

Data analysis showed a significant difference between the mean scores of pretraining and posttraining regarding the rate of knowledge, attitude, and preparedness (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the mean scores of performance (P>0.05).

The intervention significantly improved awareness and developed a positive attitude about disaster preparedness. Although it slightly increased performance, it was not significant. Nonetheless, it appears that the continuation of training along with other operational methods can improve individual performance. It is recommended that disaster preparedness programs be considered as one of the topics of in-service education of health care providers and also as the subject of educational courses in different academic periods.