Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
February 2014, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 49-59.
Practice
Peer-Mentored Preparedness (PM-Prep): A New Disaster Preparedness Program for Adults Living Independently in the Community
David Paul Eisenman , Alicia Bazzano , Deborah Koniak-Griffin , Chi-hong Tseng , Mary-Ann Lewis , Kerry Lamb , and Danise Lehrer
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-52.1.49

Abstract
The authors studied a health promotion program called PM-Prep (Peer-Mentored Prep), which was designed to improve disaster preparedness among adults living independently in the community. PM-Prep consists of four 2-hour classes co-taught by a health educator and peer-mentors. Adults were randomly assigned to an experimental arm or a wait-list control arm. Earthquake safety knowledge and preparedness supplies were assessed prior to the intervention and at 1 month after the intervention (N  =  82). Adults in the experimental arm significantly increased preparedness by 19 percentage points, from 56% to 75% completed (p < .0001), and improved their knowledge by 8 percentage points, from 79% to 87% correct (p  =  .001). This is the first peer-mentored, targeted, and tailored disaster preparedness program tested with this population.