9/11 Outreach to Survivors and Disaster Relief Volunteers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Flynn K
• Description:
  9/11 Environmental Action (9/11EA) carried out an effective outreach and education project aimed at increasing awareness of the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) for affected survivors (residents, students and area workers), locally and nationally, WTC disaster relief volunteers and New York City Department of Sanitation responders. Our partner StuyHealth, an organization of affected Stuyvesant High School alumni, focused outreach efforts on affected young adults, locally and nationally. Some 400,000 survivors were exposed to the WTC disaster. The majority are likely not aware of the WTCHP, or think it is for responders only. Survivors remain hard-to-reach for many reasons including the widely disseminated official pronouncements that WTC dust and smoke posed no health threat, and the absence of a specialized treatment program for survivors until 2007. Those who became sick from their exposures sought care from private physicians, who lacked the needed expertise. Many survivors and providers are not aware that certain health problems have established links to 9/11. Tens of thousands of volunteers joined in the 9/11 disaster relief effort. Some currently reside in the greater New York metropolitan area, others in their home states. Volunteers share some of the same barriers to care as survivors, including the 'disconnect' between exposures and symptoms. They tend to see themselves as underserving of care, as helpers to the sicker population of responders. Hosting disaster relief organizations often have not informed volunteers of their eligibility for WTCHP care. Instead, our Volunteers Outreach Coordinator had to transcribe numerous paper contact sheets she possessed from her work as a Salvation Army supervisor after 9/11. Many DSNY responders are not aware of their eligibility for treatment or for the monitoring program. 9/11EA devised effective strategies to address barriers for both survivors and volunteers, using both traditional and social media outreach methods. To address the fact that many survivors are being treated for WTC conditions by private physicians, our messaging emphasized the added value of care at a specialized center by doctors who are expert. We attended dozens of community meetings and forums, distributed thousands of brochures and postcards. We created a new 9/11EA website as well as educational materials to promote the WTCHP and counter the widespread confusion about WTC programs. We pushed messages on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and worked with agencies and others to push WTCHP information out in mailings and emailings. We created an instructional video for survivors on how to enroll in the WTCHP and provided assistance to guide survivors or responders through the enrollment process. The combined reach of our direct and indirect outreach, to survivors, volunteers and DSNY responders, was 898,292. StuyHealth increased awareness the about the WTCHP and the National Provider Network, among young adults, including many now residing beyond NYC, using Facebook, Twitter, email lists, a new website and a video PSA. StuyHealth grew its membership to 463 and its reach exceeded 5000 young adults 9/11EA's project led to increased awareness of and enrollment in the WTCHP by survivors and responders. This will result in improved health outcomes for those receiving WTCHP monitoring and treatment. There is an ongoing need for outreach. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Education Epidemiology Healthcare Disparities Health Promotion Occupational Health Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• Keywords:
  Disaster Response Health Communications Health Disparities Health Effects Information Dissemination Monitoring Systems Social Media World Trade Center WTC
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-34
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054166
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2019-100550
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, E11-OH-010451, 2015 Jul; :1-34
• Contact Point Address:
  Kimberly Flynn, 9/11 Environmental Action, PO Box 3314, Church St. Station, New York, NY 10008
• Email:
  kflynn@911ea.org
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  9/11 Environmental Action, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20120901
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20150228
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d1b3bcc996c4dc5ab6043be667c4399bfe7f5c8c64c7b1b5fd0709245c0dd5c980f87aa3932f53b33bb26fa6ccd25f336de6695dc8c444b2b3d218e6400ec36e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/218800/cdc_218800_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.10 MB ]