2020 Volume 23 Issue 3 Pages 39-46
Purpose: This paper examined the actual activities and challenges of voluntary disaster prevention residents’ organizations with regard to assisting individuals with special care needs through cooperation among residents.
Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 leaders of 10 voluntary disaster prevention residents’ organizations. Based on the content of the interviews, we extracted the narratives about the aims of the organizations’ activities, the contrivance in the activities concerning the support for individuals with special care needs, and the difficulties faced in performing the support activities. We then created a code and analyzed it qualitatively and inductively.
Results: Regarding actual activities, there were eight categories such as “Organization's own surveys and visits to all object persons” in order to understand individuals with special care needs, four categories such as “Efforts to match people requiring special care needs with supporters” for the personal assistance plans, and five categories such as “Creation of a cooperative system with local residents, junior high school students, and related organizations” for the implementation of evacuation drills. Moreover, daily support activities such as “Interaction among residents” were performed in preparation for disasters.
Discussion: The following were considered challenges of voluntary disaster prevention residents’ organizations related to assisting individuals with special care needs through cooperation among residents: namely, “Building relationships between individuals requiring special attention and who are less likely to seek support and organizations,” “Demonstrating potential human resources in local communities and reducing the burden on supporters,” and “Ensuring a cooperative relationship.”
