Factors that affect the disaster preparedness of parents for children with disabilities at special needs schools

Abstract

 This study aims to clarify the factors that affect the disaster preparedness of parents for children with disabilities at special needs schools. An anonymous self-reporting survey was conducted with the parents of children from elementary to high school regarding their disaster prevention awareness, level of disaster preparedness, challenges encountered during a disaster and how the parents coped with them, as well as the forms of necessary support they need. A total of 209 responses was obtained and analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and multiple regression analysis. Parents with a high awareness of disaster prevention were better prepared for disasters. It was also found that disaster prevention awareness and annual household income influenced disaster preparedness. It was revealed that these parents had higher disaster awareness than the general population. In addition, the parents tended to cater more to their children’s individual needs when preparing for a disaster. This study suggests that it is necessary to increase their imagination for disasters, in addition to strengthened collaboration with schools.