| I'm putting together in one place all the components that make up the prototype 'ReadyMoms Toolkit'. This is what we exhibited at the National Emergency Management Summit and what we will be using in Atlanta this week for the Public Health Preparedness Summit. I am posting the material here both as a resource and for feedback.
The purpose of developing this toolkit, is to put together a set of materials that can be used by non-professionals as well as professionals alike, for presentation in promotion of individual and family preparedness in the community.
The primary target audience is the general public. The assumption is of minimal prior understanding of pandemics and preparedness. Contents are 'pitched' at about eighth-grade level. The outcome is to inform them of the risk, point out some critically important issues for their consideration, and give them simple doable and specific steps to take.
The focus is on overcoming barriers to 'beginner' preparedness. Information on 'advanced' preparedness is given out as (and form only a small part of) supplementary and not primary information, to avoid overwhelm. The presentation particularly the brochure and posters are designed as much to educate as to get them to stockpile according to set lists - the outcome lies in preparedness at cognitive and emotional in addition to material levels.
As I said, this is the first cut. Over time we will be fine-tuning and improving on this, but we believe that when our website is complete and online support is available, then we will have put together as close to a 'whole product' for promotion of individual and family preparedness as you can find anywhere. Notice that this product serves (or has the potential to serve) 3 different audiences:
- the general public,
- non-credentialed non-affiliated individuals doing community outreach, and
- professional citizens preparedness initiatives.
Finally, this is the result of contributions from many many people, too many to count, a product of the hive mind. Going forward, it will only be as good as we continue to put our minds to finding solutions. As David Nabarro said, pandemics are wicked problems with uncomfortable knowledge and clumsy solutions. All solutions are messy, none are perfect. That is the challenge. Please give us your feedback, and much appreciation for your support!
THE TOOLKIT - KEY FEATURES include:
- easy - ie baby steps that are achievable by most families
- presentation designed to cover a wide range of preferred learning styles - ie see, hear, feel, touch, move, talk, etc...
- familiar - ie as similar to their ordinary experiences as possible eg the prep display particularly the food items is designed to mimic family groceries shopping
- permissive not patronizing or confrontational - ie "feel free to browse"
- allows audience-to-audience interaction not just presenter-to-audience - to facilitate homologous persuasion
- targets parents - based on the online experience that most preppers are parents, grandparents, and carers for children.
- targets women - most household spending decisions are made by moms/women
- provides practical immediately actionable take-home information (eg prep lists complete with cost and recipes)
- science and evidence-based - utilizing accepted professional standards and official recommendations, to create as broad-based partnership and consistency with official messages as possible
- utilizes mnemonics or memory aids eg "are you PANDEMIC READY" and "become PANDEMIC READY", also the '3S (in brochure) - Shortages, Sickness, School Closure'
- message crafted for momentum - to move person from problem state to outcome/solution state. (see posters 5 to 7)
- emphasis on community resilience and community mitigation rather than indiscriminate SIP. also that preparing for pandemics will also cover other emergencies and disasters.
THE MESSAGE
The Brochure. Download the latest version here. this is a screen-shot of the front cover (click to enlarge)
The Posters
   
  
THE PREP ITEMS
"Two Weeks of Food for a Family of Four"
 
The 2 week basic food box for a family of 4 (full list available here)
- Budget of < $150,
- Approximate nutrition content of 2,000 calories, 40gm protein, 25gm fiber per person per day (more details here)
- long shelf-life
- space saving - fits in 2 boxes as above
- focuses on sustainable rather than short-term crisis-driven preparedness - will need additional 'ready-to-eat' items
- companion non-food prep items (see below) and ideas for alternate fuel or cooking methods.
- addresses the 2 commonest objections - "I can't afford it", and "I've got no room"
Non-Food Prep List
Non-food items are arranged into distinct areas on the table, for display. The following tabletop signs give the categories and examples of what one might use for the display. Clicking on the thumbnails will give you a bigger pic full size pdf files which you can save and use as is!
          
INSTRUCTIONS
To complete that, there are a number of smaller signs explaining the use of the various displayed items, for those who are just browsing. The signs can be downloaded as a pdf file from here. This is the list of topics/items for the signs:
- inverter
- Buddy burner
- plunger laundry system
- land-line telephone
- hand crank flash-lights
- potty-in-a-bucket
- water filter
- hand mixer/egg beater, manual can opener
- solar lights
- walkie talkie, hand-held radios
- blood pressure cuff, stethoscope
- snap light sticks
RESOURCES AND SUPPORT
Handouts are either available to take away, or included in a binder to be viewed. These can also be downloaded or emailed afterwards. They more or less form 2 groups - topical instructions, and more comprehensive care kits from official sources.
UNDER DEVELOPMENT
Website and discussion forum. |
