Chandra, A., J. Acosta, et al. (2011). Building community resilience to disasters: a way forward to enhance national health security. Technical Reports. Santa Monica, CA, RAND: xxiii, 78 p.
This report focuses on the importance of building community resilience for national health security in the US context. While recognising the need for local planning teams to define community 'boundaries' and the wide range of meanings of 'community', the term 'community' is used primarily to describe a geographical catchment area of the local health department. The research findings are based on a substantive literature review, six stakeholder focus groups across the United States, and three meetings with relevant subject matter experts (SMEs). The definition and application of community resilience is outlined as comprising: wellness and population health, public education (about disaster preparedness, risks and resources), engagement (participatory decision-making in planning, response and recovery activities), self-sufficiency, partnership (between government and other organisations), quality (to monitor and evaluate progress in building community resilience), and efficiency (of use of existing community resources).