Implications of Language in Emergency Preparedness Among Latino Immigrants in New Jersey

Download or read book Implications of Language in Emergency Preparedness Among Latino Immigrants in New Jersey written by Carmen I. Nieves and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Latino immigrant populations are at risk during a disaster due to their limited English proficiency. Preparedness materials and resources are primarily in English and available on the Internet. Prior research indicated that language barriers might contribute to materials not being available to Latino immigrant communities, leading to a lack of awareness of disaster preparedness. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent, if any, there is a difference in emergency preparedness relative to ethnicity or current language, and the interaction between language and ethnicity relative to emergency preparedness among Spanish- speaking Latinos, bilingual (English- and Spanish-speaking) Latinos, and English-only–speaking non-Latinos. Quantitative methodology was a means to assess the influence ethnicity and language have on the level of knowledge of emergency preparedness. The sample of 158 individuals comprised Spanish-speaking Latinos, bilingual (English- and Spanish-speaking) Latinos, and English-only–speaking non-Latinos. The hypotheses were that ethnicity, current language, and the interaction between ethnicity and current language among Spanish-speaking Latinos had a significant relationship to the level of emergency preparedness knowledge compared to bilingual (English- and Spanish-speaking) Latinos and English-only–speaking non-Latinos. The findings of the study indicated that Latinos—whether Spanish-only speaking or bilingual (English and Spanish speaking)—lacked knowledge of emergency preparedness. Future researchers may wish to study a larger population and expand the geographical area to locations such as the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut) that have larger Latino immigrant populations and have been affected by natural and human-made disasters over the years.