Disaster-related communication preferences of homeless and nonhomeless VA patients.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the communication preferences of homeless (H) and nonhomeless (NH) Veterans Affairs (VA) patients for receiving information about the impact of natural disasters on VA healthcare services.

DESIGN

Probability-based sampling design stratified on age categories, urban/rural, coastal/noncoastal, and homelessness.

SETTING

Northeast United States.

PARTICIPANTS

Eligible NH and H participants included those who lived in and had at least one healthcare visit to a VA medical center/clinic in the region in the previous 24 months. Homeless participants included those receiving VA homeless services or having ICD9-CM V60.0 (Lack of Housing). 2,264/6,088 NH and 383/2,000 H completed the survey.

INTERVENTION: Cross-sectional, mixed-mode survey administered August-November 2015.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Helpfulness of ten communication modes for receiving information about the impact of natural disasters on VA healthcare services.

RESULTS

Despite sociodemographic and health status differences, the top five communication modes rated extremely/very helpful were the same for both groups: telephone (76 percent H; 81 percent NH), TV (63 percent H; 60 percent NH), text (62 percent H; 50 percent NH), e-mail (56 percent H; 58 percent NH), radio (54 percent H; 47 percent NH). Newspaper and online modes (VA/other Web sites, Twitter, Facebook, MyHealtheVet) were rated substantially lower.

CONCLUSIONS

H and NH patients prefer similar communication modes for receiving updates about the impact of natural disasters on VA healthcare services. Findings suggest that a multimodal communication strategy that incorporates phone, TV, text, e-mail, and radio will help Veterans Affairs (VA) reach its diverse patient population during natural disasters. Dissemination of messages via online modes, while rated less helpful, may augment the number of patients reached.