Patients With Chronic Conditions Worsened By Lack Of Disaster Plan During Hurricane Katrina, Study Says

Inadequate disaster preparedness plans resulted in many people with chronic diseases having difficulty finding daily medications and physicians to manage their conditions after Hurricane Katrina, according to a report released on Monday by the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, the AP/Biloxi Sun Herald reports.

The study interviewed patients and health care providers from Biloxi, Miss., to Mobile, Ala., and found that patients with chronic conditions -- such as diabetes, hypertension and HIV -- had to focus on basic survival, and as a result, their diseases progressed, according to study co-author Errol Crook, chair of international medicine at the university. The stress of the situation, low supply of treatments and lack of healthy food recommended for people with conditions such as hypertension and diabetes all were contributing factors, the study found.

A co-author of the study, Martha Arrieta of the university's Center for Healthy Communities, said that usually disaster plans focus on acute illnesses, trauma and infectious disease. Because of this, patients with chronic conditions "are often left to their own devices after a disaster," according to the AP/Sun Herald. Arrieta said that stocking up on healthy food and coordinating efforts to distribute supplies more efficiently should be part of future disaster plans.

The study recommended that medical facilities and pharmacies improve disaster preparation, including stockpiling medicines, creating and practicing disaster plans, and sharing those plans with patients and surrounding health care facilities (AP/Biloxi Sun Herald, 12/18).

Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.