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Community disaster resilience: a qualitative study on Iranian concepts and indicators

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Abstract

The concept of community disaster resilience (CDR) has become one of the most popular terms in disaster literature. This concept is recognized as a culture-bound phenomenon that is influenced by diverse domains and indicators in any specific culture. This qualitative study uses content analysis to explore conceptual and working definitions, as well as domains and indicators of CDR in Iranian context. CDR is defined as “The ability of a community to coexist, cope with, and manage disasters through an integrated, comprehensive, participatory and positive approach.” Seeking a working definition, CDR explores as “The level of hazards that a community absorbs with no damage, the level of main functions that remains active, and the period a community needs to return to normal conditions.” CDR in Iran is formed by social, managerial, economic, cultural, physical, and environmental domains and as a holistic approach that makes disaster management effective and efficient.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all interviewees who participated in this study. In addition, we thank Ahmad Sadeghi, president of Tehran Disaster Mitigation and Management Organization (TDMMO), for his kind efforts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Disaster Public Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 78, Italia Ave, Tehran, Iran

    Abbas Ostadtaghizadeh, Ali Ardalan & Hossain Jabbari

  2. Department of Disaster and Emergency Health, National Institute of Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 78, Italia Ave, Tehran, Iran

    Abbas Ostadtaghizadeh & Ali Ardalan

  3. Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Ali Ardalan

  4. School of Psychological and Clinical Sciences, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia

    Douglas Paton

  5. Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 78, Italia Ave, Tehran, Iran

    Hossain Jabbari

  6. Department of Disaster and Emergency Health, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Tehran, Iran

    Hamidreza Khankeh

  7. Department of Clinical Science and Education, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Hamidreza Khankeh

Authors
  1. Abbas Ostadtaghizadeh
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  2. Ali Ardalan
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  3. Douglas Paton
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  4. Hamidreza Khankeh
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  5. Hossain Jabbari
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ali Ardalan.

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Ostadtaghizadeh, A., Ardalan, A., Paton, D. et al. Community disaster resilience: a qualitative study on Iranian concepts and indicators. Nat Hazards 83, 1843–1861 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2377-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2377-y

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