WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

*Dr. Mercy Joseph, PhD, ANP-BC, RN

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study was a PhD dissertation (Published in ProQuest 2016) that explored how faith-based leaders cared for community-dwelling older adults in a natural disaster. The research was focused on Hurricane Sandy, which affected Long Island, New York, in October 2012. The study was purported to answer the research question, how do faith-based leaders care for community-dwelling older adults affected by a natural disaster such as Hurricane Sandy? Participants were male or female faith-based leaders (ordained leaders of their religious congregation) who were involved in caring for community-dwelling older adults on Long Island, New York, including the counties of Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk. A total of 16 faith based leaders were interviewed, which included Priests (Catholic), Rabbis (Jewish), Imams (Muslim) and other Christian leaders. A qualitative approach, utilizing the grounded theory of Strauss and Corbin (1998) was employed. Data identified DISEMPOWERMENT as the basic psychosocial problem among community-dwelling older adults in a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy. The critical issues which contributed to disempowerment included: uncertainty about the future, financial constraints, increasing health needs, lacking essential documents, and feelings of abandonment. Faith-based leaders found that the older adults were difficult to reach, and many were depressed. They provided safety shelters and strengthened inter and intra-community connections so as to minimize disempowerment and supported them. This study led to the development of a substantive theory “FAITH BLIND CARE” which included multiple concepts and categories which is published as a different article.

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