Do engagement best practices motivate preparedness intentions? Data from earthquake workshops for Spanish speakers

Abstract

Communities exposed to Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes have diverse information needs. However, information about earthquake risk is often developed for general audiences and is rarely tested for its effectiveness at improving risk understanding or preparedness intentions for those general audiences, let alone ethnic minorities. Best practices in risk communication suggest that providing information that is personalized, clear, and culturally appropriate will improve people's willingness to engage with the material and improve learning outcomes. This study reports the test of a 2-h earthquake preparedness workshop that was based on active learning principles, addressed earthquake impacts, preparedness actions, and included goal setting activities to motivate participants’ preparedness. We engaged local facilitators to deliver a culturally appropriate workshop in Spanish to 52 participants online and in-person. A pretest/posttest evaluation revealed significant increases in expected earthquake consequences, risk area accuracy for shaking zone and liquefaction zone, positive affect, self-efficacy, and, most important, preparedness intentions. These results indicate that an active learning strategy is an effective method of risk communication. However, further research is needed to identify ways to change the variables that had weak or nonsignificant impacts and to determine if the preparedness intentions ultimately produce preparedness actions.