Haven't posted for awhile, busy pushing health literacy in my workplace, in the community, even in Kyabram. Kyabram? It's a smalll town in the North of Victoria (which is a large state at the bottom of Australia). Kyabram and it's district towns were beginning to experience some nasty flooding on the day I visited. Just a few days later the nearby town of Numurkah had to replace its hospital with tents. I was there talking health literacy to health professionals and I did wonder in the days that followed what the "information" response would be to people managing inundation and evacuation. Many folk refused to leave their homes for reasons I can well understand; why leave when there is still work to be done? But even now, what information are people getting about the process of recovery, avoiding illness, mental health, survivial.
Dr Rima Rudd told me a story once about the Len and Ceci Doak and their "first response" efforts after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. A tree of health literacy "experts" were at the ready to volunteer their efforts to make information that would reach communities in need, survival information, accessible information.
I really like that idea.
Next time I'll post on our forum - In their shoes.
