Including Family Caregivers in Emergency Response Planning and Preparedness

Key findings used in wiki

• Action guide in the Innovations in Family Caregiver Services and Supports series, a USAging project funded by the Administration for Community Living as part of its National Caregiver Support Collaborative; the document states Last Updated: 03/2026.
• The guide is written for professionals in the Aging and Disability Networks, not as direct caregiver instruction; caregiver-facing steps come from the resources it points to.
• FEMA defines emergency response as the capability to save lives, protect property and environment and meet basic needs after an incident has occurred.
• FEMA defines emergency preparedness as the continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating and taking corrective action to ensure effective coordination during incident response.
• A study by the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers and Duke University School of Medicine, as summarized in this guide, found that caregivers undertook similar preparedness efforts as non-caregiving peers but faced unique considerations: advance medical planning to obtain medications and ensure power for medical devices, logistical planning for possible evacuation, and significant psychological stress and anxiety during all phases of the disaster, including managing the stress of those they care for.
• The same study is described as finding that existing natural-disaster literature lacks the voice and experience of caregivers.
• FEMA and the Rosalynn Carter Institute created a Disaster Preparedness Guide for Caregivers built on three essential steps: assessing needs, engaging a support network, and creating a plan.
• American Red Cross readiness for people with mobility, hearing, learning or visual impairments is described as assembling a survival kit, making an emergency plan and staying informed, plus managing communications, equipment, service animals, pets and home hazards.
• The guide states that the Aging and Disability Networks help engage caregivers in emergency planning conversations and connect them with available emergency and disaster preparedness programs and resources.
• Named local program examples include Fairfax Area Agency on Aging caregiver alert notifications delivered by text, email and/or voice through the county alert system; Arlington Agency on Aging EmPowerment readiness sessions distributing Red Cross Ready kits with local fire departments and an onsite Spanish interpreter; and the San Diego Area Agency on Aging Older Adult and Disability Sector Support Team. These are specific localities and do not establish nationwide availability.
• The guide reports that in 2023 FEMA responded to more than 100 disasters and that those impacted received more than $1.3 billion toward recovery.
• An earlier edition of this action guide exists at a different USAging file URL and cites 53 million American caregivers; this March 2026 edition cites 63 million. Pin the edition when citing any population figure.