# Strategic Approach to Facilitating Evacuation by Health Assessment of Vulnerable Elderly in Nursing Homes II (SAFE HAVEN II)

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA · 2020 · $520,687

## Abstract

Strategic Approach to Facilitating Evacuation by Health Assessment of Vulnerable Elderly in
Nursing Home and Assisted Living Facilities (SAFE HAVEN II Study
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Over 12,000 nursing home residents and over 12,000 assisted living residents were evacuated
from Texas and Florida facilities during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Older adults are especially
vulnerable to harm during disasters because of their medical comorbidities, such as dementia,
and functional impairments. A fundamental question in disasters is whether to evacuate
residents or shelter in place. Our prior examinations of nursing home (NH) resident outcomes
after the Gulf hurricanes from 2005-08 showed that significant morbidity and mortality occurred
in the months following the storms, and that those who were evacuated suffered greater
morbidity and mortality compared to those who sheltered in place. However, the response to
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in August and September of 2017 suggest a continuation of the
trend toward long-term care evacuations that we first observed in the response to the Gulf
storms a decade ago. It demonstrates a need for additional evidence to inform policies created
to protect vulnerable NH residents in disasters. A particular need exists to examine the effect of
disasters on assisted living (AL) communities, for which little evidence exists concerning the
effect of disasters on resident health and safety. The overall goal of this research proposal is to
understand more about evacuation vs. sheltering in place during hurricane emergencies. It
includes an examination of the impact of doing one or the other on NH and AL resident mortality
and morbidity. Our proposal examines the effect of the hurricanes on NH residents (Aim1). It
utilizes a novel methodology to identify AL residents developed by our team through a recent
NIA R21 and to examine their outcomes (Aim 2). It examines the experiences of AL
administrators to better understand the impact of evacuation and sheltering in place in those
communities (Aim 3). It will be among the first studies to understand the impact of disasters on
the growing AL population. This proposal represents a rapid response to the recent disasters to
ensure that appropriate and timely data are collected while events are fresh, and to guide
disaster planners and responders in efforts to protect increasingly vulnerable NH and AL
residents from harm in future disasters.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9925169
- **Project number:** 5R01AG060581-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Lindsay Peterson
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $520,687
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9925169

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9925169, Strategic Approach to Facilitating Evacuation by Health Assessment of Vulnerable Elderly in Nursing Homes II (SAFE HAVEN II) (5R01AG060581-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9925169. Licensed CC0.

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