Use of Community Assessments for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPERs) for Drought - Midwest Drought Meeting

Oct 3, 2026

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Material on using Community Assessments for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPERs) to understand likely health effects of drought and support emergency decision-making. It outlines example impacts such as reduced water quality, worsening living conditions, poorer air quality, higher injury risk, increased disease incidence, and compromised nutrition. It also explains assessment challenges, then presents CASPER’s needs-assessment approach and methodology, including two-stage probability sampling with cluster and household interviews, data weighting, and rapid reporting within about 36 hours for stakeholders.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages34

Reading Time1 h 26 min

AccessFree to download

Example: Potential Health Effects of Drought

Challenges of Assessing Health Effects of Drought

Disaster Epidemiology & Response Team

Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER)

What is a Needs Assessment?

Importance of RNAs

CASPER Methodology Overview

Use of Community Assessments for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPERs) for Drought Tesfaye Bayleyegn, MD Senior Service Fellow Team Lead, Disaster Epidemiology and Response Team Health Studies Section Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice National Center for Environmental Health Center for Disease Control and Prevention Midwest Drought Meeting 20 November 2019 Drought Monitor Data valid: October 23, 2019 Example: Potential Health Effects of Drought • Compromised quantity and quality of potable water • Diminished living conditions • Impacts on behavioral health • Decreased air quality • Increased risk of injury • Increased disease incidence • Compromised food and nutrition Challenges of Assessing Health Effects of Drought Drought can be slow-evolving Difficult to define when drought begins and ends Impacts are not immediate Often requires intermediate steps for health outcomes Surveillance not designed to connect drought and health Surveillance often not long enough to determine outcomes Disaster Epidemiology & Response Team Advance Science ▪ Research Build Capacity ▪ Training ▪ Tools, guidance docs, materials Provide Assistance ▪ Response ▪ Disaster surveillance ▪ Needs assessments Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) What is a Needs Assessment? A systematic process of information collection and analysis regarding the type, depth, and scope of a problem Can be rapid or in-depth ▪ Rapid (RNA): information collected and findings generated over 1 day to few weeks, ideally within 5 days ▪ In-depth: comprehensive look to identify recovery-oriented needs, capacities, and gaps taking several months Importance of RNAs • Provides situational awareness • Determines needs of affected population, especially with resource limitations • Provides basis for interventions or follow-up CASPER Methodology Overview Two-stage probability sampling 30 clusters 7 households Household interview Data weighting to adjust to obtain population estimates Report generated within 36 hours of data collection and shared with key stakeholders and decision-makers

FAQs

What health effects of drought are highlighted in the material?

The material lists compromised potable water quantity and quality, diminished living conditions, impacts on behavioral health, decreased air quality, increased risk of injury, increased disease incidence, and compromised food and nutrition.

Why is assessing drought-related health effects challenging?

Drought is slow-evolving, it can be difficult to define when it begins and ends, impacts are not immediate, and health outcomes often require intermediate steps. Surveillance may also be not designed to link drought and health or may be too short to determine outcomes.

How does CASPER methodology work and how fast are results shared?

CASPER uses two-stage probability sampling with cluster and household interviews, then applies data weighting to produce population estimates. A report is generated within about 36 hours of data collection and shared with key stakeholders and decision-makers.

Oct 3, 2026

Upload by Oliver