Best Practices Spotlight

San Francisco State University's Disaster Preparedness Research submission to GRC’s Research and Regional Stewardship Best Practices is this week’s Spotlight on Innovation. See the full SFSU case illustration online.

Project Description:
Disaster Preparedness for Vulnerable Populations (DPVP) was a multi-year action–research partnership that combined a service learning outreach program with a pre-post telephone survey of seniors in San Francisco. Through participation In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), seniors were better prepared for the inevitability of future earthquakes.

Objectives:
Determine the level of preparedness for seniors in San Francisco; establish the most effective means of communicating preparedness information to this population; determine the effectiveness of university student outreach to them.

The University of Nevada Reno (UNR) is one of eight grant recipients under the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Children, Youth, and Families at Risk Sustainable Communities Project program, which supports efforts to strengthen outreach programs that teach skills and knowledge leading to healthier and more successful lives in at-risk populations. UNR will use its $660,000, five-year award to assist Spanish-speaking parents in becoming more involved in and supportive of their children's learning.

In other Agriculture Department news, the University of Kentucky has received $38,500 under the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program. The award was one of 22 matching grants made to support agricultural market research and demonstration projects. The University of Kentucky will use the funding to develop best practices for sampling food products at farmers markets, explore how food product sampling can enhance vendor revenue, and publish a food product sampling guidebook for market managers and vendors.