An older man offers emergency supplies to two older women.
The Natural Hazards Center is pleased to announce the release of the thirteenth training module in the CONVERGE series: Older Adults and Disasters. This module examines how social systems influence the vulnerability and capacities of older adults in disasters. It also highlights older adults’ strengths, experiences, and social connections, emphasizing the vital roles that they can and do play in bolstering preparedness and response. Made possible with funding from the National Science Foundation, this free online course is part of a series of foundational and advanced training modules designed to enhance valuable knowledge and skills among students and other emerging researchers and practitioners.
Please register to attend our demonstration webinar of the CONVERGE Older Adults and Disasters Training Module on July 9, 2026, from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. MT.
Module Overview
The CONVERGE Older Adults and Disasters Training Module explores how aging-related factors and structural inequalities shape older adults’ disaster vulnerability while highlighting the critical knowledge and capacities they bring to building community resilience. It further emphasizes how engaging older adults in research, planning, and emergency management can enhance progress with disaster risk reduction.
“Older adults are often disproportionately impacted in disasters, not simply because of age, but because of the social, economic, and political conditions that shape how people age,” said Haorui Wu, Canada Research Chair in Resilience and Associate Professor at Dalhousie University, who is one of the lead developers of the module. “At the same time, older adults bring critical strengths—including life experience, community knowledge, and social connections—that are essential to building resilience. Recognizing both vulnerability and capacity is key to more inclusive and effective disaster planning.”
The module highlights the multifaceted roles older adults play in building resilience to disasters. Case studies illustrate how older adults contribute as caregivers, volunteers, knowledge holders, and community leaders—demonstrating that engaging this population is not only an ethical imperative, but also a practical strategy for strengthening disaster risk reduction. The module concludes by discussing guiding principles to consider when engaging older adults in hazards and disaster research, with a specific focus on the role of transparency, flexibility, and reciprocity.
The module includes case studies that highlight real-world examples of older adults' strengths and capacities during disasters.
This module grew out of work published in a special issue of the International Journal of Disaster Risk Science focused on promoting older adults’ engagement in disaster settings. Kyle Breen, assistant professor at Texas A&M International University and a module co-developer, explained, “The special issue aimed to elevate older adults’ leadership in disasters, and through that process, we identified opportunities to improve age-friendly services and strengthen resilience.”
The special issue author team was eager to partner with CONVERGE to broaden the module’s reach to students and those new to hazards and disaster research.
“This module was designed to help users understand how older adults experience and navigate disasters, while also highlighting ethical and participatory approaches to working in partnership with these communities,” Breen said.
Upon completion of the module, users who successfully pass a 10-question quiz will receive a certificate worth one contact hour of general management training through the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) certification program. Users can visit the CONVERGE website to access supplementary materials, including the CONVERGE Assignment Bank, Annotated Bibliographies, and Additional Resources.
The next training modules to be released in the series include:
- People Experiencing Homelessness and Disasters
- Interdisciplinary Hazards and Disaster Research
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About the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure—NHERI—is a network of experimental facilities and other components dedicated to reducing damage and loss-of-life due to natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, windstorms, tsunamis, and storm surge. It is supported by the DesignSafe Cyberinfrastructure. NHERI provides the natural hazards engineering and social science communities with the state-of-the-art resources needed to meet the research challenges of the 21st century.
Acknowledgements
This CONVERGE Training Module is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure. (NSF Award #1841338). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.