The Board on Health Sciences Policy proposes to develop a community discussion toolkit (“Toolkit”) based on the Post-Disaster Recovery of a Community's Public Health, Medical and Social Services consensus study’s report Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters: Strategies, Opportunities, and Planning for Recovery, released in April, 2015. The report provides a conceptual framework for the integration of health considerations into recovery planning, as well as operational guidance for multiple sectors involved in community planning and disaster recovery. According to the study, these groups too often work in isolation. It is essential to increase communication and collaboration and more effectively leverage resources across sectors so that recovery efforts support long-term community health. The toolkit will summarize the recommendations of the study relevant at the local level in an accessible language and will be aimed at those that plan for and carry out disaster recovery and those that plan for and build healthy communities. The toolkit is envisioned as a “meeting in a box” with meeting planning resources and a workbook aimed at helping a community engage in an internal conversation about how they might take actions across community sectors to facilitate recovery planning and strategies that optimize community health. Specifically, the toolkit will include:

1. Background information that provides sector specific value proposition statements distilled from the study report; and
2. A template based discussion guide, which includes facilitator questions and scripts, pre-meeting and meeting planning resources and worksheets, and exercise descriptions/instructions.

To ensure that the toolkit is a practical and accessible resource to local communities, and to test and refine the toolkit draft, it will be piloted tested in a Gulf Region community. Following the pilot and prior to release and submission to our sponsors, the toolkit will be subject to standard NRC review procedures. The RRC will be consulted in the process.