Assessment of psychological preparedness levels and disaster preparedness of employess in Afyonkarahisar Grovernorat

This study was conducted to examine the psychological preparedness levels and disaster preparedness of employees working in disasters at the governor's office, one of the most authorized official institutions of the local government, and to draw attention to its importance. For this purpose, governor's office employees of Afyonkarahisar province, which poses a risk for the region that has previously experienced a disaster, were preferred. The descriptive study was conducted with governor's office employees working in Afyonkarahisar province between February 2024 and March 2024. Data were collected with the Demographic Information Form, Psychological Preparedness Scale for Disaster Threat (PPDTS) and Disaster Readiness Scale (DRS) forms in the light of expert opinions and literature. In the analysis of the findings obtained in the study, the Student t test will be used in the comparison of the means of two independent groups, and the Mann Whitney U test will be used in the comparison of the medians. One-way analysis of variance will be used in the comparison of the means of more than two groups, and the Kruskall Wallis test will be used in the comparison of the medians. Tukey and Dunn tests will be used in multiple comparisons. The statistical significance level will be taken as 0.05, and SPSS (version 26) package program will be used in the calculations. The age range of the 142 volunteer participants who are provincial government employees is between 22 and 64 years, with a mean age of 37.82±9.35 years. The work experience of the participants varies between 1 and 40 years, with an average of 10.75±8.94 years. When examining the distribution of the participants, 59.9% (n=85) are male, 71.8% (n=102) are married, and 88.7% (n=126) live in a nuclear family. Additionally, 35.21% (n=50) do not have children, 64.8% (n=92) are university graduates, and 64.7% (n=92) live in their own home. Furthermore, 89.4% (n=127) reside in an apartment, with 71.8% (n=102) of their homes having been built after the year 2000. Lastly, 88% (n=125) of the participants have not lost a relative in any disaster, and 85.2% (n=121) do not own a disaster preparedness kit. No significant relationship was found between the total and sub-dimension averages of PPDTS and DRS based on the variables of family structure, education level, place of residence, type of residence, house permit, previous disaster experience, previous loss of a relative in a disaster, and diagnosed illness status among governorship employees. However, a statistically significant difference was found between gender and both the management of an individual's social environment and the total PPDTS average score (p<0.05), whereas no significant relationship was observed with the DRS average scores. Male governorship employees had significantly higher scores in managing their social environment and the total PPDTS average compared to female governorship employees. A statistically significant difference was found between the marital status of governorship employees and the physical protection sub-dimension of DRS (p<0.05), while no significant relationship was found with the PPDTS average score. Married governorship employees had significantly higher scores in the physical protection sub-dimension of DRS compared to single employees. Statistically significant differences were observed in PPDTS and DRS scores based on governorship employees' disaster-related training status. Similarly, statistically significant differences were found in PPDTS and DRS scores based on whether governorship employees had a disaster preparedness kit. In order to develop psychological preparedness, first of all, governorate employees should be made to recognize their own individual characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and to evaluate themselves emotionally in the face of their reactions to events. Trainings should be organized by the institution on issues aimed at developing the psychological preparedness levels of governorate employees and seminars, conferences, etc. should be organized by experts in this field. Activities should be organized to increase the psychological resilience of governorate employees and it is recommended that the trainings to be given in this area should be reinforced with in-service training programs on the subjects of implementation, stress management, strengthening communication, developing the social environment and increasing teamwork. Considering the variety and number of disasters that can be seen in our country, it is recommended that governorate employees are aware of their duties and responsibilities and that regular information and legislative arrangements are made before a disaster occurs. Keywords: Disaster, Disaster Management, Psychology in Disasters, Disaster Preparedness