Community Resilience
Practical Applications to Strengthen Whole Communities in Disaster

Coordinators: Chandra Anita, Acosta Joie

Language: English

Approximative price 82.80 €

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250 p. · 19.1x23.5 cm · Paperback

Community Resilience: Practical Applications to Strengthen Whole Communities in Disaster blends resilience theory and empirical analysis with lessons learned from recent activities to implement and test community resilience strengthening strategies and measure resilience progress. Contributions from key settings and disciplines on the role of resilience theory and science in local implementation are included, providing a stronger operational framework for resilience science than has previously been offered. The book also elevates the discussion by integrating theory where practical handbooks have missed those considerations.



  • Provides a concise, clear definition of what community resilience is and why it matters
  • Presents a multidisciplinary approach that translates community resilience theory into implementation science
  • Includes coverage of behavioral health and disaster and the role of faith communities in strengthening community resilience
1. Resilience: What it is and Why it Matters
2. Pursuing a Resilience Framework
3. Resilience in Action - Local Civil Society Initiatives
4. Resilience in Action - Global Civil Society Initiatives
5. Integrating Emergency Preparedness with Resilience
6. Involving the Faith and Humanitarian Community in Building Resilience
7. Partnership in Resilience Development
8. Mental Health Sequelae and Ongoing Resilience Development
9. Physical Symptomology and Ongoing Resilience Development
10. Infrastructure and Resilience
11. Environmental Issues and Resilience
12. Leadership and Resilience
13. Data and Resilience
14. Next Steps and Innovation in Resilience Development
Anita Chandra (Dr.P.H., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; M.P.H., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is a Director of the Justice, Infrastructure and Environment division at the RAND Corporation, as well as a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her background is in public health, child and adolescent development, and community-based participatory research and program evaluation. She currently leads or co-leads studies on community resilience and long-term disaster recovery; deployment and military families; and child health and well-being. She serves as the RAND Principal Investigator of the multi-year Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience project, an effort to implement and evaluate community resilience-building strategies with particular focus on strengthening linkages between government and nongovernmental organizations and leveraging community assets for disaster resilience. The Los Angeles work has now extended to the District of Columbia, where she is leading a similar effort entitled Resilient DC. Dr. Chandra’s work also included initiatives in the Gulf South, including a study of disaster case management and development of a community resilience training module for community organizations, which features the benefits of sustainable development as part of overall community resilience. She has also led or co-led several studies in public health systems research with attention to addressing the needs of historically vulnerable populations.
Joie Acosta (Ph.D.,University of Hawai’i) is a Behavioral Scientist at RAND and a community and cultural psychologist. Dr. Acosta specializes in community-based participatory research and evaluation of issues related to the behavioral health consequences of disaster, community resilience, and long-term recovery. She has worked with the Red Cross and local service providers to develop recommendations for involving NGOs in disaster response and recovery and has co-authored repor