Older Adults’ Responses to Hurricane Katrina

Abstract

Using the stress and coping model, this article explores how older adults prepared for and coped with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Interviews with a sample of 122 displaced adults, 60 years of age or older, provided insights regarding the daily hassles they faced that included securing basic resources, facing communication difficulties, and finding transportation. Positive thinking, modified thinking, staying busy, and spirituality were categories that emerged from the qualitative analysis of 119 participants and explained coping by displaced older adults. Our findings reflect what and how older adults coped with a disaster and have implications for disaster preparedness.