Project Director: Jennifer Horney

Funding Organization: National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine: Gulf Research Program

Funding Cycles: Healthy Ecosystems 2

Description: Socially vulnerable groups who live in hazard-prone coastal areas such as the Gulf Coast are disproportionally at risk from both natural and technological disasters such as oil spills. The project researchers plan to integrate publicly available federal data and individual medical claims data in order to conduct a large-scale evaluation of the effects of disasters on the health status and health system utilization of Medicare beneficiaries living in coastal Gulf communities. Such efforts could help policymakers anticipate risks posed by future disasters and help enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities.