Health, Inequalities, and Building a Culture of Preparedness

Disasters can have an impact on the root causes of social disparities in health and health care. At the nexus of emergency management, public health, and the emergence of a culture of preparedness is the critical role that preparation for disasters plays in guarding against furthering social disparities in health particularly as communities begin to recover. The COVID-19 pandemic, our most recent natural disaster, has heightened our awareness to the number of different inequities that permeate society. Within this volume, we present work that provides key insights into the interconnectedness of public health, emergency management, and response systems and how these can work together to potentially mitigate social disparities.