SBIR-STTR Award

Flooding events continue to increase in both frequency and intensity. Workers involved in post-flood reconstruction work are at increased risk of adverse health effects due to respiratory exposures and other hazards. Proposed e-learning platform 'Pocket Ark' provides training before flooding occurs, real-time decision support during a clean-up, and communications capabilities during and after cleanup to the workers involved. It addresses an important public health problem and uses a novel app-based e-learning platform to improve and enhance the cognitive understanding of flood-related health hazards within this vulnerable working population.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
PROJECT NARRATIVE The proposed research is relevant to public health because the safety of individuals participating in post-flood reconstruction is becoming increasingly more important in terms of the number of workers involved in this activity and the number of hazards they are exposed to in the aftermath of storms of increasing intensity.

Project Terms:
Affect; Allergens; climatic; Meteorological Climate; Climate; Infectious Disorder; Infectious Diseases; Infectious Disease Pathway; Communicable Diseases; Communication; Communities; web-based training; web-based instruction; virtual learning; virtual education; technology-enhanced learning; online learning; online education; on-line learning; on-line education; multimedia learning; internet-based training; internet-assisted education; electronic learning; eLearning; digital learning; digital education; computer-based training; computer-based learning; computer-based instruction; computer-based education; computer-assisted instruction; E-learning; Data Collection; Disaster Planning; Disasters; Environment; Feedback; Flooding; Floods; Foundations; Future; Goals; ontogeny; Tissue Growth; Generalized Growth; Growth; Health; Level of Health; Health Status; Humidity; Hurricane; indexing; Irritants; Learning; Natural Disasters; Public Health; Recurrent; Recurrence; Research; Risk; Safety; respiratory symptom; pulmonary symptom; airway symptom; Respiratory Signs and Symptoms; Survey Instrument; Surveys; Time; Work; Health Hazards; Competence; Advocacy; base; improved; Phase; Ensure; Training; Individual; Recovery; Logistics; Measurement; Exposure to; Molds; Filamentous Fungi; Knowledge; Life; programs; Frequencies; Event; Home environment; Home; respiratory; Services; experience; hazard; novel; Reporting; Allergic; Sampling; response; Adverse event; Adverse Experience; Skin; preventing; prevent; Preparedness; Readiness; Address; Data; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Small Business Innovation Research; SBIR; Monitor; Development; developmental; Hazard Identification; reconstruction; digital; design; designing; remediation; Outcome; Population; innovation; innovative; innovate; waterborne; water-borne; usability; iterative design; prototype; high risk; cognitive enhancement; phase 1 study; Phase I Study; operation; mobile application; mobile app; cloud based; Learning Module; Teaching Module; Educational Module; Education Module; Emergency response; data visualization; mobile computing; mobile technology; mobile platform; physical symptom; dashboard; recruit; smartphone Application; iPhone Application; iPhone App; iOS application; iOS app; Smartphone App; Smart Phone Application; Smart Phone App; Cellular Phone Application; Cellular Phone App; Cell phone App; Cell Phone Application; Android Application; Android App

Workers involved in post-flood reconstruction face an increased risk of occupational exposure to respiratory and other safety hazards as well as threats to their personal security (i.e., exploitation, wage theft, and wage discrimination). Post-flood reconstruction is often handled by day laborers who are predominantly non-English speaking and who have limited access to safety training and personal protective equipment. As flooding events increase in frequency and intensity, there is a critical need to develop tools to help these workers mitigate threats to their safety and wellbeing. To address this need, the interdisciplinary team of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program have been developing and refining Pocket Ark (PA), a comprehensive e- learning platform for workers in post-flood reconstruction. Their goal in Phase II is to develop the next generation of PA's e-learning platform to disseminate critical information about hazards to workers prior to deployment to a post-flood worksite. aims include updating the PA platform and conducting a high- fidelity simulated disaster response scenario to train 64 workers and evaluate the program's efficacy. As an outcome, Phase II is expected to yield a production-ready e-learning platform that: 1) delivers quality, audience-appropriate training to workers; 2) disseminates real-time information about potential on-site hazards; 3) improves logistics between workers and coordinating organizations; and 4) provides tools to reduce wage theft and other security risks. The anticipated outcome of PA is significant in that it addresses multiple dimensions of worker safety unique to this worker population.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
PROJECT NARRATIVE The proposed research is relevant to public health because the hazards posed by flooding are increasing in frequency and intensity, and the safety of individuals participating in post-flood reconstruction is in jeopardy. This project proposes to protect the health, safety, and security of these workers via enabling technology.

Project Terms:
Adoption; Affect; Allergens; Climate; Meteorological Climate; climatic; Communicable Diseases; Infectious Disease Pathway; Infectious Diseases; Infectious Disorder; Communication; Communities; E-learning; computer-assisted instruction; computer-based education; computer-based instruction; computer-based learning; computer-based training; digital education; digital learning; eLearning; electronic learning; internet-assisted education; internet-based training; multimedia learning; on-line education; on-line learning; online education; online learning; technology-enhanced learning; virtual learning; web-based instruction; web-based training; Disasters; Discrimination; Cognitive Discrimination; Environment; Face; faces; facial; Floods; Flooding; Future; Goals; Growth; Generalized Growth; Tissue Growth; ontogeny; Health; Humidity; Irritants; Language; Learning; literacy; Natural Disasters; workplace exposure; Occupational Exposure; Organizational Innovation; well-being; wellbeing; Personal Satisfaction; Production; Public Health; Recurrent; Recurrence; Research; Research Resources; Resources; Risk; Safety; Salaries; Wages; airway symptom; respiratory symptom; Respiratory Signs and Symptoms; Technology; Testing; Stealing; Theft; Time; Training Activity; training module; Work; Competence; Risk Assessment; Advocacy; Workplace; Job Location; Job Place; Job Setting; Job Site; Work Location; Work Place; Work-Site; Worksite; work setting; base; improved; Site; Phase; Evaluation; Training; Individual; Recovery; Logistics; Exposure to; tool; Filamentous Fungi; Molds; Knowledge; Life; programs; Dimensions; Frequencies; Event; System; respiratory; Services; hazard; disease prevention; disorder prevention; member; Reporting; Allergic; response; Adverse Experience; Adverse event; Skin; preventing; prevent; Preparedness; Readiness; Address; Data; Security; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; SBIR; Small Business Innovation Research; Update; Characteristics; Process; Development; developmental; Hazard Identification; reconstruction; digital; design; designing; next generation; remediation; Outcome; Population; innovation; innovate; innovative; waterborne; water-borne; advocacy organizations; usability; iterative design; prototype; lens; lenses; high risk; phase 2 study; phase II study; operation; Emergency response; equipment training; recruit; smartphone Application; Android App; Android Application; Cell Phone Application; Cell phone App; Cellular Phone App; Cellular Phone Application; Smart Phone App; Smart Phone Application; Smartphone App; iOS app; iOS application; iPhone App; iPhone Application; COVID-19; COVID19; CV-19; CV19; corona virus disease 2019; coronavirus disease 2019; coronavirus disease-19; coronavirus infectious disease-19; COVID-19 pandemic; COVID crisis; COVID epidemic; COVID pandemic; COVID-19 crisis; COVID-19 epidemic; COVID-19 global health crisis; COVID-19 global pandemic; COVID-19 health crisis; COVID-19 public health crisis; COVID19 crisis; COVID19 epidemic; COVID19 global health crisis; COVID19 global pandemic; COVID19 health crisis; COVID19 pandemic; COVID19 public health crisis; SARS-CoV-2 epidemic; SARS-CoV-2 global health crisis; SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic; SARS-CoV-2 pandemic; SARS-CoV2 epidemic; SARS-CoV2 pandemic; SARS-coronavirus-2 epidemic; SARS-coronavirus-2 pandemic; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV 2 epidemic; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV 2 pandemic; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 epidemic; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic; corona virus disease 2019 epidemic; corona virus disease 2019 pandemic; coronavirus disease 2019 crisis; coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic; coronavirus disease 2019 global health crisis; coronavirus disease 2019 global pandemic; coronavirus disease 2019 health crisis; coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; coronavirus disease 2019 public health crisis; coronavirus disease crisis; coronavirus disease epidemic; coronavirus disease pandemic; coronavirus disease-19 global pandemic; coronavirus disease-19 pandemic; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 global health crisis; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 global pandemic; stakeholder perspectives; stakeholder insights; personal protective equipment; personal protection equipment; Home