The Role of Communities in Protecting Vulnerable Groups During The Disaster Emergency Response Phase

Abstract

Vulnerable groups, including children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, older adults, persons with disabilities, and individuals with chronic diseases, face greater risks during disaster emergency response due to limited access to information, evacuation support, assistance, and health services. Although previous studies have examined community resilience, disaster preparedness, risk communication, and the protection of vulnerable groups, they have primarily focused on individual interventions, specific vulnerable populations, or particular disaster phases. Few studies have comprehensively synthesized the forms of community roles, implementation mechanisms, and determinants of effective community-based protection specifically during the disaster emergency response phase. This study addresses this gap through a structured literature review. Relevant publications were identified through Google Scholar using predefined Indonesian and English keywords related to community roles, vulnerable groups, disaster protection, community resilience, inclusive evacuation, and risk communication. Publications from 2021–2026 were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, while earlier methodological references were retained to strengthen the review framework. The selected literature was screened for relevance and analyzed using thematic synthesis. The findings indicate that communities play essential roles in identifying vulnerable groups, facilitating risk communication, supporting inclusive evacuation, distributing basic needs, providing health and psychosocial support, and linking affected populations with referral services. These roles are strengthened by community participation, social capital, local leadership, accurate data, cross-sector collaboration, and inclusive communication, whereas limited volunteer capacity, inadequate training, weak coordination, and insufficient evacuation facilities remain major barriers. Strengthening community capacity is therefore essential for more effective, inclusive, and sustainable disaster emergency response.