The community resilience measurement throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond -an empirical study based on data from Shanghai, Wuhan and Chengdu

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is widespread agreement in the field of public health that community resilience should be maintained and strengthened. However, there are significant differences in the pandemic prevention effects between different communities in different areas. To explore the main influencing factors on community resilience and the magnitude of their impact during the pandemic, this study collected 650 valid questionnaires from Shanghai, Wuhan and Chengdu by using the Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit Assessment Survey (CART). Data collection was conducted from February to March 2020 when this three cities activated a Level One public health emergency response. The data were analyzed by using multiple linear regression analysis and structural equation model. Results indicate that: (1) Domains such as Information and Communication, and Connection and Caring scored higher, while Disaster Management, Resources and Transformative Potential scored lower; (2) A community got higher resilience scores if it took more effective measures to prevent and control the pandemic(Shanghai > Chengdu > Wuhan), people within the community participated more actively in disaster risk reduction activities and activities of volunteer responder groups, and people were more closely connected with the community; (3) Variables such as the participation in affiliated volunteer responder groups, and community disaster risk reduction activities exerted the biggest impact on community resilience. Therefore, it is urgent to establish a community-based, resilience-centered framework of community resilience in the post-pandemic era. This framework will strengthen a community's capacity to cope with disasters and risks.