Abstract
This final chapter puts forth ideas to revisit the current conceptual framework used to address communication and engagement issues by drawing upon lessons learned from the case studies in this book. The chapter seeks to expand the current thinking and practice to capture broader social science considerations to inform public health preparedness and response measures. The arguments, reflections and recommendations are aimed at policymakers, donors, researchers and international and national first-line responders to current and future disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics. While the world is currently focused on identifying strategies to end the COVID-19 pandemic, the lessons learned and ensuing recommendations draw upon several other large- and medium-scale outbreaks that the world has experienced in the past decade. The chapter highlights how systems thinking that puts people and communities at the core of prevention and outbreak control measures are still at the periphery. Addressing disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics merely through biomedical interventions have several pitfalls as have been documented in the lessons learned presented in the case studies in this book and elsewhere. Yet, we note that despite some progress in foreshadowing the role of risk communication and community engagement, gaps remain. Issues that need additional attention and investments include social science research prioritization, greater communication and engagement capacities and newer strategies for building trust, addressing infodemics, innovative approaches to address risk perception and hesitancy, deeper analysis of cultural nuances in disease outbreaks, and strategies to address human rights and complexity. The chapter ends by calling on researchers and practitioners to field-test the expanded conceptual framework for communication and community engagement, given that social and behavioural interventions remain, quite often, the first line of defence against disease outbreaks.
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Chitnis, K., Obregon, R., Manoncourt, E. (2022). Reflections and Recommendations for Future Disease Outbreak and Pandemic Response. In: Manoncourt, E., Obregon, R., Chitnis, K. (eds) Communication and Community Engagement in Disease Outbreaks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92296-2_10
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