Improving public health emergency preparedness through enhanced decision-making environments: A simulation and survey based evaluation

2013 ◽  
Vol 80 (9) ◽  
pp. 1775-1781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozgur M. Araz ◽  
Megan Jehn
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Public Health Emergency Preparedness

scholarly journals 18.H. Workshop: Bringing evidence during public health emergencies: addressing the challenge through HTA

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Response Planning ◽  
Emergency Preparedness And Response ◽  
Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Abstract Evidence-based decision-making is central to public health. Implementing evidence-informed actions is most challenging during a public health emergency as in an epidemic, when time is limited, scientific uncertainties and political pressures tend to be high, and irrefutable evidence may be lacking. The process of including evidence in public health decision-making and for evidence-informed policy, in preparation, and during public health emergencies, is not systematic and is complicated by many barriers as the absences of shared tools and approaches for evidence-based preparedness and response planning. Many of today's public health crises are also cross-border, and countries need to collaborate in a systematic and standardized way in order to enhance interoperability and to implement coordinated evidence-based response plans. To strengthen the impact of scientific evidence on decision-making for public health emergency preparedness and response, it is necessary to better define mechanisms through which interdisciplinary evidence feeds into decision-making processes during public health emergencies and the context in which these mechanisms operate. As a multidisciplinary, standardized and evidence-based decision-making tool, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) represents and approach that can inform public health emergency preparedness and response planning processes; it can also provide meaningful insights on existing preparedness structures, working as bridge between scientists and decision-makers, easing knowledge transition and translation to ensure that evidence is effectively integrated into decision-making contexts. HTA can address the link between scientific evidence and decision-making in public health emergencies, and overcome the key challenges faced by public health experts when advising decision makers, including strengthening and accelerating knowledge transfer through rapid HTA, improving networking between actors and disciplines. It may allow a 360° perspective, providing a comprehensive view to decision-making in preparation and during public health emergencies. The objective of the workshop is to explore and present how HTA can be used as a shared and systematic evidence-based tool for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response, in order to enable stakeholders and decision makers taking actions based on the best available evidence through a process which is systematic and transparent. Key messages There are many barriers and no shared mechanisms to bring evidence in decision-making during public health emergencies. HTA can represent the tool to bring evidence-informed actions in public health emergency preparedness and response.

scholarly journals Preparedness and Responses Faced during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Belgium: An Observational Study and Using the National Open Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (21) ◽  
pp. 7985
Author(s):  
Rongxin He ◽  
Jun Zhang ◽  
Ying Mao ◽  
Olivier Degomme ◽  
Wei-Hong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Medical Equipment ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
World Health ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Public Health Emergency Preparedness

This study aimed to descript the Belgian COVID-19 responses process according to the WHO’s (World Health Organization) Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management Framework (Health EDRM Framework) and to present the measures taken and epidemic impact in the different phases of COVID-19 in Belgium. The WHO’s EDRM Framework was used for reviewing the Belgian Public health emergency preparedness and responses in the context of COVID-19. Information on the measures taken was collected through the literature review including all government’s communication, reports, and scientific papers. All epidemic data were extracted from a national open database managed and published by the Sciensano. Additionally, two authors closely followed the Belgian situation since the beginning of the pandemic and updated the data every day. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the anti-epidemic strategy was mainly to avoid medical resources exceeding the upper limit. Belgium issued a series of emergency decrees to limit the spread of the virus. An existing structure of “federal-region-municipal” as the framework of public health emergency preparedness and response was adapted. The emergency response process in Belgium was divided into four phases: information-evaluation-coordination-decision-making at the region level and the final decision-making at the federal level. Belgium also implemented a phased plan in the process of setting up and lifting the lockdown. However, it was vulnerable in early response, due to the shortage of medical equipment supplies in general, and more particularly for the long term care facilities (LTCFs). Belgium has achieved an intensive cooperation between stakeholders based on an existing multisectoral emergency organization framework. Legislation, medical insurance, and good communication also played a role in limiting the spread of viruses. However, the authorities underestimated the risk of an epidemic and did not take quarantine measures among people suspected affected by SARS-COV-2 in the early stages, resulting in insufficient medical equipment supply and a large number of deaths in the LTCF. The implementation of the lockdown measure in Belgium also encountered obstacles. The lockdown and its exit strategy were both closely related to the pandemic situation and social and economic life. The authorities should strengthen information management, improve the public awareness of the measures, and find out the balance points between the social and economic life and infection control measures.

A Framework for Training Public Health Practitioners in Crisis Decision-Making

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey Kayman ◽  
Tea Logar
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Health Practitioners ◽  
Emergency Preparedness And Response ◽  
Public Health Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Public Health Practitioners ◽  
And Training

AbstractThree sets of issues tend to be overlooked in public health emergency preparedness and response, which can be addressed with new training protocols. The first issue is procedural and concerns the often intuitive (as opposed to deliberative) nature of effective crisis decision-making. The second issue is substantive and pertains to the incorporation and prioritization of ethical, political, and logistical concerns in public health emergency guidelines. The third issue is affective and concerns human feelings and human frailty, which can derail the most well designed and best practiced procedural and substantive approaches to emergency response. This article offers an outline for a decision-making framework for public health emergencies that addresses and incorporates these issues within relevant guidelines and training. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:165–173)

scholarly journals From Anthrax to Zika: Fifteen Years of Public Health Emergency Preparedness

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (S2) ◽  
pp. S117-S117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Nonkin Avchen ◽  
Tanya Telfair LeBlanc ◽  
Christine Kosmos
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Long-Term Capacity-Building in Public Health Emergency Preparedness in Thailand – Short Report

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 13-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Limpakarnjanarat ◽  
Rw Linkins ◽  
E Emerson ◽  
WL Aldis ◽  
C Jiraphongsa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Short Report ◽  
Public Health Emergency Preparedness
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