Pandemic Influenza Preparedness: Adaptive Responses to an Evolving Challenge

Unraveling the complexities of disaster management: A framework for critical social infrastructure to promote population health and resilience

“…The acute response spanned several months, yet recovery will continue for years, and will continue to require extensive collaboration between Haitian and international agencies to develop the infrastructure to promote population health and resilience in the country. Likewise, following the relatively short response phase for the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), recovery and planning efforts to prepare for the next global outbreak have been ongoing for nearly a decade (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2009;Reissman, Watson, Klomp, Tanielian, & Prior, 2006;World Health Organization [WHO], 2009).…”

Contemporary Perspectives on Risk Perceptions, Health-Protective Behaviors, and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases

“…Importantly, human behavior plays a major role in the spread of infectious diseases [6,10]. Public health strategies to reduce an outbreak's impact rely heavily on prompting timely individual actions, including decisions about vaccines and other healthprotective behaviors [2,6,11]. However, evidence from psychology, behavioral medicine, and public health reveals that many at-risk individuals are reluctant, refuse, or are unable to act in a timely manner despite strong precaution adoption recommendations during a confirmed public health emergency or infectious disease outbreak [8,10,[12][13][14].…”

Predicting the anticipated emotional and behavioral responses to an avian flu outbreak

“…3,4 Preparation for pandemics has focused on the critical issues of surveillance, vaccine development and distribution, and health care coordination and response, with much less attention given to the response of ordinary citizens. 5,6 Although the response of public officials and health care professionals is certainly important, the response of citizens may have as great an affect on the overall impact of epidemics and other large-scale emergencies. 7,8 Citizen responses can range from acts of altruism and sacrifice that benefit the greater good to acts of self-protection and illegal behavior that benefit the individual at the expense of the larger community.…”

“…7,8 Citizen responses can range from acts of altruism and sacrifice that benefit the greater good to acts of self-protection and illegal behavior that benefit the individual at the expense of the larger community. 6,9 Understanding the response of ordinary citizens may be vital to developing a comprehensive and effective plan for controlling a pandemic.…”