Willingness to Work during Public Health Emergencies: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The identification of the factors underlying the willingness or lack thereof to respond to public health emergencies is paramount to informing more capable health services. The interest in this topic appears renewed with each surge of threat, either referring to natural disasters, man-made violence, or epidemic and pandemics. However, there is no systematic approach to the research patterns and related main findings concerning individual and contextual determinants. The present article contributes to this theme through a systematic literature review of a sample of 150 articles published in the last 30 years on the subject of willingness and preparedness of health professionals to deal with public health threats. Our findings show that the research is mainly phenomena and contextual driven, responding to whichever emergency threat is more salient in a given period. Geographically, research on this topic is led by USA and China, mostly solely, while European countries invest in collaborations that are more international. Universities, including health institutes and schools, and researchers at hospitals conduct most of the research on the topic. The main research areas are medicine, psychology, and psychiatry. Pandemics, including COVID-19, influenza, and natural disasters, are the phenomena gauging more attention as opposed to terrorism events and biological accidents. The specific role of health professionals within the institution, their belief in ethical duties, preparation training, and concerns regarding infection of self and family are the main variables influencing the willingness and ability to report to work in public health emergencies.

The Impact of Pharmaceutical Electronic Bidding Procurement on Prices of Medicines: A Systematic Review

“…The review started with the search strategy and databases used. It was conducted in accordance with the guideline of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) [14,15] . This was followed by the methods of study selection, quality assessment, data extraction and data synthesis, respectively.…”

Fight or Flight: Emergency Healthcare Workers’ Willingness to Work during Crises and Disasters: A cross-sectional multicentre study in the Netherlands

“…HCWs were less likely to respond to a CBRN event if they felt less prepared for such a scenario. 10,17,21,24,25 This can be attributed to a lack of formal education and awareness of radiation-related events. 25 Exposure risk and the lack of training in PPE increased anxiety among staff members, causing hesitancy among HCW to treat radiographically exposed patients.…”

“…10,17,21,24,25 This can be attributed to a lack of formal education and awareness of radiation-related events. 25 Exposure risk and the lack of training in PPE increased anxiety among staff members, causing hesitancy among HCW to treat radiographically exposed patients. 27,28 Adequate training in PPE application was found to be a core competency in a review of disaster nursing practices.…”

Knowledge on Monkeypox Among Community in Southern Malaysia: Are We Prepared for The Next Battle?

“…When attitudes are anchored in substantial levels of information, they are more important and are better predictors of behaviours compared to when they are based on inadequate or inaccurate knowledge (McCarthy et al, 2021). Assessment of community's knowledge in developing viral illnesses can be useful for determining how well-prepared and willing they are to work during infectious disease outbreaks as current generation (Santinha et al, 2022). Malaysia is a tourist destination, which can enhance its susceptibility to the importation of human monkeypox.…”