Behaviour adoption approaches during public health emergencies: implications for the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Mohamed F Jalloh, Aasli A Nur, Sophia A Nur, Maike Winters, Jamie Bedson, Danielle Pedi, Dimitri Prybylski, Apophia Namageyo-Funa, Kathy M Hageman, Brian J Baker, Mohammad B Jalloh, Eugenia Eng, Helena Nordenstedt, Avi J Hakim
Author Information
Mohamed F Jalloh: Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA yum8@cdc.gov. ORCID
Aasli A Nur: Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Sophia A Nur: Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Maike Winters: Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. ORCID
Jamie Bedson: Independent Consultant, Seattle, Washington, USA. ORCID
Danielle Pedi: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Dimitri Prybylski: Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Apophia Namageyo-Funa: Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. ORCID
Kathy M Hageman: Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Brian J Baker: Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Mohammad B Jalloh: Focus 1000, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Eugenia Eng: Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Helena Nordenstedt: Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. ORCID
Avi J Hakim: CDC COVID-19 Response Team, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. ORCID
Human behaviour will continue to play an important role as the world grapples with public health threats. In this paper, we draw from the emerging evidence on behaviour adoption during diverse public health emergencies to develop a framework that contextualises behaviour adoption vis-à-vis a combination of top-down, intermediary and bottom-up approaches. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, we operationalise the contextual framework to demonstrate how these three approaches differ in terms of their implementation, underlying drivers of action, enforcement, reach and uptake. We illustrate how blended strategies that include all three approaches can help accelerate and sustain protective behaviours that will remain important even when safe and effective vaccines become more widely available. As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and prepares to respond to (re)emerging public health threats, our contextual framework can inform the design, implementation, tracking and evaluation of comprehensive public health and social measures during health emergencies.
