scholarly journals An innovative and integrated model for global outbreak response and research - a case study of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST)

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philomena Raftery ◽  
Mazeda Hossain ◽  
Jennifer Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Operational Research ◽  
Outbreak Response ◽  
Academic Collaboration ◽  
Support Team ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Background Despite considerable institutional experimentation at national and international levels in response to calls for global health security reform, there is little research on organisational models that address outbreak preparedness and response. Created in the aftermath of the 2013–16 West African Ebola epidemic, the United Kingdom’s Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) was designed to address critical gaps in outbreak response illuminated during the epidemic, while leveraging existing UK institutional strengths. The partnership between the government agency, Public Health England, and an academic consortium, led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, seeks to integrate outbreak response, operational research and capacity building. We explored the design, establishment and early experiences of the UK-PHRST as one of the first bodies of its kind globally, paying particular attention to governance decisions which enabled them to address their complex mission. Methods We conducted a qualitative case study using 19 in-depth interviews with individuals knowledgeable about the team’s design and implementation, review of organisational documents, and observations of meetings to analyse the UK-PHRST’s creation, establishment and initial 2 years of operations. Results According to key informants, adopting a triple mandate (response, research and capacity building) established the team as novel in the global epidemic response architecture. Key governance decisions recognised as vital to the model included: structuring the team as a government-academic collaboration which leveraged long-term and complementary UK investments in public health and the higher education sector; adopting a more complex, dual reporting and funding structure to maintain an ethos of institutional balance between lead organisations; supporting a multidisciplinary team of experts to respond early in outbreaks for optimal impact; prioritising and funding epidemic research to influence response policy and practice; and ensuring the team’s activities reinforced the existing global health architecture. Conclusion The UK-PHRST aims to enhance global outbreak response using an innovative and integrated model that capitalises on institutional strengths of the partnership. Insights suggest that despite adding complexity, integrating operational research through the government-academic collaboration contributed significant advantages. This promising model could be adopted and adapted by countries seeking to build similar outbreak response and research capacities.

scholarly journals The UK public health rapid support team: a novel programme integrating outbreak response, operational research, and capacity building

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1A) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Ashcroft ◽  
Benedict Gannon ◽  
Hilary Bower ◽  
Emilio Hornsey ◽  
Matt Knight ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Operational Research ◽  
Outbreak Response ◽  
Support Team ◽  
The Uk

scholarly journals A Conceptual Framework for Analysing Partnership and Synergy in a Global Health Alliance: Case of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philomena Raftery ◽  
Mazeda Hossain ◽  
Jennifer Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Team Cohesion ◽  
Outbreak Response ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Support Team ◽  
The Uk

ABSTRACT Partnerships have become increasingly important in addressing complex global health challenges, a reality exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and previous infectious disease epidemics. Partnerships offer opportunities to create synergistic outcomes by capitalising on complimentary skills, knowledge and resources. Despite the importance of understanding partnership functioning, research on collaboration is sparse and fragmented, with few conceptual frameworks applied to evaluate real-life partnerships in global health. In this study, we aimed to adapt and apply the Bergan Model of Collaborative Functioning (BMCF) to analyse partnership functioning in the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST), a government-academic partnership, dedicated to outbreak response and research in low- and middle-income countries. We conducted a literature review identifying important elements to adapt the framework, followed by a qualitative case study to characterise how each element, and the dynamics between them, influenced functioning in the UK-PHRST, exploring emerging themes to further refine the framework. Elements of the BMCF that our study reinforced as important included the partnership’s mission, partner resources (skills, expertise, networks), leadership, the external environment, management systems, and communication. Additional elements identified in the literature and critical to partnership functioning of the UK-PHRST included governance and financial structures adopted, trust and power balance, organisational culture, strategy, and evaluation and knowledge management. Because of the way the UK-PHRST was structured, fostering team cohesion was an important indicator of synergy, alongside collaborative advantage. Dividing the funding and governance equally between organisations was considered crucial for maintaining institutional balance, however, diverse organisational cultures, weak communication practices and perceived power imbalances compromised team cohesion. Our analysis allowed us to make recommendations to improve partnership functioning at a critical time in the evolution of the UK-PHRST. The analysis approach and framework presented here can be used to evaluate and strengthen the management of global health partnerships to realise synergy.

scholarly journals Protocol for establishing an Adaptive Diseases control Expert Programme in Tanzania (ADEPT) for integrating care of communicable and non-communicable diseases using tuberculosis and diabetes as a case study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e041521
Author(s):  
Stellah G Mpagama ◽  
Kaushik Ramaiya ◽  
Troels Lillebæk ◽  
Blandina T Mmbaga ◽  
Marion Sumari-de Boer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Operational Research ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Research Outcomes ◽  
The Government

IntroductionMost sub-Saharan African countries endure a high burden of communicable infections but also face a rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Interventions targeting particular epidemics are often executed within vertical programmes. We establish an Adaptive Diseases control Expert Programme in Tanzania (ADEPT) model with three domains; stepwise training approach, integration of communicable and NCDs and a learning system. The model aims to shift traditional vertical programmes to an adaptive diseases management approach through integrating communicable and NCDs using the tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes mellitus (DM) dual epidemic as a case study. We aim to describe the ADEPT protocol with underpinned implementation and operational research on TB/DM.Methods and analysisThe model implement a collaborative TB and DM services protocol as endorsed by WHO in Tanzania. Evaluation of the process and outcomes will follow the logic framework. A mixed research design with both qualitative and quantitative approaches will be used in applied research action. Anticipated implementation research outcomes include at the health facilities level for organising TB/DM services, pathways of patients with TB/DM seeking care in different health facilities, factors in service delivery that need deimplementation and the ADEPT model implementation feasibility, acceptability and fidelity. Expected operational research outcomes include additional identified patients with dual TB/DM, the prevalence of comorbidities like hypertension in patients with TB/DM and final treatment outcomes of TB/DM including treatment-related complications. Findings will inform the future policies and practices for integrating communicable and NCDs services.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was granted by The National Research Health Ethical Committee (Ref-No. NIMR/HQ/R.8a/Vol.IX/2988) and the implementation endorsed by the government authorities. Findings will be proactively disseminated through multiple mechanisms including peer-reviewed journals, and engagement with various stakeholders’ example in conferences and social media.

scholarly journals Changes of Walking Activity During the First Cycle Phases of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Seoul, Korea

2021 ◽  
pp. 193758672110265
Author(s):  
Youngjun Park ◽  
Haekwon Chung ◽  
Sohyun Park
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Physical Inactivity ◽  
Voluntary Participation ◽  
Walking Activity ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Acceleration And Deceleration ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
The Government

Aim: This study explores the changes in regular walking activities during the phases of the pandemic. Background: With the spread of COVID-19 transmission, people are refraining from going out, reducing their physical activity. In South Korea, COVID-19 broke out in the 4th week of 2020 and experienced the first cycle phases of the pandemic, such as outbreak, widespread, and decline. In response to the pandemic, the government encouraged voluntary participation in social distancing campaigns, and people reduced their outside activities. Methods: This article examines the decrease and increase of the Prevalence of Regular Walking (≥30 min of moderate walking a day, on ≥5 days a week) by the COVID-19 phases. This study is based on weekly walking data for 15 weeks in 2020, via the smartphone healthcare app, which is managed by 25 public health offices of the Seoul government. Results: According to the findings, the level of prevalence of regular walking (PRW) has a significant difference before and after the outbreak, and every interval of the four-stage COVID-19 phases, that is, pre-pandemic, initiation, acceleration, and deceleration. The level of PRW sharply decreased during initiation and acceleration intervals. In the deceleration interval of COVID-19, the PRW kept increasing, but it has not yet reached the same level as the previous year when the COVID-19 did not exist. Conclusions: As a preliminary study, this study explains empirically how COVID-19 changed PRW in Seoul. It would be helpful to enhance our understanding of the changes in physical inactivity in the pandemic period.

The promise of partnership

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-257
Author(s):  
Denis Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Third Way ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Partnership Approach ◽  
Development Of Partnership

‘Partnership’ is a word that crops up with increasing frequency in government, trade union and management circles in the UK. For many it neatly embodies both the practice and sentiment of the so-called ‘third way’. In the workplace, a partnership approach to industrial relations has been offered as a neo-pluralist alternative to the unitarism of Human Resources Management. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is an active proponent of partnership and the government has created a fund to support the development of partnership at the workplace. This article sketches some theoretical underpinning for the practice of partnership. To shed some light on the prospects for partnership it draws on recent UK experience and includes a case study of the development of a partnership between UNISON, the UK’s largest trade union, and Vertex Data Sciences, one of the fastest growing call centre operators in the UK.

Methodology for assessment of public health preparedness and response synergies between institutional authorities and the community

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel H. de Vries ◽  
John Kinsman ◽  
Judit Takacs ◽  
Svetla Tsolova ◽  
Massimo Ciotti
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Outbreak Response ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Rich Data

Abstract Background: This paper describes a participatory methodology that supports investigation of the collaboration between communities affected by infectious disease outbreak events and relevant official institutions. The core principle underlying the methodology is the recognition that synergistic relationships, characterised by mutual trust and respect, between affected communities and official institutions provide the most effective means of addressing outbreak situations. Methods: The methodological approach and lessons learned were derived from four qualitative case studies including (i) two tick-borne disease events: Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in Spain, and tick-borne encephalitis in the Netherlands (2016); and (ii) two outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis (norovirus in Iceland, 2017, and verocytotoxin-producingEscherichia coli [VTEC] in Ireland, 2018). These studies were conducted in collaboration with the respective national public health authorities in the affected countries by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Results: An after-event qualitative case study approach was taken using mixed methods. Lessons highlight the critical importance of collaborating with national focal points during preparation and planning, and interviewer reflexivity during fieldwork. Field work for each case study was conducted over one working week, which although limiting the number of individuals and institutions involved, still allowed for rich data collection due to the close collaboration with local authorities. The analysis focused on the specific actions undertaken by the participating countries’ public health and other authorities in relation to community engagement, as well as the view from the perspective of the community. Conclusions: The overall objective of the assessment to identify synergies between institutional decision-making bodies and community actors and networks before, during and after an outbreak response to a given public health emergency. The methodology is generic and could be applied to a range of public health emergencies, zoonotic or otherwise. The methodology emphasises reflexivity among fieldworkers, a relatively short time needed for data collection, potential generalisability of findings, insider-outsider perspectives, politically sensitive findings, and how to deal with ethical and language issues.

Prevention and Criminal Justice

2020 ◽  
pp. 201-220
Author(s):  
Paul Cairney ◽  
Emily St Denny
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Window Of Opportunity ◽  
Target Populations ◽  
Policy Shift ◽  
The Uk

First, we describe the general issues that governments face when pursuing social and criminal justice policies in a multi-centric environment. Both governments manage the same tensions between relatively punitive and individual versus supportive and population-wide measures to reduce crime, as part of an overall cross-cutting focus on prevention and early intervention. Second, we identify the historic policymaking strategies that UK governments have used to combine social policy and criminal justice policy, often with reference to target populations who—according to several UK ministers—do not pay their fair share to society and do not deserve state help. Third, we show how such trends influence preventive policies in specific areas such as drugs policy, in which the UK still reserves responsibility for drugs classification. Fourth, we use this UK context to identify the extent to which Scottish policy has a greater emphasis of social over criminal justice. To do so, we use the case study of a window of opportunity for a public health approach to serious violence. We focus on Scotland as the relatively innovative government on this issue, to provide context for initial analysis of the UK government’s proposed policy shift.

Counter-radicalization, public health, and racism: A case analysis of Prevent

2021 ◽  
pp. 203-216
Author(s):  
Tarek Younis
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Colour Blindness ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Psychological Risk

The threat of terrorism is well documented to be associated with Muslims and Islam in British public consciousness. This chapter will emphasize the sociopolitical context underlying public health strategies seeking to address radicalization and extremism, especially given the UK government’s recent pivoting of its ‘Prevent’ policy within mental health services. Drawing upon two years of empirical fieldwork exploring the impact of the Prevent duty in the National Health Service, this chapter will outline several key issues with counter-radicalization policies enacted within health settings. Firstly, I found that mental health professionals—especially Muslims—self-censored their critical thoughts of Prevent, largely as a result of the political and moral subscript underlying counterterrorism: the ‘good’ position was to accept their counterterrorism duty, and the ‘bad’ position was to reject it. Secondly, Prevent significantly emphasizes reliance on ‘trusting one’s gut’ given the elusive framework of psychological risk factors it outlines during training. In turn, the government engages in what I call performative colour blindness: the active recognition and erasure of a common sense that associates racialized Muslims with the threat of terrorism. Colour blindness, however, is known to be integral for the maintenance of institutionally racist practices in contemporary times. This chapter ends by highlighting two understated issues of racism in contemporary public health approaches to counter-radicalization: the reinvigorated impulse to ‘tackle’ the far-right and the question of coercion and accountability.

scholarly journals Lockdown: a case study in how to lose trust and undermine compliance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Faulkner
Keyword(s):  
Collective Good ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
Coordination Problem ◽  
Coordination Problems ◽  
Social Coordination ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk

To protect against COVID-19, the UK Government imposed a national lockdown that shut schools and business, and required people to stay at home. This lockdown instituted a social coordination problem: it demanded the individual bear a cost – a significant restriction to their movement – in order to achieve a collective good. Initially there were remarkably high levels of social compliance with the lockdown restrictions, but the Government defense of Mr. Cummings corresponded with a notable drop in both levels of compliance and levels of trust in government. By considering the logic of social coordination problems, this paper offers an explanation as to why these drops in compliance and trust were to be expected.

scholarly journals Curriculum design for professional development in public health nutrition in Britain

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Landman ◽  
Judith Buttriss ◽  
Barrie Margetts
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
The Uk ◽  
British State ◽  
Unique Relationship

AbstractObjective:To describe how the Nutrition Society developed public health nutrition as a profession between 1992 and 1997, and to analyse the influences propelling on this professionalization.Design:Qualitative case study.Setting:Britain.Results:The Nutrition Society of Britain consulted with various stakeholders (such as dietitians, researchers, professionals and practitioners and educators from the UK, and latterly from mainland Europe) to build a consensus about the definition, roles and functions of public health nutritionists and the need for, and scope of, this new profession. Building on this consensus, the Society developed a curriculum in line with British national nutrition policy. Analysis shows that the design and philosophy of the curriculum is explicitly international and European in orientation, in keeping with the tradition of the discipline and the Society. The curriculum is designed in terms of specialist competencies in public health nutrition, defining competency so that registered public health nutritionists are advanced practitioners or leaders: this is in keeping with contemporary trends in professional education generally and as expressed by the UNU/IUNS and at Bellagio, in nutrition in particular.Conclusions:Despite a unique relationship with British state and policy, this case of professionalization contributes to contemporary international inter- and intraprofessional debates about the nature of public health nutrition and is consistent with professional educational theory.

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