Evidence review
Social Science in Epidemics: Rift Valley Fever Lessons Learned
Summary and background reports offering recommendations on risk communication and local frameworks among other topics.
English
Background report
Evidence review
Social science in epidemics: Influenza and SARS lessons learned
Summary and background reports exploring transmission, surveillance and other aspects of outbreaks.
Background report
Social science in epidemics: Influenza and SARS lessons learned
The third in a series of reviews of outbreaks seeking to identify social science ‘entry points’ for emergency interventions and preparedness activities. In French and Chinese as well as English.
Briefing
Social Science in Epidemics: Cholera Lessons Learned (Background Report)
This report is the first instalment of the ‘Social Science in Epidemics’ series, commissioned by the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Direct Assistance (OFDA). In this series, past outbreaks are reviewed in order to identify social science ‘entry points’ for…
Background report
Evidence review
Social science in epidemics: Ebola virus disease lessons learned
Summary and background reports offering recommendations on local customs, health care systems and other topics.
Briefing
Behavioural Data Compilation #1
A rapid compilation of data analyses for November 2018 in the context of the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
Briefing
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, North Kivu, DRC
Key considerations including recommendations to strengthen the mental health and psychosocial response.
Briefing
WhatsApp and Local Media (Grand Nord)
An overview of key messages circulating on WhatsApp and the local media (radio, print and video) in North Kivu in September 2018.
Briefing
Changing Behaviours & Care-Seeking Practices in the Grand Nord, North Kivu, DRC
Key considerations and immediate recommendations related to community engagement.
Briefing
Burial, Funeral and Mourning Practices in North Kivu Province, DRC
Key socio-cultural considerations of events related to death, burial, funerals (rites or ceremonies), and mourning.
Briefing
The Context of North Kivu Province, DRC
Key considerations about the context of North Kivu province including insecurity and local actors.
Briefing
Engaging Twa Communities in Équateur Province
Key socio-anthropological considerations regarding ‘indigenous communities’.
Briefing
Key Considerations: Health-Seeking Behaviours in Équateur Province, DRC
Key socio-cultural considerations concerning health beliefs and health-seeking behaviour.
Briefing
The Context of Équateur Province, DRC
Key considerations about the context of Équateur Province, including climate, infrastructure and politics.
Evidence review
Burial, Funeral and Mourning Practices in Équateur Province, DRC
Key socio-cultural considerations concerning events related to death, burial, funerals (rites or ceremonies), and mourning.
Research paper
Knowledge and attitude towards Ebola and Marburg virus diseases in Uganda using quantitative and participatory epidemiology techniques
This paper describes knowledge and attitude towards Ebola and Marburg virus outbreaks in two affected communities in Uganda to inform future outbreak responses and help in the design of health education and communication messages.
Evidence review
Socio-Cultural Considerations for Vaccine Introduction and Community Engagement
Key considerations and immediate recommendations, particularly for community engagement, in May 2018 for the Ebola outbreak in DRC.
Background report
Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on Rift Valley Fever among Agro Pastoral Communities in Kongwa and Kilombero Districts, Tanzania
“Rift valley fever (RVF) is a re-emerging viral vector-borne disease with rapid global socio-economic impact. A large RVF outbreak occurred in Tanzania in 2007 and affected more than half of the regions with high (47 %) case fatality rate. Little…
Comment
Social science intelligence in the global Ebola response
Correspondence on continued poor integration of social sciences during global health crises.
Evidence review
Understanding Social Resistance to Ebola Response in Guinea
This paper seeks to understand the fear many Guineans feel towards Ebola response initiatives and why the educators, doctors and burial teams have sometimes encountered resistance, occasionally violent.
Tools
Group dialogue and critical reflection of HIV prevention: an evaluation of the C-Change Community Conversation Toolkit
Communication for Change (C-Change) set out to develop support tools that would foster interactive communication among low-literacy adults and prompt engagement on HIV prevention issues, including encouraging individual and group-oriented problem solving. The Community Conversation Toolkit (CCT) was developed using…
Blog
What does a decade of social sciences research tell us about health?
This blog relates to the Evidence Synthesis Research Award report and summary across health related research, from 122 research grants.
Evidence review
Communication and social mobilization in yellow fever mass vaccination campaigns: 10 points from field experience
The main objective of this document is to provide evidence-based guidance on conducting practical social mobilization and communication for a yellow fever vaccination campaign, either preventive or reactive. Information is also given on the monitoring and evaluation of communication and…
Tools
Assessing mental health and psychosocial needs and resources: toolkit for humanitarian settings
This document provides an approach and a toolkit to help those designing and conducting an assessment of mental health and psychosocial needs and resources in major humanitarian crises. These could include major natural and human-made disasters and complex emergencies (for…
Tools
A toolkit for integrated vector management in sub-Saharan Africa
This toolkit for integrated vector management (IVM) is designed to help national and regional programme managers coordinate across sectors to design and run large IVM programmes. It is an extension of earlier guidance and teaching material published by the World…
Evidence review
The Opposite of Denial: Social Learning at the Onset of the Ebola Emergency in Liberia
This working paper reports on a study to identify the pace of Ebola-related social learning in urban and peri-urban areas around Monrovia, Liberia during August 2014, at the onset of the emergency phase of the epidemic. The research demonstrates how…
Evidence review
Community-Centered Responses to Ebola in Urban Liberia: The View from Below
This working paper reports on a study to identify epidemic control priorities among 15 communities in Monrovia and Montserrado County, Liberia. Data were collected in September 2014 on the following topics: prevention, surveillance, care-giving, community-based treatment and support, networking/hotlines/calling response…
Evidence review
Stigma and Ebola: An Anthropological Approach to Understanding and Addressing Stigma Operationally in the Ebola Response
‘Stigma’ is an umbrella term for the direct and indirect consequences of a number of processes that brand someone as different in ways that result in discrimination, loss of status and social exclusion. It can be short-term or evolve into…
Evidence review
Communication with Rebellious Communities during an Outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in Guinea: An Anthropological Approach
This paper by Anoko J. N., reports on the success of a communication programme among 26 rebellious villages in Forest Guinea during fieldwork in June-July 2014.
Evidence review
Village Responses to Ebola Virus Disease and its Prevention
The present document is the eighth and final report in a series presenting descriptive results of a survey of responses to Ebola and Ebola control in 26 villages in all three provinces of rural Sierra Leone, fieldwork for which was…
Evidence review
Community Perceptions of Ebola Response Efforts in Liberia: Montserrado and Nimba Counties
This study aimed to support Oxfam’s Public Health Promotion (PHP) strategy through a rapid qualitative assessment of the remaining social barriers to compliance with Ebola prevention and treatment messages. At the time of the study, most Liberians had a high…
Briefing
Contextualising Ebola Rumours from a Political, Historical and Social Perspective to Understand People’s Perceptions of Ebola and the Responses to it
This briefing explores how rumours about Ebola in Sierra Leone influences people’s perception and response to Ebola, from the political, historical and social perspectives. Despite the efforts of the World Health Organisation to control the Ebola outbreak, achieving zero cases…
Briefing
Diaspora Communications and Health Seeking Behaviour in the Time of Ebola: Findings from the Sierra Leonean Community in London
The Sierra Leonean diaspora was active in responding to the Ebola outbreak that hit Sierra Leone in March 2014, both by providing financial and material support, and through direct communication with relatives, friends and colleagues back home. This paper looks…
Evidence review
The First Mile: Community Experience of Outbreak Control during an Ebola Outbreak in Luwero District, Uganda
A major challenge to outbreak control lies in early detection of viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) in local community contexts during the critical initial stages of an epidemic, when risk of spreading is its highest (“the first mile”). This paper documents…
Working paper
Researching social policy
This working paper reviews some of the main methodological approaches to emerge in the 1990s, reflecting on both their objectives and their limitations.
Background report
Childhood vaccination and society in The Gambia: public engagement with science and delivery
This paper examines public engagement with routine vaccination delivery, and vaccine trials and related medical research, in The Gambia. Its approach is rooted in social and medical anthropology and ethnographic methods, but combines insights from the sociology of scientific knowledge,…
