The Opposite of Denial: Social Learning at the Onset of the Ebola Emergency in Liberia
| Autor: | Sharon Abramowitz, Mosoka Fallah, Patricia A. Omidian, Sarah L. McKune, Josephine Monger, Kodjo Tehoungue |
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| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
Community-Based Participatory Research
Health Knowledge Attitudes Practice Health (social science) Community-based participatory research Library and Information Sciences Disease Outbreaks 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Humans Mass Media 030212 general & internal medicine Health communication Qualitative Research Mass media 030505 public health Community engagement business.industry Communication Behavior change Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Focus Groups Hemorrhagic Fever Ebola Public relations Liberia Social learning Focus group Social Learning Health Communication 0305 other medical science business Psychology Qualitative research |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Health Communication. 22:59-65 |
| ISSN: | 1087-0415 1081-0730 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10810730.2016.1209599 |
| Popis: | This study analyzes findings from a rapid-response community-based qualitative research initiative to study the content of Ebola-related communications and the transmission of Ebola-related behaviors and practices through mass media communications and social learning in Monrovia, Liberia during August-September 2014. Thirteen neighborhoods in the common Monrovia media market were studied to appraise the reach of health communications and outreach regarding Ebola prevention and response measures. A World Health Organization (WHO) research team collected data on social learning and Ebola knowledge, attitudes, and practices through focus group-based discussions and key informant interviews over a 14-day period to assess the spread of information during a period of rapidly escalating crisis. Findings show that during a 2-week period, Monrovia neighborhood residents demonstrated rapid changes in beliefs about the source of Ebola, modes of contagion, and infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, discarding incorrect information. Changes in practices tended to lag behind the acquisition of learning. Findings also show that many continued to support conspiracy theories even as correct information was acquired. The implications for community engagement are substantial: (1) Under conditions of accelerating mortality, communities rapidly assimilate health information and abandon incorrect information; (2) Behavior change is likely to lag behind changes in beliefs due to local physical, structural, sociocultural, and institutional constraints; (3) Reports of "resistance" in Monrovia during the Ebola response were overstated and based on a limited number of incidents, and failed to account for specific local conditions and constraints. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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