Implementation Science to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Arianna Rubin Means¹  Anjuli D. Wagner¹  Eli Kern²  Laura P. Newman¹  Bryan J. Weiner¹ 

[1] Department of Global Health, University of Washington, United States;Public Health—Seattle and King County, United States;Office of Communicable Disease Epidemiology, Washington State Department of Health, United States;Department of Health Services, University of Washington, United States

关键词: implementation science;    COVID-19;    public health response;    novel coronavirus;    SARS-CoV-2;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2020.00462

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to expand globally, requiring massive public health responses from national and local governments. These bodies have taken heterogeneous approaches to their responses, including when and how to introduce and enforce evidence-based interventions—such as social distancing, hand-washing, personal protective equipment (PPE), and testing. In this commentary, we reflect on opportunities for implementation science to contribute meaningfully to the COVID-19 pandemic response. We reflect backwards on missed opportunities in emergency preparedness planning, using the example of PPE stockpiling and supply management; this planning could have been strengthened through process mapping with consensus-building, microplanning with simulation, and stakeholder engagement. We propose current opportunities for action, focusing on enhancing the adoption, fidelity, and sustainment of hand washing and social distancing; we can combine qualitative data, policy analysis, and dissemination science to inform agile and rapid adjustment to social marketing strategies to enhance their penetration. We look to future opportunities to enhance the integration of new evidence in decision-making, focusing on serologic and virologic testing systems; we can leverage simulation and other systems engineering modeling to identify ideal system structures. Finally, we discuss the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic challenges implementation science to become more rapid, rigorous, and nimble in its approach, and integrate with public health practice. In summary, we articulate the ways in which implementation science can inform, and be informed by, the COVID-19 pandemic, looking backwards, proposing actions for the moment, and approaches for the future.

【 授权许可】

CC BY