I'm interested in what questions people actually asked during the Ebola outbreak, rather than what questions public health information tried to answer for them. I have published a paper on this already - based on interviews with NGO workers and employees of international companies who working in the Ebola affected regions, and have also looked at the questions people asked on internet discussion forums.
From my own research, it's clear that people often ask quite idiosyncratic questions (e.g. if my dog licks the body of a person who died with Ebola which has been left on the street and then licks me, can I catch Ebola?) and also want plain language explanations (e.g. what does it mean if someone is only infectious if they're gravely ill? Does 'gravely ill' mean they can walk to the market, or travel on the bus? Will they look ill?) neither of which are always easily answered by standard WHO/CDC FAQs and factsheets.
I'm looking for examples of any similar research which I can cite in my literature review and/or compare and contrast with my own findings. I've been struggling to find any, so any suggestions gratefully received!
Only for the US. See: http://origin.glb.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6436a3.htm?s_cid=mm6436a3_w.
http://origin.glb.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6436a3.htm?s_cid=mm6436a3_w
read this paper :
Berge Tsanou et al, Assessing the impact of the environmental contamination on the transmission on the transmission of Ebola virus disease (EVD), J. Appl. Math. Comput, DOI 10.1007/s12190-016-1033-8.
Medical mistrust in the context of Ebola: Implications for intended care-seeking and quarantine policy support in the United States
Earnshaw, Valerie A, Bogart, Laura M, Klompas, Michael, Katz, Ingrid T
J Health Psychol, Jun 2016; vol. 0: 1359105316650507
This investigation explores Ebola conspiracy beliefs, a form of medical mistrust, and their potential impact on health behavior. Results of an online survey in the United States in December 2014 demonstrated that 16 percent of 202 participants held conspiracy beliefs. Participants who were less knowledgeable about Ebola, more mistrustful of medical organizations, and more xenophobic more strongly endorsed conspiracy beliefs. Participants who more strongly endorsed conspiracy beliefs reported that they would be less likely to seek care for Ebola and were less supportive of quarantining people returning from West Africa. Results suggest that medical mistrust may influence health behaviors during infectious disease outbreaks.
http://hpq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/1359105316650507v1
Understanding an Ebola outbreak: Social representations of emerging infectious diseases
Idoiaga Mondragon, Nahia, Gil de Montes, Lorena, Valencia, Jose
J Health Psychol, Jan 2016; vol. 0: 1359105315620294
This study examined the collective image of the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, to understand how people incorporate this epidemic in their everyday thinking. A free association exercise elicited by Ebola was answered by 294 people from Spain and the content was analysed using Alceste software. First, results showed that Ebola was represented as inherently African. Second, it was also depicted as a global threat creating fear. People also felt anger, and they blamed political authorities and the mass media for the failure to manage this crisis. Finally, this research underlines the importance of the social representations to understand how current outbreaks are cognitively represented and emotionally faced as a key factor to appropriately manage future epidemics.
http://hpq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/1359105315620294v1
Jennifer,
I looked at Facebook communication and showed that those commenting about Ebola and general health promotion topics on the same Facebook page overlap only for 11%. I did not do a content analysis of the actual comments but still have the data. If you're interested in a joint study, please let me know!
Yulia
Article Health Risk Information Engagement and Amplification on Soci...
People usually ask for the mode of transmission , causative pathogen and treatment
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