Community grid management in response to major epidemic

Build an effective respond system through a multi-stakeholder community grid structure based on trusted information source, participation from residents and service providers and effective resource allocation.

Hao Zhang, Associate Professor, Hangzhou Normal University

Learning from COVID-19, which channels/what messaging work best to ensure public health messaging translates into behaviour change? 

Which dissemination channels are most effective at communicating accurate public health information to marginalized or at-risk communities?

What type of operational structure can effectively facilitate the message to behaviour change? 

The research and the solutions are aimed at helping two main groups:

1.   Different levels of government agencies responsible for public health. Proprietary information is collected from community level healthcare providers through structured interviews to understand the challenges they face and the measures that worked in response to the pandemic across different regions in China. data is compared across the regions to formulate a comprehensive view of community grid response model.

2.   Social media companies intended to provide accurate information and reduce the impact of misinformation to their users. Although social media companies are not engaged at the current stage, individuals with different information access were interviewed and their behaviours are compared. It was identified that older people living in remote areas with no access to social media but traditional media only have more accurate information regarding the pandemic than younger people active on social media. And the research team is open to collaboration with social media companies for further analysis. 

First of all, the research team has published several research papers in China and will issue a white paper towards the end of the project planned in 2023. 

Second, the simulation model to be built in Phase II is planned to release to the public after January 2024 post the planned complete date of Phase II research and analysis. 

The solutions are aimed to remove factors putting certain demographic groups or communities at a disadvantage by identifying communication channels effective to both average and at-risk communities. 

In addition, the solutions are primarily targeted at government agencies to raise awareness of preventative measures and provide suggestions on building healthcare infrastructure and optimizing resource allocation to achieve effective response to a pandemic for the society at large.  

Although limited by the current size of the team and information access, the current research is focused on China, the team is open to collaboration with interested research institutions and other organizations worldwide to share research methodologies, train team members and discuss results to help other regions develop localized analysis and solutions. 

Since this is a research based project with primary goal to investigate effective approaches and share knowledge, success could be measured by:

1. Number of research institutions or other organizations collaborating with the research team to apply the research approach in other regions. 

2. Number of government agencies or companies adopting suggestions presented by the research team or working with the research team to optimize their policies or practices. 

The main barrier is the access to information.

Phase II of the project relies on access to proprietary information in the healthcare system. The team currently has collaboration arrangements with regional data administrators. Any change in data sharing policy could impact the feasibility of Phase II. 

Hangzhou Normal University

The current research is based on information and conditions in China. The reasons why we are applying to the Trinity Challenges are:

To leverage this international platform to share research findings on effective responses to the pandemic to help more regions cope with the challenges posed by the current pandemic and prepare for future events.

To connect with interested organizations in other regions to collect more data, increase awareness, engage broader scope of stakeholders, and validate or supplement the findings and solutions.

Organizations interested in adopting similar research approach to validate or identify new local factors impacting information transmission and pandemic response are welcome to reach out to the team and discuss collaboration potentials. 

Social media companies interested in providing data on their platform for further analysis and collaboration