Dissimilar community responses to similar public health threats
Citation: Greene G, Turley R, Mann M, et al. Differing community responses to similar public health threats: A cross-disciplinary systematic literature review. Science of The Total Environment. 2014;470:759-767.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: No.
Funding sources: Health Protection Agency (UK).
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for peer-reviewed studies that compared responses by different communities to similar health threats. They restricted their searches to material published in English and found 16 articles.
What was found: When confronted by similar hazards, different communities had different levels of preparedness and often expressed dissimilar concerns. Community factors, such as history, demography, and size influenced the impact of disasters on the community. Psychological damage was a major consequence after disasters. The response by a community to threats depends on psychological aspects of risk perception and the actions taken to prepare for events.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that by understanding the drivers of community responses, public health authorities can be better prepared and more responsive to emergencies. This enables evidence-based interventions and social support.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed some of their findings in the context of place of residence.
This summary was prepared by Briann Mensour, checked by Jawaria Karim, and finalized by William Summerskill.