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Health risk communication and infodemic management in Iran: development and validation of a conceptual framework
OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant gaps in Iran’s and other health systems’ risk communication. The accompanying infodemic undermined policy responses, amplified distrust in government and reduced adherence to public health recommendations among the Iranian population. This study a...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BMJ Publishing Group
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10387647/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37518081 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072326 |
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author | Bazrafshan, Azam Sadeghi, Azadeh Bazrafshan, Maliheh Sadat Mirzaie, Hossein Shafiee, Mehdi Geerts, Jaason Sharifi, Hamid |
author_facet | Bazrafshan, Azam Sadeghi, Azadeh Bazrafshan, Maliheh Sadat Mirzaie, Hossein Shafiee, Mehdi Geerts, Jaason Sharifi, Hamid |
author_sort | Bazrafshan, Azam |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant gaps in Iran’s and other health systems’ risk communication. The accompanying infodemic undermined policy responses, amplified distrust in government and reduced adherence to public health recommendations among the Iranian population. This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework for health risk communication and infodemic management (RCIM) during epidemics and health emergencies in Iran that could have potential applications in other contexts. DESIGN: This study was designed in two phases. Phase 1 involved semistructured qualitative interviews with key informants to explore effective RCIM strategies across public health settings in Iran and to develop a conceptual framework. Phase 2 involved revising the framework based on feedback from an online expert panel regarding its comprehensiveness and validity. SETTING: Provincial/national public health settings in Iran. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty key informants from provincial and national public health authorities who contributed to COVID-19 response programmes participated in interviews. Nine experts from diverse academic disciplines, provincial and national settings, and geographical locations participated in an online expert panel. RESULTS: The conceptual model was created based on qualitative interviews and expert panel discussions and was structured according to six pillars of the WHO health system framework: leadership and governance, information, health workforce and financial resources, along with media and community. Leadership and governance, including trustworthy leaders, were recommended as the foundation for developing RCIM in Iran. Developing an official strategy with information infrastructures, including high-quality surveillance systems, identified personnel and training for specialists among the health workforce, financial resources, communication channels and community engagement were recognised as other dimensions for developing health risk communication in Iran. CONCLUSION: The proposed framework represents a step toward establishing a national RCIM strategy in Iran. Further validation of the conceptual framework and experiments on how it could potentially influence policy and practice is recommended. This model has the potential to be applied in other contexts in its current form or as the foundation for customised local versions. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10387647 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-103876472023-08-01 Health risk communication and infodemic management in Iran: development and validation of a conceptual framework Bazrafshan, Azam Sadeghi, Azadeh Bazrafshan, Maliheh Sadat Mirzaie, Hossein Shafiee, Mehdi Geerts, Jaason Sharifi, Hamid BMJ Open Public Health OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant gaps in Iran’s and other health systems’ risk communication. The accompanying infodemic undermined policy responses, amplified distrust in government and reduced adherence to public health recommendations among the Iranian population. This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework for health risk communication and infodemic management (RCIM) during epidemics and health emergencies in Iran that could have potential applications in other contexts. DESIGN: This study was designed in two phases. Phase 1 involved semistructured qualitative interviews with key informants to explore effective RCIM strategies across public health settings in Iran and to develop a conceptual framework. Phase 2 involved revising the framework based on feedback from an online expert panel regarding its comprehensiveness and validity. SETTING: Provincial/national public health settings in Iran. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty key informants from provincial and national public health authorities who contributed to COVID-19 response programmes participated in interviews. Nine experts from diverse academic disciplines, provincial and national settings, and geographical locations participated in an online expert panel. RESULTS: The conceptual model was created based on qualitative interviews and expert panel discussions and was structured according to six pillars of the WHO health system framework: leadership and governance, information, health workforce and financial resources, along with media and community. Leadership and governance, including trustworthy leaders, were recommended as the foundation for developing RCIM in Iran. Developing an official strategy with information infrastructures, including high-quality surveillance systems, identified personnel and training for specialists among the health workforce, financial resources, communication channels and community engagement were recognised as other dimensions for developing health risk communication in Iran. CONCLUSION: The proposed framework represents a step toward establishing a national RCIM strategy in Iran. Further validation of the conceptual framework and experiments on how it could potentially influence policy and practice is recommended. This model has the potential to be applied in other contexts in its current form or as the foundation for customised local versions. BMJ Publishing Group 2023-07-30 /pmc/articles/PMC10387647/ /pubmed/37518081 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072326 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
spellingShingle | Public Health Bazrafshan, Azam Sadeghi, Azadeh Bazrafshan, Maliheh Sadat Mirzaie, Hossein Shafiee, Mehdi Geerts, Jaason Sharifi, Hamid Health risk communication and infodemic management in Iran: development and validation of a conceptual framework |
title | Health risk communication and infodemic management in Iran: development and validation of a conceptual framework |
title_full | Health risk communication and infodemic management in Iran: development and validation of a conceptual framework |
title_fullStr | Health risk communication and infodemic management in Iran: development and validation of a conceptual framework |
title_full_unstemmed | Health risk communication and infodemic management in Iran: development and validation of a conceptual framework |
title_short | Health risk communication and infodemic management in Iran: development and validation of a conceptual framework |
title_sort | health risk communication and infodemic management in iran: development and validation of a conceptual framework |
topic | Public Health |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10387647/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37518081 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072326 |
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