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A snapshot of the practicality and barriers to COVID-19 interventions: Public health and healthcare workers’ perceptions in high and low- and middle-income countries

BACKGROUND: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have implemented a range of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and pharmaceutical interventions (PIs) to reduce transmission and minimise morbidity and mortality, whilst maintaining social and economic activities. The perceptions of...

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Autores principales: Glazik, Rosanna, Moore, Hannah, Kennedy, David, Bower, Hilary, Rohan, Hana, Sharp, Ashley, Seale, Anna C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8612542/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34818367
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260041
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author Glazik, Rosanna
Moore, Hannah
Kennedy, David
Bower, Hilary
Rohan, Hana
Sharp, Ashley
Seale, Anna C.
author_facet Glazik, Rosanna
Moore, Hannah
Kennedy, David
Bower, Hilary
Rohan, Hana
Sharp, Ashley
Seale, Anna C.
author_sort Glazik, Rosanna
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have implemented a range of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and pharmaceutical interventions (PIs) to reduce transmission and minimise morbidity and mortality, whilst maintaining social and economic activities. The perceptions of public health workers (PHWs) and healthcare workers (HCWs) are essential to inform future COVID-19 strategies as they are viewed as trusted sources and are at the forefront of COVID-19 response. The objectives of this study were to 1) describe the practicality of implementing NPIs and PIs and 2) identify potential barriers to implementation, as perceived by HCWs and PHWs. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of PHWs and HCWs perceptions of the implementation, practicality of, and barriers to implementation of NPIs and PIs using an online survey (28/9/2020-1/11/2020) available in English, French and Portuguese. We used descriptive statistics and thematic analysis to analyse quantitative and qualitative responses. RESULTS: In total, 226 respondents (67 HCWs and 159 PHWs) from 52 countries completed the survey and 222 were included in the final analysis. Participants from low and middle-income countries (LMICs) accounted for 63% of HCWs and 67% of PHWs, with the remaining from high-income (HICs). There was little difference between the perceptions of PHWs and HCWs in HICs and LMICs, with the majority regarding a number of common NPIs as difficult to implement. However, PHWs in HICs perceived restrictions on schools and educational institutions to be more difficult to implement, with a lack of childcare support identified as the main barrier. Additionally, most contact tracing methods were perceived to be more difficult to implement in HICs than LMICs, with a range of barriers reported. A lack of public support was the most commonly reported barrier to NPIs overall across both country income and professional groups. Similarly, public fear of vaccine safety and lack of vaccine supply were the main reported barriers to implementing a COVID-19 vaccine. However, PHWs and HCWs in LMICs perceived a lack of financial support and the vaccine being manufactured in another country as additional barriers. CONCLUSION: This snapshot provides insight into the difficulty of implementing interventions as perceived by PHWs and HCWs. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to implementing interventions, and barriers in different contexts do vary. Barriers to implementing a vaccine programme expressed here by HCWs and PHCWs have subsequently come to the fore internationally.
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spelling pubmed-86125422021-11-25 A snapshot of the practicality and barriers to COVID-19 interventions: Public health and healthcare workers’ perceptions in high and low- and middle-income countries Glazik, Rosanna Moore, Hannah Kennedy, David Bower, Hilary Rohan, Hana Sharp, Ashley Seale, Anna C. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have implemented a range of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and pharmaceutical interventions (PIs) to reduce transmission and minimise morbidity and mortality, whilst maintaining social and economic activities. The perceptions of public health workers (PHWs) and healthcare workers (HCWs) are essential to inform future COVID-19 strategies as they are viewed as trusted sources and are at the forefront of COVID-19 response. The objectives of this study were to 1) describe the practicality of implementing NPIs and PIs and 2) identify potential barriers to implementation, as perceived by HCWs and PHWs. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of PHWs and HCWs perceptions of the implementation, practicality of, and barriers to implementation of NPIs and PIs using an online survey (28/9/2020-1/11/2020) available in English, French and Portuguese. We used descriptive statistics and thematic analysis to analyse quantitative and qualitative responses. RESULTS: In total, 226 respondents (67 HCWs and 159 PHWs) from 52 countries completed the survey and 222 were included in the final analysis. Participants from low and middle-income countries (LMICs) accounted for 63% of HCWs and 67% of PHWs, with the remaining from high-income (HICs). There was little difference between the perceptions of PHWs and HCWs in HICs and LMICs, with the majority regarding a number of common NPIs as difficult to implement. However, PHWs in HICs perceived restrictions on schools and educational institutions to be more difficult to implement, with a lack of childcare support identified as the main barrier. Additionally, most contact tracing methods were perceived to be more difficult to implement in HICs than LMICs, with a range of barriers reported. A lack of public support was the most commonly reported barrier to NPIs overall across both country income and professional groups. Similarly, public fear of vaccine safety and lack of vaccine supply were the main reported barriers to implementing a COVID-19 vaccine. However, PHWs and HCWs in LMICs perceived a lack of financial support and the vaccine being manufactured in another country as additional barriers. CONCLUSION: This snapshot provides insight into the difficulty of implementing interventions as perceived by PHWs and HCWs. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to implementing interventions, and barriers in different contexts do vary. Barriers to implementing a vaccine programme expressed here by HCWs and PHCWs have subsequently come to the fore internationally. Public Library of Science 2021-11-24 /pmc/articles/PMC8612542/ /pubmed/34818367 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260041 Text en © 2021 Glazik et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Glazik, Rosanna
Moore, Hannah
Kennedy, David
Bower, Hilary
Rohan, Hana
Sharp, Ashley
Seale, Anna C.
A snapshot of the practicality and barriers to COVID-19 interventions: Public health and healthcare workers’ perceptions in high and low- and middle-income countries
title A snapshot of the practicality and barriers to COVID-19 interventions: Public health and healthcare workers’ perceptions in high and low- and middle-income countries
title_full A snapshot of the practicality and barriers to COVID-19 interventions: Public health and healthcare workers’ perceptions in high and low- and middle-income countries
title_fullStr A snapshot of the practicality and barriers to COVID-19 interventions: Public health and healthcare workers’ perceptions in high and low- and middle-income countries
title_full_unstemmed A snapshot of the practicality and barriers to COVID-19 interventions: Public health and healthcare workers’ perceptions in high and low- and middle-income countries
title_short A snapshot of the practicality and barriers to COVID-19 interventions: Public health and healthcare workers’ perceptions in high and low- and middle-income countries
title_sort snapshot of the practicality and barriers to covid-19 interventions: public health and healthcare workers’ perceptions in high and low- and middle-income countries
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8612542/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34818367
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260041
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