Open AccessAn Epidemic Recovery Framework to Jump-start Analysis, Planning, and Action on a Neglected Aspect of Global Health Security
Author(s) -
Monica Schoch-Spana
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
clinical infectious diseases/clinical infectious diseases (online. university of chicago. press)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.44
H-Index - 336
eISSN - 1537-6591
pISSN - 1058-4838
DOI - 10.1093/cid/ciaa486
Subject(s) - work (physics) , medicine , health security , action (physics) , hazard , risk analysis (engineering) , public relations , process management , business , public health , nursing , political science , mechanical engineering , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , engineering
Epidemic readiness and response command the disproportionate attention of health security decision makers, planners, and practitioners, overshadowing recovery. How patients and their families, health organizations, community sectors, and entire societies recuperate from major outbreaks requires more systematic study and better translation into policy and guidance. To help remedy this neglected aspect of health emergency management, we offer a working definition for epidemic recovery and a preliminary model of postepidemic recovery. Guiding this framework’s development are insights gleaned from the more mature study of postdisaster reconstruction and rehabilitation as well as recognition that postoutbreak recovery—which involves infectious disease, a biological hazard—presents challenges and opportunities distinct from events involving geological or meteorological hazards. Future work includes developing a consensus around characteristics of successful epidemic recovery, applying these metrics to support preincident planning for postepidemic recovery, and using such a scheme to track and inform actual recovery from an epidemic.