Case Studies

Case studies promoting collective experiences seeking to strengthen community-led approach within public health emergency response

Real-Time Ebola Community Feedback Mechanism

Description

Since the start of the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), in close partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have supported the Red Cross of DRC to set up a rapid community feedback mechanism. A network of Red Cross volunteers living in the outbreak area collect rapid and regular perception data about Ebola and wider health issues of affected communities. These data inform responders about community concerns, perceptions, beliefs, priorities, and needs, and is used to tailor response mechanisms to make them more appropriate and effective.

This SSHAP Case Study provides insights into how operational social science methods of collecting perceptions of affected communities can be tailored to fit the rapid information needs of response partners and affected communities in the event of a epidemic. The IFRC-supported system can be rapidly deployed by organisations during epidemics and other emergencies to provide valuable community insights during a response, help responders recognise and address underlying anxieties, and alleviate distrust in communities and ultimately drive effective response actions. The process can be adapted by other organisations in future epidemics.

Read this Case Studies on the ODS Website


Additional languages

No items found

DETAILS

Organisation

IFRC

Emergency

Ebola

Keywords

Community feedback, DRC