Elicitation of Pandemic Coping Strategies among Health Care Workers: Contextual Adaptation of a Mental Models Method

Ekberg Joakim, Timpka Toomas and Gursky Elin A
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Ekberg Joakim: Linköping University
Timpka Toomas: Linköping University
Gursky Elin A: ANSER/Analytic Services Inc.

Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 2009, vol. 6, issue 1, 19

Abstract: The aim of this study is to develop and formatively evaluate a method of eliciting health care workers' understanding of pandemics and their forecasted behaviors during an outbreak. Qualitative methods were used for the evaluation. The results demonstrate that it was possible to identify specific points during the subject interviews when the health care worker seemed to turn from provision of frank data on self-efficacy to that of speculation. Considering this observation, the re-designed method allowed collection and analysis of data critical for pandemic planning. The results imply that more reliable predictions of health care workers' behavior during a pandemic are possible, albeit sensitive to elicit. Use of realistic mental exercises can provide important insights into the level of pandemic preparedness, but these methods will require additional research to reliably differentiate between prediction and speculation.

Keywords: mental models; health care; protocol analysis; risk communication; decision making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.2202/1547-7355.1503

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