Pandemic preparedness: why humanities and social sciences matter

Whilst many lessons were learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing reflection is needed to develop and maintain preparedness for future outbreaks. Within the field of infectious disease and public health there remain silos and hierarchies in interdisciplinary work, with the risk that humanities and social sciences remain on the epistemological peripheries. However, these disciplines offer insights, expertise and tools that contribute to understanding responses to disease and uptake of interventions for prevention and treatment. In this Perspective, using examples from our own cross-disciplinary research and engagement programme on vaccine hesitancy in South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK), we propose closer integration of expertise, research and methods from humanities and social sciences into pandemic preparedness.

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Publication Details

Journal
Frontiers in Public Health
Published
2024-08-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1394569
Primary Topic
Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Pandemic preparedness: why humanities and social sciences matter

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Frontiers in Public Health
Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research
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Pandemic preparedness: why humanities and social sciences matter

Sean C. Elias, Joshua Hordern, Alberto Giubilini, Sam Martin, Samantha Vanderslott, Kingsley Orievulu, Philippa Clare Matthews, Sally Frampton, Janet Seeley, Nomathamsanqa Majozi, Ethan Friederich, A. Dtra Stevenson, Lizzie Burns
article en

Abstract

Whilst many lessons were learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing reflection is needed to develop and maintain preparedness for future outbreaks. Within the field of infectious disease and public health there remain silos and hierarchies in interdisciplinary work, with the risk that humanities and social sciences remain on the epistemological peripheries. However, these disciplines offer insights, expertise and tools that contribute to understanding responses to disease and uptake of interventions for prevention and treatment. In this Perspective, using examples from our own cross-disciplinary research and engagement programme on vaccine hesitancy in South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK), we propose closer integration of expertise, research and methods from humanities and social sciences into pandemic preparedness.

Frontiers in Public HealthVol. 12
University College Hospital (GB), University of Johannesburg (ZA), The Francis Crick Institute (GB), University of Oxford (GB), London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB), Africa Health Research Institute (ZA), Manchester College (GB), Oxford BioMedica (United Kingdom) (GB), Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities (GB), University College London (GB), Palm Beach Atlantic University (US), University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA)
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 83%
Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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