User:Cirella/sandbox

Effects of Disease Prevention and Preparedness Efforts
Social aspects of infectious diseases are crucial to determining the amount of citizens getting infected. Being prepared and having crucial data on understanding the best way to present information can increase health outcomes within a community. However, there is an extent where too much preparation and extreme isolation can leave people to break laws, making the spread of an infectious disease even worse. In Liberia, the government enacted extreme laws to protect the citizens with the use of forced cremation and military intervention. This resulted in the opposite effect where people become distrustful in the government and began to break quarantine rules, resulting in worse health outcomes. Instead of the government employing extreme measures to prevent the spread of an infection, the government can help bring supplies and collect information on the local health department to get an idea what challenges the local population faced. In California, researchers gathered data to figure out what Local Health Departments needed to combat the H1N1 flu virus. Gathering information only works if people trust in the government, which can predict outcomes or delay health measures. Without trust, people tend to deny the severity of the infectious disease. In New Zealand, researchers found that the H1N1 epidemic changed many different social factors including sense of community, mental well-being, support for reducing domestic violence, and trust. With this information, what type of messages would convince to take action to prevent the spread of an infectious disease? It seems that asking the people to think of the consequences is the best way to motivate people to change their behavior. However, this research has not been peer review, so it might not be completely accurate.