Journal of Health Communication Publishes Special Collection; Evidence and Lessons for Future Global Health Crises

The Journal of Health Communication has published a special supplement examining the role of communication, community engagement and social mobilization during and after the Ebola response. 

The collection of thirteen articles includes four with authors from Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP), which leads the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), USAID’s flagship global social and behavior change communication (SBCC) project. HC3, in conjunction with partners, was part of Ebola response and recovery efforts in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and led preparedness exercises in Guinea Bissau, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Nigeria.

HC3’s research activities during the West Africa Ebola outbreak gathered important insights about Ebola knowledge, attitudes and practices to better inform intervention design.

HC3 also contributed to research activities evaluating the Ebola response in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Ebola risk communication response and use of SMS-based Ebola surveys in Liberia and stigma SBCC activities. Articles in the special supplement examine the successes and challenges of SBCC work during the Ebola epidemic.

The articles are focused on the Ebola experience in West Africa, yet the frameworks and strategies discussed can be applied to emergency response and preparedness broadly, benefiting the global health security agenda. 

The special supplement titled,  The Communication and Community Engagement Response to Ebola, 2014–2015: Evidence and Lessons for Future Global Health Crises, includes the following articles with CCP/HC3 staff listed as primary authors or contributors:

• Community Engagement and the Communication Response to Ebola
• A Theory-Based Socioecological Model of Communication and Behavior for the Containment of the Ebola Epidemic in Liberia
  
• Use of SMS-Based Surveys in the Rapid Response to the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia: Opening Community Dialogue
• The Development of Standard Operating Procedures for Social Mobilization and Community Engagement in Sierra Leone During the West Africa Ebola Outbreak of 2014–2015

 All articles are open-access.