RAPID: Networked Knowledge and Preparedness for Ebola

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General Audience Summary The principal investigator and his team will collect data to further understanding of how cultural and political contexts shape the ways people respond to epidemics. They will conduct 300 interviews, most of which will be video-taped for public engagement and wider distribution. The results of this project will provide guidance for policy makers and others seeking to understand the diversity of fears, risk perceptions, preparedness, and acceptable actions. The Ebola epidemic is not likely to end soon, nor will it be the last infectious virus of global importance.Technical Summary This primary goal of this project is the immediate collection of perishable data on seven important social groups in five countries that are significant for the recent epidemic in West Africa. The data will be used to contribute to our understanding of networked knowledge, transmission mechanisms for both disease and information, and perceptions of risk and acceptable actions in response to the recent emergence of the virus in West Africa and the United States. The research team will collect qualitative baseline information on seven groups consisting of approximately 300 interviews. The interviewees are to be selected for their importance to for providing insights about the transmission and treatment of disease, and of information about the disease. They include medical professionals, teachers, youth, the informal sector, and the unemployed. The data will be collected in three African locations (Ghana, Guinea, and Mali) including rural communities, and in two US locations (Baton Rouge, LA, and Minneapolis, MN)