The Public Engagement Project on Community Control Measures for Pandemic Influenza

This important initiative was sponsored by The Keystone Center and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).

Documents: Fact Sheet | Key contacts | 20 Answers About Pandemic Influenza | Scenario for Public Engagement on Community Control Measures Against Pandemic Influenza at Home, School, Work, & Play | Public Engagement Project on Community Control Measures for Pandemic Influenza (Presented at National Stakeholder Meeting) | Community Mitigation Strategies: Policy Considerations | Public Engagement Project on Community Control Measures for Pandemic Influenza (Presented at Public Engagement Meetings) | Scenario for Pandemic Influenza | Pandemic Influenza and the Public: Survey Findings

Atlanta, Georgia
Saturday, October 28, 2006

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Nebraska Room, Country Inn & Suites, 5353 North 27th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68521. 3 blocks North of Superior.

Thank you to all who made this meeting a success.

Syracuse, New York
Saturday, November 18, 2006

Agenda

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Background:
This project took place from October through November 2006 to engage citizens and stakeholders in discussions and deliberations about the tradeoffs associated with community control measures which might be implemented early on against pandemic influenza.

To conduct this public engagement, the sponsors made use of the Policy Analysis CollaborativE (PACE),* an innovative model for engaging both the organized stakeholder public made up of groups such as professional health societies, business groups, and education associations, and the general public made up of citizens-at-large.

Engagement of both publics help inform the development of a sound national strategy and help build public support for whatever guidance is finally adopted.

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Group Process:
The group processes structured to provide essential information to the participants, permit them to engage in give-and-take discussion with diverse participants in small groups, to weigh tradeoffs, and to reach a collective viewpoint on the question of primary interest.

This question is the following:
In the event of a severe pandemic, should U.S. communities implement early on, and across several communities at once, a package of control measures (see sidebar at right) intended to slow the spread of disease?

If not, why not?

If yes, what are the anticipated problems in implementing such control measures and what solutions might be possible for these problems?

The meetings were organized by The Keystone Center, a neutral facilitator organization. They were sequenced first to allow citizens-at-large to complete their deliberations in late October and November followed by the deliberations of the national stakeholder panel in late November. Representatives from the citizen groups attended the final deliberations along with the stakeholder representatives.

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Participants:

Two to three representatives from the organized stakeholder public were chosen from approximately ten major sectors likely to be most affected by the control measures (e.g., education, business, etc) to form a 30-40 member national level panel.

The representatives were convened by The Keystone Center and ASTHO working in collaboration with a Steering Group selected from these same stakeholder groups. Other participants included those with expertise on influenza, ethics, and public engagement.

To outreach to the larger public, a sample of 400 citizens from the general public representative of the population by age, race, and sex were chosen from each of the four principal areas of the United States—the North, South, Mid-west, and West (100 citizens-at-large from each area). The participating areas which were selected are Seattle-Washington, Syracuse-New York, Atlanta-Georgia and Lincoln-Nebraska.

Other links of interest:

*Link to Policy Analysis CollaborativE (PACE) pandemic page on Keystone's website

Fact Sheet

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The package of control measures being considered consists of the following 5 elements:

1. Home stays for household contacts of ill persons for up to 7 days.
   
   
2. Isolation of ill persons at home if hospitalization not required.
   
   
3. Preventing children and teenagers from congregating by closing school from grades K-12, closing day care centers; and not allowing children to recongregate outside of schools and day care settings.
   
   
4. Canceling events where large numbers of persons are expected to gather.
   
   
5. Work pattern changes allowing liberal leave policies, increased telecommuting, and using alternate work locations.

Work Products:
Participants in both the local and national meetings were asked to discuss the potential benefits and harms to individuals and society at large and to weigh the tradeoffs associated with each element of the proposed community control measures against pandemic influenza. The underlying values espoused in making these choices are articulated and elucidated in the report.

While the citizens at large dialogued and deliberated separately and produced their viewpoints, the purpose and responsibility of the national stakeholder group was to integrate the citizens’ viewpoints into its deliberations and to produce an overall “societal perspective” on community control measures for pandemic influenza. This perspective will be used to inform the decision making of federal officials seeking to issue federal guidance to states on community control measures for pandemic influenza.