Type of Proposal
Oral presentation
Faculty
Faculty of Nursing
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Maher El-Masri
Proposal
Pandemic planning models of influenza coordinate response efforts across all levels of government. They aim to minimize death and serious illness, and to mitigate the economic and social impact of a pandemic. The H1N1 outbreak in 2009 brought to light a number of incongruences between international, federal, provincial, regional and local pandemic influenza planning. Specifically, it highlighted a lack of clear common communication protocols between all levels of decision makers; demonstrating the need for coordinated pandemic planning that addresses the health, social and economic impacts of an influenza pandemic. Extensive research has been done on pandemic preparedness, and has been used to create many response strategies. However, no studies were found that addressed the necessary elements of a preparedness plan. The purpose of this review was to summarize the main components of a comprehensive, community wide pandemic influenza preparedness plan to inform flu preparation by the Erie-St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (LHIN). Our search strategy was to identify pandemic plans from all over the world that were based on similar population demographics as Erie-St. Clair. Eleven pandemic preparedness plans were identified. The plans were then broken down into their key components, interpreted and synthesized. We found that there were two main sections in a pandemic influenza plan: the foundation, and preparedness activities. The foundation consists of objectives, principles, ethics and outlined roles and responsibilities. Preparedness activities include using pandemic phases, key domains and a risk assessment. The identification of these elements shall serve to inform the Erie-St. Clair LHIN’s pandemic influenza preparations, leading to an efficient, comprehensive plan.
Start Date
29-3-2016 8:30 AM
End Date
29-3-2016 9:50 AM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Summary of Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Models
Pandemic planning models of influenza coordinate response efforts across all levels of government. They aim to minimize death and serious illness, and to mitigate the economic and social impact of a pandemic. The H1N1 outbreak in 2009 brought to light a number of incongruences between international, federal, provincial, regional and local pandemic influenza planning. Specifically, it highlighted a lack of clear common communication protocols between all levels of decision makers; demonstrating the need for coordinated pandemic planning that addresses the health, social and economic impacts of an influenza pandemic. Extensive research has been done on pandemic preparedness, and has been used to create many response strategies. However, no studies were found that addressed the necessary elements of a preparedness plan. The purpose of this review was to summarize the main components of a comprehensive, community wide pandemic influenza preparedness plan to inform flu preparation by the Erie-St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (LHIN). Our search strategy was to identify pandemic plans from all over the world that were based on similar population demographics as Erie-St. Clair. Eleven pandemic preparedness plans were identified. The plans were then broken down into their key components, interpreted and synthesized. We found that there were two main sections in a pandemic influenza plan: the foundation, and preparedness activities. The foundation consists of objectives, principles, ethics and outlined roles and responsibilities. Preparedness activities include using pandemic phases, key domains and a risk assessment. The identification of these elements shall serve to inform the Erie-St. Clair LHIN’s pandemic influenza preparations, leading to an efficient, comprehensive plan.