In a pandemic, encouraging members of the public to use suitable medication appropriately and to be vaccinated is essential in reducing the frequency and severity of illness.
During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, many people did not seek care quickly enough, failed to take a full course of antivirals despite being authorised to receive it, and were not vaccinated.
We propose analysing data gathered during the last pandemic to understand this and inform planning for, and practice in, future pandemics.
Our team contains experts in a range of specialties, with extensive experience in
- Studying how people behaved during the last pandemic and in relation to health threats in general.
- Designing and evaluating communication and other behaviour change interventions.
- Working with practitioners and policy-makers to maximise the translation of research findings into practice.
The INfluENCE Project is funded by the Department of Health’s Policy Research Programme. For more information, please visit http://www.prp-ccf.org.uk/.