Policy Making to Build Relationships: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Interviews and Documents Relating to H1N1, Ebola, and the U.S. Public Health Preparedness Network

Abstract

In the last five years, the American public health emergency preparedness and response system has been tested by two significant threats, H1N1 and Ebola. While neither proved as dangerous as initially feared, these viruses highlighted on-going issues with collaborations in the field of public health and health care. Strengths were identified within the network, but also challenges that must be resolved before the U.S. faces a major pandemic. Employing interview data from public health emergency response practitioners and documentary evidence from the H1N1 and Ebola responses, this qualitative analysis uses the grounded theory approach to identify key areas for collaborative improvement. The grounded theory developed calls for a stronger policy framework at the federal level to facilitate more collaboration between U.S. agencies and facilitate more collaboration at the state and local level.