Objective: This study aims to provide basic data for establishing strategies to maintain the core functions of health centers, and enable an effective response to emergency tasks in the event of future infectious disease disasters.
Methods: The participants were 41 workers from two public health centers in Seoul. They all had prior experience in responding to the early and middle stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through Focus Group Discussions, and then analyzed using the deductive method of content analysis.
Results: The participants' experiences during the infectious disease disaster crisis were examined through ten categories: governance and coordination, information management, human resources, essential medical supplies and equipment, infrastructure, administration, finance and logistics, community engagement and risk communication, delivery of essential services, security, and additional considerations for vulnerable populations. The analysis of the results made it apparent that new systems and policies were imperative for responding appropriately to the concerns and experiences of the public healthcare center staff, and for improving the response to future epidemics.
Conclusion: We found that to prepare for infectious disaster situations in the future, it is necessary for health centers to establish a mid- to long-term business continuity plan to ensure the continuation and stability of their operations. Additionally, it was found that health professionals in public health centers also believe in the necessity of education and training programs on disaster preparedness, based on Business Continuity Planning proposed by the World Health Organization. They deem these essential to sustain routine tasks for the management of the health of local community residents during outbreaks of novel infectious diseases in the future.
Keywords: disaster crisis; public health; qualitative research.
© 2024 Yun et al.