Experts publish pandemic recovery advice for health officials

Thirty-two experts from 17 countries published a consensus statement today in JAMA network open to guide health officials in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and to prepare for future emergencies.

The consensus statement underlines the importance of strengthening preparedness for future pandemics and promoting global solidarity and leadership, which were all lacking in the midst of the crisis, the authors said. It also aims to help governments, public health officials and health systems around the world address health gaps and disparities, as well as their structural, societal, political and economic foundations, they added. .

“The unprecedented and high-stakes nature of this global phenomenon highlights an urgent need for clear guidance to help leaders at all levels navigate the course of this crisis and prepare for the ones to come,” said they wrote.

Ten evidence-based recommendations

In a literature search, experts identified 10,910 articles on leadership in public health emergencies from 2000 to 2021 to inform a framework of 10 essential leadership behaviors in the aftermath of the pandemic:

• Recognize staff and celebrate successes to inspire them and reinforce desired response and preparedness behaviors
• Support the well-being of workers by showing empathy and compassion and providing them with a safe space in which they can discuss their concerns and admit their mistakes without fear of reprisal
• Understand the current local and global context while appreciating that the pandemic is volatile and evolving; this includes regularly checking surveillance and case reporting data, performing regular risk assessments and modeling scenarios, and conducting strategic foresight exercises
• Systematically assess pandemic responses and prepare for future emergencies in terms of staff responsibilities, resources, supply chains, protocols, contingency plans, coalitions and training
• Regularly reassess short and long term priorities as the situation evolves and communicate the goal, meaning and direction to staff
• Maximize team, organizational and system performance and consider improvements in inter-organizational collaboration, management structures, staffing, planning, budgeting and time balancing in person and flexible time for virtual care, work, education and training
• Resolve the backlog of suspended medical procedures and services for infection prevention at the onset of the pandemic and discuss improvements while avoiding employee burnout and moral distress
• Maintain an environment of learning, innovation and collaboration and envision future possibilities – crises can break down barriers to individual and organizational change, leading to new ways of doing things
• Communicate regularly and cultivate trust, including making decisions based on the best available evidence, prioritizing employee and community health, being realistic and admitting when there is little evidence to continue
• Provide safety information and recommendations to government, other organizations, employees and the community to ensure integrated and equitable system-wide care and emergency preparedness; frontline leaders have the same responsibility for making suggestions as senior leaders

Go beyond “organizational chart” leadership

The success of recovery from the pandemic does not depend on an individual leader, but rather on a distribution of leadership “beyond the” immediate “organizational chart,” the experts wrote.

“In this context, an evolutionary, experimental, adaptive, coordinated and collaborative approach is essential. To be successful, alignment around a shared purpose and common goals is needed, along with leaders releasing some control and establishing and maintaining high levels of trust among key stakeholders. “

The authors pointed out that different regions of the world are at different stages of the pandemic. “Globally, the threat of COVID-19 is far from over, as although several jurisdictions weathered the initial waves of the pandemic and are now in the recovery phase, others remain in the throes of the storm or might come back to it soon before moving on to salvage, ”they wrote.

The statement noted that, even with the rollout of vaccines, “the timelines for achieving international herd immunity have lengthened, and some experts suggest that there is a critical need to prepare for the endemic potential of persistent and seasonal resurgences. virus. “

And there is an urgent need to start taking the measures outlined in the consensus statement, the experts said.

“This co-creation must start now,” they concluded. “The institutionalization of imperatives and their integration into organizational and systemic culture and policies will ensure that the adaptability, capacity and innovation necessary for tremendous responsiveness, resilience and greater equity in healthcare will be sustained long afterward. the end of this pandemic. “