In order to strengthen the development of the Sonar-Global curricula on social dimensions of infectious threats for (non-)social scientists, we have conducted a mapping to identify the trainings that were already existing in this field. The mapping took place from March until November 2019 and deployed a snowballing method that started off with interviewing experts within the field – inside and outside Sonar-Global consortium– complemented by an extensive online searching. Infectious threats were specifically defined as dealing with either disease outbreaks (epidemics) or anti-microbial resistance (vaccination was not included in this search).
In total 210 trainings were found covering social dimensions of infectious threats, including 174 trainings covering epidemics, 75 on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and 24 related to vaccination.
While we searched for trainings on the social dimensions of either epidemics or AMR, the expanded field of areas of interest in the database includes risk communication, advocacy, community engagement, governance and coordination, health systems strengthening, infection prevention and control, One Health, operational research, psycho-social care, surveillance and vaccination. The disciplines that are at the basis of these trainings range from public health to medicine to several social science disciplines (anthropology, sociology, policy, law, history, economics, etc.). In addition, the range of diseases referred to in the trainings is quite broad, encompassing several viral and bacterial infections, including those with zoonotic and nosocomial origin.
A start has been made to analyze the trainings with materials that cover AMR, using indicators such as the portion of trainings on (social dimensions) of AMR, related social science disciplines and a general impression.
Preliminary findings indicate that social science is usually a very small and shallow component, and that the social science disciplines that are covered are usually restricted to aspects of governance and economics, complemented by some behavioral change elements.
The database offers some great resources to build capacity on the social dimensions of infectious threats. However, as the preliminary results of the analysis of the AMR trainings suggest, there is still substantial need for trainings that more broadly cover the social dimensions of infectious threats, in particular AMR.
After completing a Bachelors degree in Medicine and a Master’s in Health Sciences, Karlijn started working as a policy officer, educational developer and teacher at the medical department of the UMC Utrecht. She continued working in the field of education as a project manager at Soa Aids Nederland building a digital platform for professionals. She joined AIGHD in March 2019 as a research assistant for the SoNAR Global project where she’s supporting the set up of a network that facilitates capacity building among social scientists specializing in antimicrobial resistance and/or emerging infectious diseases.