Public Health Practices

As a part of its response to the H1N1 pandemic, the University of Illinois Infectious Disease Work Group, comprising representatives from across the university, tried to articulate how university employers should handle employee illness in a pandemic.

Students across the country were encouraged to stay home and out of classes if they became ill with influenza. The University of Iowa already had an online form ("Explanatory Statement for Absence from Class") that asks for, among other things, information on whether a student visited a doctor and whether someone can vouch for the fact the student was ill.

During H1N1 response, the Minnesota Department of Health convened periodic conference calls with all higher education institutions in Minnesota. This was the first time that direct communication has been organized between the state health department and higher education. During the calls, the Minnesota State Epidemiologist provided H1N1 updates, answered questions, and requested reports from institutions on status and challenges.

Caring for sick Pennsylvania State University (PSU) students in a pandemic meant tracking their illnesses daily by phone or through secure electronic messages. PSU students identified as having influenza-like illness (ILI) were encouraged to go home.

The Center for Public Health Practice (OH CPHP) at The Ohio State University College of Public Health held several community engagement meetings on controversial subjects related to pandemic planning: social distancing and mass fatality management. These community engagement meetings were planned prior to the emergence of H1N1, yet most of them were carried out when H1N1 was becoming present in communities across Ohio and the United States.

The Toolbox addresses Kansas' approach to community disease containment. The first reviewer described this practice as complete and aligned with other state plans. Another reviewer said it provides thorough guidance from the state to community level on Pandemic Flu Mitigation measures, aside from pharmaceuticals. The second reviewer also noted this plan appropriately leaves some details to be determined at the community level.

The Family Assistance White Paper was written by a largely military working group to address how social distancing during a pandemic may affect traditional mass fatality management. The report includes discussion about how to set up a virtual family assistance center that would allow family members to identify and mourn a body and receive emotional support without being physically present on-site during a pandemic.

The Hamilton County Preparation Project uses a variety of community health education tools to encourage pandemic influenza education and preparedness within the county. This was an extensive and fairly comprehensive community outreach activity. Precursors to conducting outreach included developing and issuing surveys to identify the knowledge baseline in the community and creating population-based advisory committees to assist in the development of educational materials.