This research project is a qualitative, descriptive case study of local bioterrorism and public health preparedness practices and organization in a large county public health department. The overall objective of his research is to provide empirical detail and analysis for two largely understudied aspects of preparedness: the """"""""dual use"""""""" model and the role of the public (in general) and specific populations (in particular).
The specific aims for this research are as follows. 1a. To delineate the programs, practices, technologies and social organization that constitute the """"""""dual use"""""""" omponents of public health and bioterrorism preparedness in a local public health department. 1b. To describe the ways in which these enhance or impede more """"""""traditional"""""""" (i.e., non-dual use) public wealth practices and organization, according to appropriate professional staff and select personnel. 1c. To solicit the views of relevant personnel regarding the effectiveness, utility or applicability of these lements in particular, and the """"""""dual-use"""""""" preparedness model in general. 2. To describe the ways in which relevant local public health personnel incorporate information about, and engage/interact with, various populations, communities, and neighborhoods, as part of their public health preparedness responsibilities; and to describe how these processes factor in to (public health department) understandings of risks and threats facing various subpopulations and communities, as well as the jurisdiction as a whole. The principal method of data collection will be interviews with key participants primarily in a county public health department. This method will be coupled secondarily with document retrieval from public sources and through key participants. Such information will be important for policy-makers, funders, and practitioners and officials within public health circles, and may contribute important knowledge to debates within various professional and academic communities about the status of the dual use model as well as the (contested) nature of various threats facing the public at large.
