BACKGROUND: On January 22nd, 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in response to the 2015-2016 Zika pandemic. The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health (VIDOH) has received monthly deployments to the local EOC to assist with epidemiological and communications logistics during 2016. To assess the impact of the VIDOH/CDC efforts in outreach education to the community, VIDOH in conjunction with the CDC, carried out a behavioral science study to gather insights from pregnant women, community leaders, clinicians, and community members from November 10th to December 10th, 2016.
METHODS: During the 2016 calendar year we have monitored outreach target numbers for educational events. In addition, we surveyed randomized community member intercepts ≥18 years during the behavioral evaluation where respondents provided insights to their health information-seeking practices.
RESULTS: A total of 148 individuals responded to surveys conducted from November 16th through November 23rd, 2016 (pending finalized data). The average participant age was 44.8 years (SD 15.0) and the age ranged from 18 to 81, providing a good sampling of the general resident population. The gender distribution of respondents reflected an even number of males (48.6%) and females (51.4%), and most participants were African American. Respondents were asked open-ended questions regarding their Zika information sources, what they perceived as a trustworthy source of information, and which ways would be most effective for them to receive information. A total of 144/148 (97.9%) of participants provided a response. About 50% of respondents gathered their information from at least two or more sources that included media (n=161), community (n=27), and health institutions (n=21). Types of media that respondents got information from included internet/online (n=42), news (unspecified type, n=38), newspapers (n=31), television (n=24), media (n=14), and radio (n=12). Notably, 10 respondents indicated that their online sources of information were Facebook or Google. The organizations that respondents trusted the most were health institutions (n=79), no organization (n=36), and the media (n=13). According to the responses, the most common ways for participants to acquire information is through media (n=62), direct contact (n=25), and community (n=17), while the preferred formats to receive it include pamphlets (n=21), and videos (n=9).
CONCLUSIONS: The desired outcomes of community outreach during the USVI Zika outbreak include a community educated on the Zika virus and its effects, participation of community in protective health behaviors, strong partnerships with VIDOH and community organizations, and community members associating VIDOH with an effective Zika response.