The science of trust: future directions, research gaps, and implications for health and risk communication.

'Trust is among the most important factors in human life, as it pervades' all domains of society [1] and related decision-making processes. This includes people's trust in science, and in clinical and public health solutions. Unequivocally, community and patient trust are foundational to the adoption and maintenance of health-related behaviors, social norms, and policies.

Vaccine Hesitancy and Demand for Immunization in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Implications for the Region and Beyond.

Immunization is a global success story. It has saved millions of lives and prevented disease worldwide and millions more have been spared the permanent disabilities caused by diseases such as polio and the long-term morbidity caused by other diseases such as measles. Despite the compelling evidence of the public health and economic value of vaccines, vaccine hesitancy has become a growing concern globally.

Key Guidelines in Developing a Pre-Emptive COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake Promotion Strategy.

This paper makes the case for immediate planning for a COVID-19 vaccination uptake strategy in advance of vaccine availability for two reasons: first, the need to build a consensus about the order in which groups of the population will get access to the vaccine; second, to reduce any fear and concerns that exist in relation to vaccination and to create demand for vaccines. A key part of this strategy is to counter the anti-vaccination movement that is already promoting hesitancy and resistance. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a tsunami of misinformation and conspiracy theories that have the potential to reduce vaccine uptake.

Behavioral Communication Strategies for Global Epidemics: An Innovative Model for Public Health Education and Humanitarian Response.

In response to a number of growing global health challenges, New York University and UNICEF designed a Behavioral Communication Strategies for Global Epidemics course that brings together United Nations professionals, government staff, and MPH (Master of Public Health) students to design innovative social behavior change communication (SBCC) strategies that address disease outbreaks and humanitarian challenges around the world. Applying a systems approach, participants in the course work on interdisciplinary teams to design strategies, develop skills, and engage in global learning. At the culmination of the course, all teams present strategies to UNICEF country offices for implementation.

Effects of Parent-Child Relationships on Child Marriage of Girls in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam: Evidence From a Prospective Cohort.

Purpose: Parental influence over early marriage of girls is well-documented in qualitative research, but little quantitative work in this area has been conducted. This study assesses the effects of the parent-child relationship in early adolescence (aged 12 years) on early marriage of girls.

Methods: We analyzed survey data from a multicountry prospective cohort of girls (n = 1,648) followed over four rounds from age 8 to 19 years (2002-2013), as part of the Young Lives study in India, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Peru.

Doing What We Do, Better: Improving Our Work Through Systematic Program Reporting.

WHO has recently published program reporting standards to guide the type of information that reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and related health programs should document to promote cross-program learning. We strongly encourage our partners and key stakeholders to make use of the new standards as part of their routine program reporting.

Community Engagement in Liberia: Routine Immunization Post-Ebola.

A national integrated polio, measles, and deworming campaign was implemented across Liberia May 8-14, 2015. The community engagement and social mobilization component of the campaign was based on structures that had been invested in during the Ebola response. This article provides an overview of the community engagement and social mobilization activities that were conducted and reports the key findings of a rapid qualitative assessment conducted immediately after the campaign that focused on community perceptions of routine immunization in the post-Ebola context.

Placing Human Behavior at the Center of the Fight to Eradicate Polio: Lessons Learned and Their Application to Other Life-Saving Interventions.

Today, acceptance of oral polio vaccine is the highest ever. Reaching this level of acceptance has depended on decades of engaging with communities, building trust amid extraordinary social contexts, and responding to the complex variables that trigger behavioral and social change. Drawing on both the successes and setbacks in the 28 years of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), this article articulates what happened when the GPEI began to pay more attention to the dynamics of human and social behavior change.

Social Mobilization and Community Engagement Central to the Ebola Response in West Africa: Lessons for Future Public Health Emergencies.

Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern regarding the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in July 2014, UNICEF was asked to co-lead, in coordination with WHO and the ministries of health of affected countries, the communication and social mobilization component-which UNICEF refers to as communication for development (C4D)-of the Ebola response. For the first time in an emergency setting, C4D was formally incorporated into each country's national response, alongside more typical components such as supplies and logistics, surveillance, and clinical care. This article describes the lessons learned about social mobilization and community engagement in the emergency response to the Ebola outbreak, with a particular focus on UNICEF's C4D work in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Understanding the role of mHealth and other media interventions for behavior change to enhance child survival and development in low- and middle-income countries: an evidence review.

Given the high morbidity and mortality among children in low- and middle-income countries as a result of preventable causes, the U.S. government and the United Nations Children's Fund convened an Evidence Summit on Enhancing Child Survival and Development in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries by Achieving Population-Level Behavior Change on June 3-4, 2013, in Washington, D.

The complexity of social mobilization in health communication: top-down and bottom-up experiences in polio eradication.

The Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) has been one of the most ambitious global health efforts in recent times. Social mobilization (SM) has been a strategic component of the PEI. Yet, a close-up analysis of SM dynamics seems to be lacking in the health communication literature.