1.7.1: Case Study- Applying Models to a Pandemic Response
Perhaps there will be new iterations of these models or entirely new models developed in the future. Authors Acolin and Fishman identified challenges with applying both the biomedical and social-ecological model to the COVID-19 pandemic response in a 2023 paper. While the biomedical model looks for specific biological causes or risk factors of a disease in order to prevent or treat them, the social ecological model looks for specific structural or social causes or risk factors and attempts to resolve them. These authors hypothesize that both models miss the agency of the individual, and therefore can fail to anticipate the human response to large-scale public health issues. The authors analyzed the public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic as an example. Public health guidelines called for social distancing and masking, which are biologically effective at reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. Socioeconomic inequities were amplified during “lockdowns” as many minimum-wage jobs were simply eliminated, and businesses forced to cut-back or close. Those considered “essential” workers were forced to risk their health or income, while office-workers were often able to work from home and avoid exposure. Other down-stream effects of school and work closures to the economy and mental health caused many individuals to resent public health measures and choose to ignore guidance. Subsequently, politics began to co-opt public health, and opposing ideological camps were formed - behaviors like masking became a signifier for political affiliation. Acolin and Fishman suggested that individual agency in pursuit of meaning and life satisfaction should be considered in population health science, both to understand health outcomes and when designing policies and interventions. They proposed a structural model that accounts for the agency of the individual and promotes resiliency of the environmental, organizational, and social environments within the population (Acolin & Fishman, 2023).