Resilience Informatics in Public Health: Qualitative Analysis of Conference Proceedings
BackgroundIn recent years, public health has confronted 2 formidable challenges: the devastating COVID-19 pandemic and the enduring threat of climate change. The convergence of these crises underscores the urgent need for resilient solutions. Resilience informatics (RI), an e...
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JMIR Publications
2025-01-01
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| Series: | JMIR Formative Research |
| Online Access: | https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e63217 |
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| author | Maiya G Block Ngaybe Lidia Azurdia Sierra Andrew McNair Myla Gonzalez Mona Arora Kacey Ernst Enrique Noriega-Atala M Sriram Iyengar |
| author_facet | Maiya G Block Ngaybe Lidia Azurdia Sierra Andrew McNair Myla Gonzalez Mona Arora Kacey Ernst Enrique Noriega-Atala M Sriram Iyengar |
| author_sort | Maiya G Block Ngaybe |
| collection | DOAJ |
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BackgroundIn recent years, public health has confronted 2 formidable challenges: the devastating COVID-19 pandemic and the enduring threat of climate change. The convergence of these crises underscores the urgent need for resilient solutions. Resilience informatics (RI), an emerging discipline at the intersection of informatics and public health, leverages real-time data integration from health systems, environmental monitoring, and technological tools to develop adaptive responses to multifaceted crises. It offers promising avenues for mitigating and adapting to these challenges by proactively identifying vulnerabilities and fostering adaptive capacity in public health systems. Addressing critical questions regarding target audiences, privacy concerns, and scalability is paramount to fostering resilience in the face of evolving health threats.
ObjectiveThe University of Arizona held a workshop, titled Resilience Informatics in Public Health, in November 2023 to serve as a pivotal forum for advancing these discussions and catalyzing collaborative efforts within the field. This paper aims to present a qualitative thematic analysis of the findings from this workshop.
MethodsA purposive sampling strategy was used to invite 40 experts by email from diverse fields, including public health, medicine, weather services, informatics, environmental science, and resilience, to participate in the workshop. The event featured presentations from key experts, followed by group discussions facilitated by experts. The attendees engaged in collaborative reflection and discussion on predetermined questions. Discussions were systematically recorded by University of Arizona students, and qualitative analysis was conducted. A detailed thematic analysis was performed using an inductive approach, supported by MAXQDA software to manage and organize data. Two independent researchers coded the transcripts; discrepancies in coding were resolved through consensus, ensuring a rigorous synthesis of the findings.
ResultsThe workshop hosted 27 experts at the University of Arizona, 21 (78%) of whom were from public health–related fields. Of these 27 experts, 8 (30%) were from the field of resilience. In addition, participants from governmental agencies, American Indian groups, weather services, and a mobile health organization attended. Qualitative analysis identified major themes, including the potential of RI tools, threats to resilience (eg, health care access, infrastructure, and climate change), challenges with RI tools (eg, usability, funding, and real-time response), and standards for RI tools (eg, technological, logistical, and sociological). The attendees emphasized the importance of equitable access, community engagement, and iterative development in RI projects.
ConclusionsThe RI workshop emphasized the necessity for accessible, user-friendly tools bridging technical knowledge and community needs. The workshop’s conclusions provide a road map for future public health resilience, highlighting the need for scalable, culturally sensitive, community-driven interventions. Future directions include focused discussions to yield concrete outputs such as implementation guidelines and tool designs, reshaping public health strategies in the face of emerging threats. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-71e239c1d9354dc9ba708c4f4e47edcb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2561-326X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
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| series | JMIR Formative Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-71e239c1d9354dc9ba708c4f4e47edcb2025-01-16T19:00:47ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Formative Research2561-326X2025-01-019e6321710.2196/63217Resilience Informatics in Public Health: Qualitative Analysis of Conference ProceedingsMaiya G Block Ngaybehttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1251-4618Lidia Azurdia Sierrahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4722-2447Andrew McNairhttps://orcid.org/0009-0003-4536-3518Myla Gonzalezhttps://orcid.org/0009-0003-8071-5777Mona Arorahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2330-6267Kacey Ernsthttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3346-7788Enrique Noriega-Atalahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7150-2989M Sriram Iyengarhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7242-430X BackgroundIn recent years, public health has confronted 2 formidable challenges: the devastating COVID-19 pandemic and the enduring threat of climate change. The convergence of these crises underscores the urgent need for resilient solutions. Resilience informatics (RI), an emerging discipline at the intersection of informatics and public health, leverages real-time data integration from health systems, environmental monitoring, and technological tools to develop adaptive responses to multifaceted crises. It offers promising avenues for mitigating and adapting to these challenges by proactively identifying vulnerabilities and fostering adaptive capacity in public health systems. Addressing critical questions regarding target audiences, privacy concerns, and scalability is paramount to fostering resilience in the face of evolving health threats. ObjectiveThe University of Arizona held a workshop, titled Resilience Informatics in Public Health, in November 2023 to serve as a pivotal forum for advancing these discussions and catalyzing collaborative efforts within the field. This paper aims to present a qualitative thematic analysis of the findings from this workshop. MethodsA purposive sampling strategy was used to invite 40 experts by email from diverse fields, including public health, medicine, weather services, informatics, environmental science, and resilience, to participate in the workshop. The event featured presentations from key experts, followed by group discussions facilitated by experts. The attendees engaged in collaborative reflection and discussion on predetermined questions. Discussions were systematically recorded by University of Arizona students, and qualitative analysis was conducted. A detailed thematic analysis was performed using an inductive approach, supported by MAXQDA software to manage and organize data. Two independent researchers coded the transcripts; discrepancies in coding were resolved through consensus, ensuring a rigorous synthesis of the findings. ResultsThe workshop hosted 27 experts at the University of Arizona, 21 (78%) of whom were from public health–related fields. Of these 27 experts, 8 (30%) were from the field of resilience. In addition, participants from governmental agencies, American Indian groups, weather services, and a mobile health organization attended. Qualitative analysis identified major themes, including the potential of RI tools, threats to resilience (eg, health care access, infrastructure, and climate change), challenges with RI tools (eg, usability, funding, and real-time response), and standards for RI tools (eg, technological, logistical, and sociological). The attendees emphasized the importance of equitable access, community engagement, and iterative development in RI projects. ConclusionsThe RI workshop emphasized the necessity for accessible, user-friendly tools bridging technical knowledge and community needs. The workshop’s conclusions provide a road map for future public health resilience, highlighting the need for scalable, culturally sensitive, community-driven interventions. Future directions include focused discussions to yield concrete outputs such as implementation guidelines and tool designs, reshaping public health strategies in the face of emerging threats.https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e63217 |
| spellingShingle | Maiya G Block Ngaybe Lidia Azurdia Sierra Andrew McNair Myla Gonzalez Mona Arora Kacey Ernst Enrique Noriega-Atala M Sriram Iyengar Resilience Informatics in Public Health: Qualitative Analysis of Conference Proceedings JMIR Formative Research |
| title | Resilience Informatics in Public Health: Qualitative Analysis of Conference Proceedings |
| title_full | Resilience Informatics in Public Health: Qualitative Analysis of Conference Proceedings |
| title_fullStr | Resilience Informatics in Public Health: Qualitative Analysis of Conference Proceedings |
| title_full_unstemmed | Resilience Informatics in Public Health: Qualitative Analysis of Conference Proceedings |
| title_short | Resilience Informatics in Public Health: Qualitative Analysis of Conference Proceedings |
| title_sort | resilience informatics in public health qualitative analysis of conference proceedings |
| url | https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e63217 |
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