{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T23:24:46Z","timestamp":1790119486159,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]],"date-time":"2024-12-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1733961600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Faith-based healthcare providers have played pivotal roles in recent public health responses to disease outbreaks, such as Ebola, COVID-19, and Marburg Virus Disease. However, the literature on their performance remains scarce. This research therefore evaluates the risk communication and community engagement capacity of the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) during the Marburg Disease Virus outbreak in Ghana.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Method<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Data were obtained from 15 clinical and nonclinical health workers affiliated with CHAG and the Ghana Health Service (GHS). Online interviews were conducted to assess the coordination of risk communication and community engagement during Marburg Virus outbreak in Ghana. Thematic analysis was employed for data analysis.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Active engagement of national-level stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service, was observed. Outreach activities encompassing surveillance and contact tracing were also executed. However, resource constraints led to passive involvement of frontline workers in stakeholder meetings and risk communication activities, posing a limitation to the Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) effort.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>To address health system vulnerabilities and misinformation in low-resourced countries during health emergencies, a bottom-up approach is vital. This approach will enhance the capacity of communities, professionals, NGOs, and media to counter infodemics and disinformation. Government and healthcare facility owners must ensure robust logistical and policy preparations to effectively equip healthcare facilities for future disease outbreaks.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0309889","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]],"date-time":"2024-12-12T18:29:49Z","timestamp":1734028189000},"page":"e0309889","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Qualitative insights on emergency preparedness and response to marburg virus disease in Ghana: The role of risk communication and community engagement"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4409-6246","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Herman Nuake Kofi","family":"Agboh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Grace","family":"Adjei-Okai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"George Adjeisah","family":"Adjei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0309889.ref001","article-title":"Risk communication during health emergencies in Nigeria: What are its challenges?","author":"OW Akande","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Public Health Afr"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0309889.ref002","first-page":"922","article-title":"The effect of risk communication on the nurses\u2019 task and contextual performance in disease outbreak control in Ghana: Application of the cause model.","volume":"35","author":"AK Aboagye","year":"2020","journal-title":"International Journal of Health Planning & Management"},{"key":"pone.0309889.ref003","year":"2023","journal-title":"A risk communication, community engagement and infodemic management toolkit for mpox elimination:"},{"key":"pone.0309889.ref004","unstructured":"Risk Communication and Community Engagement for Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Response\u2014Lessons Learnt and Recommendations from Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda\u2014Democratic Republic of the Congo | ReliefWeb [Internet]. [cited 2024 Jan 14]. Available from: https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/report\/democratic-republic-congo\/risk-communication-and-community-engagement-ebola-virus-disease"},{"key":"pone.0309889.ref005","unstructured":"Strategic Response to COVID-19 in the WHO African Region (Update\u2014April 2021) | WHO | Regional Office for Africa [Internet]. [cited 2024 Jul 12]. Available from: https:\/\/www.afro.who.int\/publications\/strategic-response-covid-19-who-african-region-update-april-2021"},{"key":"pone.0309889.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106568","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2020.106568","article-title":"Examining risk and crisis communications of government agencies and stakeholders during early-stages of COVID-19 on Twitter.","volume":"114","author":"Y Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Comput Human Behav."},{"key":"pone.0309889.ref007","unstructured":"Best practices for communicating with the public during an outbreak Outbreak Communication [Internet]. Available from: http:\/\/www.who.int\/csr"},{"key":"pone.0309889.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"182","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijid.2022.11.032","article-title":"Community engagement in Ebola outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for COVID-19 control: A scoping review","volume":"126","author":"SO Frimpong","year":"2023","journal-title":"International Journal of Infectious Diseases"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0309889.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3188","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2020-003188","article-title":"Community engagement for COVID-19 prevention and control: a rapid evidence synthesis","volume":"5","author":"B Gilmore","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMJ Glob Health"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0309889.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.34172\/hpp.2021.18","article-title":"Risk communication and community engagement strategies for COVID-19 in 13 African countries.","volume":"11","author":"YA Adebisi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Health Promot Perspect"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0309889.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1080\/15570274.2013.876730","article-title":"CONTRACTING BETWEEN FAITH-BASED HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS AND THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN AFRICA.","volume":"12","author":"D Boulenger","year":"2014","journal-title":"Review of Faith and International Affairs"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0309889.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s10389-019-01019-x","article-title":"Why does inaccessibility widely exist in healthcare in Ghana? Understanding the reasons from past to present","volume":"28","author":"P Peprah","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Public Health (Germany)"},{"key":"pone.0309889.ref013","unstructured":"COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan for the WHO African Region, 1 February 2022\u201331 March 2023 (Updated on 31 July 2022) | WHO | Regional Office for Africa [Internet]. [cited 2024 Jan 1]. Available from: https:\/\/www.afro.who.int\/publications\/covid-19-strategic-preparedness-and-response-plan-who-african-region-1-february-2022"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0309889.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s12913-022-08035-w","article-title":"Coordination mechanisms for COVID-19 in the WHO Regional office for Africa.","volume":"22","author":"N Ngoy","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMC Health Serv Res"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0309889.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s12939-018-0810-4","article-title":"Towards universal health coverage: A mixed-method study mapping the development of the faith-based non-profit sector in the Ghanaian health system.","volume":"17","author":"A Grieve","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int J Equity Health"},{"issue":"25","key":"pone.0309889.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2393","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMc2300867","article-title":"Marburg Virus Disease in Ghana.","volume":"388","author":"JK Bonney","year":"2023","journal-title":"New England Journal of Medicine"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0309889.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/puh2.32","article-title":"Marburg virus in Ghana: A public health threat to Ghanaians and to Africans.","volume":"1","author":"SA Denkyira","year":"2022","journal-title":"Public Health Challenges."},{"key":"pone.0309889.ref018","unstructured":"CHAG Home\u2013Christian Heallth Association of Ghana [Internet]. [cited 2024 Jan 2]. Available from: https:\/\/chag.org.gh\/"},{"key":"pone.0309889.ref019","article-title":"Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches.","author":"J. W. Creswell","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sage publications.\u2014Google Search"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0309889.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1191\/1478088706qp063oa","article-title":"Using thematic analysis in psychology.","volume":"3","author":"V Braun","year":"2006","journal-title":"Qual Res Psychol"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0309889.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-021-10348-0","article-title":"How can community engagement in health research be strengthened for infectious disease outbreaks in Sub-Saharan Africa? A scoping review of the literature.","volume":"21","author":"S Vanderslott","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMC Public Health."}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0309889","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]],"date-time":"2024-12-12T18:30:05Z","timestamp":1734028205000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0309889"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Ermel","family":"Johnson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]]},"references-count":21,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0309889","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]]}}}