Forward Together: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Mitigating COVID-19 Outbreaks at One of the Nation’s Most Diverse Universities
Start Date
28-6-2021 10:10 AM
End Date
28-6-2021 10:55 AM
Topic
Mitigating Outbreaks
Session Chair
Samantha Friedman
Abstract
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, decisions surrounding educational institutions have been a central public concern. In this proof-of-concept case study, we focus on response and mitigation decision-making at the University at Albany, State University of New York (UAlbany)— one of the most diverse public universities in the United States. We first explore the role of best practices and data-driven insights from the emergency management and public health fields in informing key decisions amidst rapidly-shifting science and policies. We then reflect on the health outcomes of UAlbany’s approach in the context of COVID-19’s differential impacts on minority communities. In May of 2020, following a significant surge of cases throughout the spring, NYS and the rest of the U.S. gradually began to reopen. Epidemiological data on SARS-CoV2 indicate an incubation period of up to 14 days and a higher likelihood of asymptomatic spread among children, adolescents, and young adults. Concerns mounted over bringing students back to campuses where they would be more likely to interact in congregated settings while potentially not knowing that they were infected with SARS-CoV2. Institutions of higher education needed to build plans and make decisions that would mitigate the impact on their campuses and surrounding communities. We apply a cognitive-institutional process-tracing methodology to explore key mitigation strategies that have helped support UAlbany’s students, faculty, and staff. The analysis is based on primary source information collected throughout the response, including 201 routine situation reports and minutes from 180+ meetings of key groups of stakeholders and/or decision-makers. We identified six key occasions for decision: 1. Building recommendations on incorporating epidemiological and operational data into decision-making and communication. 2. Overcoming potential barriers to surveillance testing and more flexible decision-making benchmarks. 3. Defining strategies for mitigating the secondary impacts of an aggressive testing and isolation/quarantine policy on students, especially given the potential for an outsized impact on vulnerable populations. 4. Pivoting operations and communications based on emerging State guidance as the fall semester began. 5. Responding to a surge in cases in late fall. 6. Planning for the spring semester given lessons learned from the fall and an anticipated higher rate of community transmission. To examine the potential impact of the University’s response on public health outcomes, we conduct a quantitative analysis of data from 475 responses to the University’s internal contact tracing survey. We focus specifically on the relative impact across racial and ethnic groups. Our results indicate that there may have been a differential impact on minority groups in terms of who contracted the virus. That said, a significantly lower proportion of non-Hispanic Black respondents reported symptoms than did non-Hispanic White or Hispanic students. Our decision analysis reveals a potential model for institutions of higher education to effectively engage experts across disciplines in crisis decision-making. Since we conducted the analysis at the advisory level (rather than the level of the decision-maker), we were also able to explore strategies for enhancing the role of the scientific community in broader emergency response. While there was not significant data to connect decision-making with public health outcomes, an initial analysis indicates interesting trends in health impacts among minority communities that merit further study.
Author Bio
(Presenter)
Jayson Kratoville leads the NCSP’s efforts to help people, organizations, and communities adapt to evolving risk. He has over 10 years of experience building teams, running programs, and managing systemic change. Jayson believes change is driven by people—we can stay ahead of constantly shifting threats if we empower our people with the tools, mindset, and environment to be creative and resilient. Research and academia are essential to developing these solutions, especially when paired with insights from practitioners. Jayson has been the NCSP’s Interim Director since 2018. He has focused on connecting the Center’s successful approach to emerging challenges in new areas, including severe weather, mental health, and pandemic response. Prior to that, Jayson was the NCSP’s Associate Director, responsible for a $5 million annual budget, 100+ training deliveries per year, and development of new courses, including leadership, advanced rescue task force, and unmanned aircraft systems. From 2011 – 2016, he served as the Director’s Chief of Staff, establishing processes, systems, and structures to manage sustainable growth. During that time, the Center built a statewide residential and mobile training program at the NY State Preparedness Training Center. The NCSP drove a 385% increase in enrollment and developed 20+ new emergency preparedness courses focused on innovation and transformation. Jayson is also proud to have contributed to the creation and ongoing advancement of UAlbany’s College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity (CEHC). Since it was founded in 2016, CEHC has become one of the fastest-growing programs in the SUNY system. Jayson is currently an adjunct faculty member using experiential learning to help students connect project management and technology solutions to real-world challenges Jayson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Master of Public Administration in Homeland Security and Information Strategy & Management from the University at Albany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy.
Dr. Tomoko Udo is Associate Professor at Department of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior, and Co-Associate Director, the Center for Collaborative HIV Research in Policy and Practice at School of Public Health, University at Albany. Since early summer 2020, she has also been serving a role of a Health Policy Advisor for COVID for the University. Under her title, she contributed to implementation of several programs and policies that helped the UAlbany manage outbreak of COVID-19 among the campus population. During early pandemic when New York State became one of the COVID-19 epicenters, she also participated in several studies in collaboration with New York State Department of Health that provided key information about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, clinical presentation of COVID-19 in children, and seroprevalence of SARS-CoV2 in New York State. Aside from COVID-19-related research, the overarching goal of Dr. Udo’s research program is to identify ways to improve health care for individuals with various addictive behaviors, including drug abuse and behaviors partly overlap with drug addiction such as binge eating/obesity, as well as other mental health problems. Her research utilizes a wide range of methodologies, from basic laboratory behavioral experiments, quasi-experimental studies, secondary data analysis of epidemiological data, to community-engaged research. As a PI and co-I, she directs both internally and externally funded on- projects to evaluate innovative programs that encourage harm reduction behaviors in persons who use drugs, including linkage to substance use treatment, that are implemented by the New York State Department of Health, local police departments, a county jail, and local harm reduction providers, with a goal to identify strategies to more widely promote these programs in the communities with different resources and environment.
Document Type
Extended Abstract
Forward Together: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Mitigating COVID-19 Outbreaks at One of the Nation’s Most Diverse Universities
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, decisions surrounding educational institutions have been a central public concern. In this proof-of-concept case study, we focus on response and mitigation decision-making at the University at Albany, State University of New York (UAlbany)— one of the most diverse public universities in the United States. We first explore the role of best practices and data-driven insights from the emergency management and public health fields in informing key decisions amidst rapidly-shifting science and policies. We then reflect on the health outcomes of UAlbany’s approach in the context of COVID-19’s differential impacts on minority communities. In May of 2020, following a significant surge of cases throughout the spring, NYS and the rest of the U.S. gradually began to reopen. Epidemiological data on SARS-CoV2 indicate an incubation period of up to 14 days and a higher likelihood of asymptomatic spread among children, adolescents, and young adults. Concerns mounted over bringing students back to campuses where they would be more likely to interact in congregated settings while potentially not knowing that they were infected with SARS-CoV2. Institutions of higher education needed to build plans and make decisions that would mitigate the impact on their campuses and surrounding communities. We apply a cognitive-institutional process-tracing methodology to explore key mitigation strategies that have helped support UAlbany’s students, faculty, and staff. The analysis is based on primary source information collected throughout the response, including 201 routine situation reports and minutes from 180+ meetings of key groups of stakeholders and/or decision-makers. We identified six key occasions for decision: 1. Building recommendations on incorporating epidemiological and operational data into decision-making and communication. 2. Overcoming potential barriers to surveillance testing and more flexible decision-making benchmarks. 3. Defining strategies for mitigating the secondary impacts of an aggressive testing and isolation/quarantine policy on students, especially given the potential for an outsized impact on vulnerable populations. 4. Pivoting operations and communications based on emerging State guidance as the fall semester began. 5. Responding to a surge in cases in late fall. 6. Planning for the spring semester given lessons learned from the fall and an anticipated higher rate of community transmission. To examine the potential impact of the University’s response on public health outcomes, we conduct a quantitative analysis of data from 475 responses to the University’s internal contact tracing survey. We focus specifically on the relative impact across racial and ethnic groups. Our results indicate that there may have been a differential impact on minority groups in terms of who contracted the virus. That said, a significantly lower proportion of non-Hispanic Black respondents reported symptoms than did non-Hispanic White or Hispanic students. Our decision analysis reveals a potential model for institutions of higher education to effectively engage experts across disciplines in crisis decision-making. Since we conducted the analysis at the advisory level (rather than the level of the decision-maker), we were also able to explore strategies for enhancing the role of the scientific community in broader emergency response. While there was not significant data to connect decision-making with public health outcomes, an initial analysis indicates interesting trends in health impacts among minority communities that merit further study.
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The recording of this presentation ends at 1:54:07