The importance of good infectious disease outbreak preparedness

How can we better prepare for the next infectious disease outbreak based on behavioral and social science insights? That question is central to the be-prepared consortium, for which ZonMW has awarded a second year of funding (a total of 2.6 million euros). This program, led by Prof. Dr. Marijn de Bruin (behavioral scientist at IQ Health), focuses on the following questions: how do communication, misinformation and the physical and social environment influence how people behave during a pandemic? What makes citizens and communities more resilient during the next outbreak? And how can social science insights be used more effectively during the next crisis? 
In a major national collaboration, the combined knowledge and expertise will be used to conduct scientifically innovative and socially relevant research. The results of these projects will be turned into concrete products for the Toolkit Pandemische paraatheid en gedrag.