Review article - Peer-reviewed, 2016
Where is the Participation in Participatory Epidemiology? How Engagement with Social Science could lead to Improved Understanding and Control of Peste des Petits Ruminants.
Fischer, Klara; Chenais, Erika; Torsson, Emeli; Wensman, Jonas JohanssonAbstract
Peste des Petits ruminants (PPR) is a potentially lethal, highly contagious viral disease of sheep and goats. Domestic sheep and goats are important species for the livelihoods of poor people in many developing countries. Within societies where PPR is now spreading, poverty is widespread and the disease is expected to have significant negative impacts on livelihoods. In resource-constrained marginalised societies, it is often difficult to collect disease data in conventional ways. Participatory epidemiology (PE) has been suggested as a particularly suitable research method to study epidemiology and social impacts of diseases in these contexts. However, for PE to achieve its full potential, stronger efforts to achieve true participation and to incorporate lessons about participation and power from the social sciences may be required. This review shows that social science engagement in PE to date is virtually non-existent, but that increased efforts to draw lessons from the social sciences and to increase the degree of participation in PE could increase its potential as an important tool in disease impact assessment and control. Particular attention is paid here to the potential role of PE in future research on the epidemiology and control of PPR.Keywords
PPR; Participatory epidemiology; Participatory research; Social sciencePublished in
British Journal of Virology2016, volume: 3, number: 4, pages: 105-114
Authors' information
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Urban and Rural Development
Chenais, Erika
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health
Chenais, Erika
National Veterinary Institute (SVA)
Torsson, Emeli
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health
Wensman, Jonas Johansson (Johansson Wensman, Jonas)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences
UKÄ Subject classification
Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Clinical Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17582/journal.bjv/2016.3.4.105.114
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/83701