Thursday, December 24, 2020

Developing Rural Pandemic Plans for U.P. Counties-Example of Annotate Bibliography

The Federal Government through FEMA, Homeland Security, and CDC helps us to better understand how to manage and handle a pandemic. Most of the information focuses on healthcare professionals and security but doesn't seem to provide significant detail on how manage the social and economic aspects of rural communities. While health is an important concern one has to wonder if counties can better integrate this knowledge for stronger county plans that take into specifically the needs of counties/communities in the U.P. of Michigan. 

Consider that plans are a method of coordinating local, state, and federal resources in a way that leads to maximum benefit for people within the community. Because places in the U.P. like Delta County are nestled within rugged rural terrain it can at times limit pandemic response (the various forms thereof) that can be easily overwhelmed, we should consider a broader pandemic plan that incorporates the often neglected social and economic aspects to effective county response.

Guidance from the National Governor's Association and CDC:

There is additional guidance from the National Governors Association that helps states deal with pandemics. Some of these ideas could be adjusted and applied to county governments to prepare to deal with pandemics by coordinating resources for fast and effective response. "A pandemic will force many key decisions to be made in a dynamic environment of shifting events, and partnerships must be built now and tested to ensure appropriate and rapid action." (National Governor's Association, 2006).  

Some of the the National Governor's Association advice include....

1. Committee on Preparedness.
2. Communication and Education.
3. Goods and Services.
4. State and Legal Aspects.
5 Perform Training.

Rural America has its own challenges that range from larger percentage of elder population and limited first responder capacity. They also have some advantages such as easier to social distance, local resources, and create community coordination. Because of the isolation of many U.P. communities they may need the help of other factors in society that can include things like volunteer organizations, communications strategies, temporary ICU locations, a 2 week surplus on key supplies in local stores, availability of remoted work/school broadband technologies, or even open air building ordinances. There are many different ways in which we can improve our community's response.

The Centers of Disease Control they provide the following advice, 

"Network and collaborate with healthcare providers and others (e.g., health departments in other jurisdictions, pharmacists, nutritionists, community health workers, educators, counselors, businesses, and advocacy, community, labor, and faith-based organizations)." (CDC, 2020).

While the CDC is a primary authority they are somewhat limited by their philosophical emphasis on medical aspects of pandemic minimization (It is their job to focus on thee aspects). Full preparedness means thinking about all of the different ways the pandemic virus impacts us. That means we can think about it from a social, economic and health aspect to minimize its impact. As we reorient our businesses and activities to a post-Covid world that is likely to be focused on the health of our environment there will be changes in things like construct to allow for open air seating. 

Annotated Bibliography Examples:

To better understand how to improve up on existing plans you will want to complete your background review of the current literature. An annotated bibliography isn't about just offering the reference but a little description of what each of the articles contains. For those who engage in deep research that requires categorization and organization of significant key research the annotated bibliography is important. You may want to see how it is written in APA format HERE. 

O'Sullivan, B., Leader, J., Couch, D., & Purnell, J. (2020). Rural Pandemic Preparedness: The Risk, Resilience and Response Required of Primary Healthcare: Risk management and healthcare policy, 13, 1187–1194. https://doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S265610

The publication focuses on how to maximize and protect healthcare workers. "Response consists of rural PHC teams adopting new preventative clinics, screening and ambulatory models to protect health workers from exposure whilst maximizing population screening and continuity of healthcare for vulnerable groups." (You can add as much or as little as you feel is necessary to create a description. I would think along the lines of 1-2 short paragraphs).


Hansen, J.A., Lory, G.L. Rural Victimization and Policing during the COVID-19 Pandemic Am J Crim Just 45, 731–742 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09554-0

The research discusses how access to victim services can be limited in rural environments and offers some guidance. "Access to victims’ services has been a longstanding issue in rural communities, but has become more difficult due to stay-at-home orders and changes in daily activities." The study may help understand strategies on how to reach victims in rural places like the U.P. (You can add as much or as little as you feel is necessary to create a description. I would think along the lines of 1-2 short paragraphs).

Qing Miao, Susan Schwarz, Gary Schwarz (2021). Responding to COVID-19: Community volunteerism and coproduction in China. World Development, Volume 137, 105128. ISSN 0305-750X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105128.

The research is located in China but still can give some insight on how to use community volunteers. More search on US examples needed. Delta County has a lot of volunteer resources and a tight community that can help in organizing responses. "Our research examines the crucial role of community volunteers and their effective deployment during a crisis." (You can add as much or as little as you feel is necessary to create a description. I would think along the lines of 1-2 short paragraphs).

Tim, Y., Cui, L., & Sheng, Z. (2020). Digital resilience: How rural communities leapfrogged into sustainable development. Information Systems Journal. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/isj.12312

The publication discusses three methods of creating digital resilience and how to minimize impact. Additional research on how to encourage economic resilience when/if pandemics hit by helping local small business is helpful. "Digital social innovation (DSI)—the novel use of digital technology to address societal challenges—plays a critical role in our collective pursuit of sustainable development." (You can add as much or as little as you feel is necessary to create a description. I would think along the lines of 1-2 short paragraphs).

Keep going with your search here...

Organizing and Narrowing Your Annotated Bibliography

New research is coming out in real time due to the uniqueness of the pandemic. Older research on previous pandemics may be helpful but for the most part you want to stay within the last year or so to truly understand modern medicine and methods of responding. In addition, you will also want to narrow your search to rural communities first and then when you have exhausted those resources move into broader responses. The closer you can match your research to, in this example Delta County, the more relevant it will be. 

Breaking your search up into categories is important for organizing and creating themes within your paper (i.e. dissertation paper). From what I see I would use the social, economic, and health benefits because I like to study innovation and clusters. However you might want to use something else that relates specifically to the research question you propose (i.e. R1, R2, etc...). For example if you were focused only on physical resources you might break them down into categories of where they are and where they can be procured. 

Possible Plan Characteristics to Look for in the Literature:

Because I would use social, economic and health there are some things from our broad knowledge that would make sense to keep an eye out for while searching. It should also be noted that while I used public open access research, in a true study I would also look at private university libraries that are not open access. 

Social
-Volunteer organization
-Walkable neighborhoods
-Socially distanced event activities
-Communication strategies
-Outdoor activities
-Etc.

Economic
-Open air conversion designs of business buildings
-Using alleys and sidewalks for businesses and dining
-Business pick up windows
-Business mini-Malls where small business can still function
-Selling local products in local grocery stores
-Coordination of business groups
-New investment opportunities.

Health

-Safety check
-Hospital capacity
-Spill over emergency capacity (i.e. gyms)
-New business safety protocol
-First responder training and safety.
-Etc.

As in the case of Delta County Michigan it is helpful to think about what focus (categories) would have the most use in helping local communities develop adequate plans to overcome pandemic problems. From a macro standpoint that could have an impact on the success or failure of a nation to minimize the impact of such problems and use such times of adversity as opportunities to adapt and improve. For example, we could develop our digital infrastructure while improving our advanced manufacturing capabilities in a way that leads to increased investment and GDP growth. Nationally we are still focused on solving problems post hoc and have not yet focused on finding lasting solutions to national decline in a way that powers up multiple large sectors of society for innovative growth. We may need to take a wider look at where the problems seem to lay and solve them on a local level to push our national policies into a competitive mindset through the concept of Federalism.

A couple of ideas on how to improve Delta County's Economy Post Covid

Attracting SME Adventure-Venture Capitalism to Delta County (Escanaba & Gladstone) Through Neuroeconomics

Delta County Great Lakes Shipping Infrastructure-Opportunities for National Exports!


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