Sturmberg, J, Paul, E, Van Damme, W et al. (3 more authors) (2022) The danger of the single storyline obfuscating the complexities of managing SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 28 (6). pp. 1173-1186. ISSN 1356-1294
Abstract
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie showed how a single story is limited and thereby distorts the true nature of an issue. During this COVID-19 pandemic there have been, at least, three consecutive single stories—the ‘lethal threat’ story, followed by the ‘economic threat’ story, and finally the ‘vaccine miracle’ story. None of these single stories can convincingly and permanently capture the dynamics of the pandemic. This is because countries experienced different morbidity and mortality patterns, different socioeconomic disadvantage, age and vulnerability of population, timing and level of lockdown with economic variability, and, despite heavy promotion, vaccines were beset with a significant and variable degree of hesitancy. Lack of transparency, coherence and consistency of pandemic management—arising from holding on to single storylines—showed the global deficiency of public health policy and planning, an underfunding of (public) health and social services, and a growing distrust in governments' ability to manage crises effectively. Indeed, the global management has increased already large inequities, and little has been learnt to address the growing crises of more infectious and potentially more lethal virus mutations. Holding onto single stories prevents the necessary learnings to understand and manage the complexities of ‘wicked’ problems, whereas listening to the many stories provides insights and pathways to do so effectively as well as efficiently.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Sturmberg, J, Paul, E, Van Damme, W, Ridde, V, Brown, GW, Kalk, A. The danger of the single storyline obfuscating the complexities of managing SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. J Eval Clin Pract. 2022; 28: 1173-1186., which has been published in final form at doi:10.1111/jep.13640. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited. |
Keywords: | complexity science; COVID-19; epidemiology; health policies; SARS-CoV-2 |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Feb 2022 16:30 |
Last Modified: | 21 Dec 2022 14:23 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/jep.13640 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:183251 |