ArticleBMC public health2019
Lessons learned from engaging communities for Ebola vaccine trials in Sierra Leone: reciprocity, relatability, relationships and respect (the four R's).
Article in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04912284 (Africa COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy), which is not on this map. Cited by 31 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Africa COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: a Multi-country Cross-sectional Study
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed.
- Examining study participants' decision-making and ethics-related experiences in a dietary community randomized controlled trial in Malawi.BMC medical ethics · 2021Trial
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- Ebola virus disease: A persistent challenge in global health security.Open veterinary journal · 2026Review
- Engaging Broader Stakeholders to Accelerate Group AVaccines · 2025Review
- PEARLES challenges and solutions to the implementation of clinical research responses to epidemics and pandemics: a scoping review.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Review
- We move together: a realist evaluation of the Safe Motherhood Action Groups in Eastern Province, Zambia.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Through the lens of Good Participatory Practice: Findings and lessons learned from the healthcare worker subcommittee of the COVID-19 Healthcare Worker Exposure Response and Outcomes Registry.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2025Article
- An unclosed loop: Perspectives of community engagement in infectious disease clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa.PloS one · 2024Article
- Community interventions for pandemic preparedness: A scoping review of pandemic preparedness lessons from HIV, COVID-19, and other public health emergencies of international concern.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Modeling Supply and Demand Dynamics of Vaccines against Epidemic-Prone Pathogens: Case Study of Ebola Virus Disease.Vaccines · 2023Article
- Mpox knowledge, behaviours and barriers to public health measures among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in the UK: a qualitative study to inform public health guidance and messaging.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Understanding communication in community engagement for maternal and newborn health programmes in low- and middle-income countries: a realist review.Health policy and planning · 2023Article
- What's in a name? Unpacking 'CommunityBMJ global health · 2023Article
- Article
- Public perceptions of Ebola vaccines and confidence in health services to treat Ebola, malaria, and tuberculosis: Findings from a cross-sectional household survey in Uganda, 2020.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Doing 'reciprocity work': The role of fieldworkers in a mass drug administration trial in the Gambia.Global public health · 2022Article
- CDC's COVID-19 International Vaccine Implementation and Evaluation Program and Lessons from Earlier Vaccine Introductions.Emerging infectious diseases · 2022Review
- A realist review protocol on communications for community engagement in maternal and newborn health programmes in low- and middle-income countries.Systematic reviews · 2022Article
- Developing capacity for implementation and evaluation of vaccine trials in Uganda: Perspective of the Makerere University Walter Reed Project.African health sciences · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBuilding trust and engaging the community are important for biomedical trials. This was core to the set up and delivery of the EBOVAC-Salone and PREVAC Ebola vaccine trials in Sierra Leone during and following the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic. Local community liaison teams (CLT) engaged with the community through public meetings, radio chat shows, and other activities, while a social science team (SST) assessed community members' and participants' perceptions and regularly updated the clinical team to adapt procedures to improve the acceptability and compliance of the trial. The objective of this study was to examine the community engagement (CE) program in these trials and to identify potential barriers and facilitators.
methodsFifteen CLT and SST members participated in in-depth interviews and 23 community members attended three focus groups to discuss the Ebola vaccine trials and their experiences and perspectives of the CE activities.
resultsA key aim of the CE program was to build trust between the community and the trial. Four main principles (the "four R's") evolved from the discussions with team members and the community that influenced this trust: reciprocity, relatability, relationships and respect. The CLT and SST ensured reciprocal communication between the trial team and the community. The CLT delivered key messages from the trial, whilst the SST completed ethnographic research in the field to uncover rumors and perceptions of the trial in the community. These ethnographic findings were shared with the CLT and addressed in targeted messaging to the community. Both the CLT and SST approached the communities in an egalitarian manner, by dressing modestly, speaking local dialects, and using relatable examples. Appreciation and understanding of the importance of interpersonal relationships and respect for the people, their customs, and traditions also played a large role in the CE program.
conclusionThese findings provide an in-depth understanding of how interdisciplinary community liaison and social science teams can work with a clinical team to strengthen trust. The four R's suggest the ways in which trust relations are central to CE and confidence in vaccine trials, and could offer an approach to CE in vaccine trials.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.