ReviewBMJ global health2020
Community engagement for COVID-19 prevention and control: a rapid evidence synthesis.
Review in BMJ global health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 224 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
224 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 449 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of gross domestic product with equitable access to childhood vaccines in 195 countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Communication to promote and support physical distancing for COVID-19 prevention and control: a rapid reviewThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Digital behaviour change interventions to increase vegetable intake in adults: a systematic review.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023Pooled it
- Global Experiences of Community Responses to COVID-19: A Systematic Literature Review.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Community engagement in research in sub-Saharan Africa: current practices, barriers, facilitators, ethical considerations and the role of gender - a systematic review.The Pan African medical journal · 2022Pooled it
- What have we learned about COVID-19 volunteering in the UK? A rapid review of the literature.BMC public health · 2021Pooled it
- Knowledge, barriers, and facilitators for promoting cardiovascular health in a Latino community: a qualitative sub-study of the Skills-based Educational Strategies for Reduction of Vascular Events in Orange County.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- Health behaviors and care seeking practices for childhood diarrhea and pneumonia in a rural district of Pakistan: A qualitative study.PloS one · 2023Trial
- Determinants of trust among ethnic minority community members towards community-based organisations and leaders during pandemics and other emergencies in Australia.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Outbreak preparedness for women and girls in low- and middle-income countries: a qualitative study.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- Community-led vaccine strategies to boost COVID-19 vaccine uptake among racialized immigrant groups in Parc Extension, Quebec: a strengths-based exemplar study.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2026Article
- Exploring Stakeholder Involvement in Intervention Implementation Studies: Systematic Evidence Synthesis With an Evidence Gap Map Approach.Evaluation & the health professions · 2026Review
- Article
- Collaboration Between local health authorities and community leaders in health emergency response in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review of evidence from the COVID-19 era.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- Sustaining Healthy Communities in rural settings: lessons from multisectoral teams in Alberta, Canada.Health promotion international · 2026Article
- Sustained mental health impacts of COVID-19 among people living with and without HIV in the Dominican Republic.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Effective communication and public engagement strategies to counter misinformation about infectious diseases.Immunology and cell biology · 2026Review
- Rethinking Public Health Approaches to Crisis Response: Putting People First.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2026Article
- Administrative interventions in antimicrobial stewardship: a global scoping review of all WHO regions.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Article
164 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionCommunity engagement has been considered a fundamental component of past outbreaks, such as Ebola. However, there is concern over the lack of involvement of communities and 'bottom-up' approaches used within COVID-19 responses thus far. Identifying how community engagement approaches have been used in past epidemics may support more robust implementation within the COVID-19 response. METHODOLOGY: A rapid evidence review was conducted to identify how community engagement is used for infectious disease prevention and control during epidemics. Three databases were searched in addition to extensive snowballing for grey literature. Previous epidemics were limited to Ebola, Zika, SARS, Middle East respiratory syndromeand H1N1 since 2000. No restrictions were applied to study design or language.
resultsFrom 1112 references identified, 32 articles met our inclusion criteria, which detail 37 initiatives. Six main community engagement actors were identified: local leaders, community and faith-based organisations, community groups, health facility committees, individuals and key stakeholders. These worked on different functions: designing and planning, community entry and trust building, social and behaviour change communication, risk communication, surveillance and tracing, and logistics and administration.
conclusionCOVID-19's global presence and social transmission pathways require social and community responses. This may be particularly important to reach marginalised populations and to support equity-informed responses. Aligning previous community engagement experience with current COVID-19 community-based strategy recommendations highlights how communities can play important and active roles in prevention and control. Countries worldwide are encouraged to assess existing community engagement structures and use community engagement approaches to support contextually specific, acceptable and appropriate COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.