ArticlePreventing chronic disease2021
An Emergent Network for the Diffusion of Innovations Among Local Health Departments at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Article in Preventing chronic disease, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Bridging theory and practice: a qualitative interview study of barriers to and facilitators of research collaborations between academia and public health services in Germany.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Understanding uptake of information about innovations among emergency department clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2024Article
- State and Local Health Departments: Research, Surveillance, and Evidence-Based Public Health Practices.Preventing chronic disease · 2023Article
- A Comparative Study on Distancing, Mask and Vaccine Adoption Rates from Global Twitter Trends.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionCommunication networks among professionals can be pathways for accelerating the diffusion of innovations if some local health departments (LHDs) drive the spread of knowledge. Such a network could prove valuable during public health emergencies such as the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Our objective was to determine whether LHDs in the United States were tied together in an informal network to share information and advice about innovative community health practices, programs, and policies.
methodsIn January and February 2020, we conducted an online survey of 2,303 senior LHD leaders to ask several questions about their sources of advice. We asked respondents to rank up to 3 other LHDs whose practices informed their work on new public health programs, evidence-based practices, and policies intended to improve community health. We used a social network analysis program to assess answers.
resultsA total of 329 LHDs responded. An emergent network appeared to operate nationally among 740 LHDs. Eleven LHDs were repeatedly nominated by peers as sources of advice or examples (ie, opinion leaders), and 24 acted as relational bridges to hold these emergent networks together (ie, boundary spanners). Although 2 LHDs played both roles, most LHDs we surveyed performed neither of these roles.
conclusionOpinion leading and boundary spanning health departments can be accessed to increase the likelihood of affecting the rate of interest in and adoption of innovations. Decision makers involved in disseminating new public health practices, programs, or policies may find our results useful both for emergencies and for practice-as-usual.
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