Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41966154›Full record

SynthesisInternational journal of health policy and management2025

Exploring Grassroots Indicators for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response: A Systematic Narrative Review.

Million Tesfaye Eshete, Pami Shrestha, Charmaine Ang, José María Valderas, David L Heymann, Anders Nordström, Kelley Lee, Alex Cook, Clare Wenham, Pablo Perel and 5 more

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International journal of health policy and management, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Systemic path to global health 2050.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Million Tesfaye EsheteCentre for Sustainable Healthcare Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-4994-354X
Pami ShresthaNational University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0003-0410-8812
Charmaine AngImperial College London, London, UK.ORCID 0009-0002-9012-9758
José María ValderasSaw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0002-9299-1555
David L HeymannLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Anders NordströmDepartment for Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet and Centre for Resilent Health, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden.
Kelley LeeFaculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-3625-1915
Alex CookSaw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0002-6271-5832
Clare WenhamLondon School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5378-3203
Pablo PerelLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2342-301X
J Jaime MirandaCRONICAS Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.ORCID 0000-0002-4738-5468
Alberto L Garcia-BasteiroCentro de Investigação Em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Manhica, Mozambique.ORCID 0000-0002-2038-5505
Helen ClarkThe Helen Clark Foundation, Auckland, New Zealand.ORCID 0009-0002-6964-5838
Helena Legido-QuigleyImperial College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-4113-4542
Eivind EngebretsenCentre for Sustainable Healthcare Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0001-9455-110X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how conventional top-down, expert-driven indicators often fail to align with local community realities, marginalising their perspectives, concerns, knowledge, and narratives. However, the limitations of pandemic-related and global health security indicators are not unique but reflect recurring patterns across major social metrics. In response, an alternative paradigm advocates for grassroots-inclusive approaches to developing indicators. Our objective is to assess how and why grassroots-inclusive approaches complement top-down approaches to developing indicators, and to synthesise their theoretical and practical contributions to public health.

methodsWe conducted a scoping review in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. We systematically searched six databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO), as well as Google Scholar, to identify relevant articles published from their inception to September 1, 2024. We included peer-reviewed articles, opinion pieces, and book chapters, narratively synthesising their findings.

resultsThis review included 43 studies from various disciplines. Across these studies, communities co-produced indicators through participatory workshops, interviews, and consensus exercises in areas such as environmental sustainability, disaster resilience, public health, well-being, and local development. The reported strengths included greater local relevance, community ownership, and accountability, alongside challenges in sustaining participation, integrating into top-down systems, and addressing data gaps. Notably, no study applied grassroots-inclusive indicators to health security or pandemic preparedness.

conclusionDespite retrieving and analysing articles from various disciplines, no study has specifically applied grassroots-inclusive indicators to health security or pandemic preparedness. However, the evidence clearly shows that it is both feasible and practical to integrate expert and non-expert perspectives when developing indicators.

Indexed as

COVID-19PandemicsHumansPandemic PreparednessPublic HealthSARS-CoV-2Bottom-up ApproachCommunity EngagementGrassroots IndicatorsHealth SecurityPandemic PreparednessParticipatory Approaches

Identifiers

PMID41966154
PMCPMC12958240

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.