Prepared for the “unexpected”? Lessons from the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic in West Africa on integrating emergent theory designs into outbreak response.

Abstract

Summary Box 1. Even seemingly straightforward interventions, such as vaccine delivery, require real-time awareness of emergent on-the-ground local (‘field’) realities. 2. Outbreak response requires thoughtful engagement that include local communities from the start. 3. Methodologies to actively witness, document and integrate unexpected events and consequences of implementations in response are needed. 4. Emergent theory designs hold important disciplinary and methodological implications for implementing and delivering interventions. 5. Emergent theory designs, such as ethnography, are an essential part of effective outbreak response, capturing emerging barriers and facilitators in real time and bridging local and global realities.