Localization

Conduct a community health assessment that identifies community assets. Public health agencies responsible for conducting contact tracing should conduct an assessment of community organizations and assets that can be mobilized to support the contact tracing effort.

Partner with local community organizations to recruit and hire contact tracers with community-based knowledge and experience. Governments should partner with local community organizations to identify contact tracers with the trust and knowledge of the local community. Selecting the right messenger is an important step to building trust,allowing for the cases and contacts to reveal details about who they have been in contact with and when.

Conduct a public health messaging campaign explaining contact tracing. Governments should perform outreach to the public with messages about contact tracing before and while they implement telephone and in-person interviews and contact tracing. This will help the public understand why they are being contacted and what the goal of these efforts are.

Incorporate communication about contact tracing into the testing program. Testing centers should inform those who are tested that they will be contacted by someone from the contact tracing program if they test positive. The testing site should provide the name of the contact tracing program and the phone number from which people will receive a call.

Incorporate information about the local community when training people for the contact tracing program. Governments and those designing contact tracing training programs should include specific modules that focus on the local community context,cultural practices,language considerations,and other specific considerations. The training program should also include information about how to conduct contact tracing,the workforce needs information about the local public health system,how it is organized and how it interacts with other agencies.