--- id: "coronavirus-smarter-crowdsourcing:recommendations/localization" type: "GovLab policy recommendation" title: "Localization" url: "https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/recommendations/localization" summary: "Governments should increase public trust in contact tracing programs by ensuring the programs incorporate local knowledge and experience. Specifically, they should (1) conduct an assessment that identifies community assets; (2) partner with local community organizations to identify contact tracers; (3) conduct a public health messaging campaign to explain contact tracing; and (4) incorporate information about the local community when training the contact tracing workforce." source: "The GovLab (coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org)" licence: "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)" --- # Localization Governments should increase public trust in contact tracing programs by ensuring the programs incorporate local knowledge and experience. Specifically, they should (1) conduct an assessment that identifies community assets; (2) partner with local community organizations to identify contact tracers; (3) conduct a public health messaging campaign to explain contact tracing; and (4) incorporate information about the local community when training the contact tracing workforce. - Part of: [Smarter Crowdsourcing in the Age of Coronavirus](https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/), [all recommendations](https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/recommendations) ## Strategy 1 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. - Timeframe: 1-3 Months (immediate) - Audience: Civil Society, Vulnerable Populations, Organized Civil Society, Nonprofits - Type: Research, Data, Partnerships, Capacity Building, Vulnerable Populations - Strategy page: https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/strategies/conduct-a-community-health-assessment-that-identif ### Actions governments should take (strategy 1) 1. Establish formal relationships between the public health system and social service organizations 2. Identify resources that can support individuals who may need additional social support in order to isolate following a positive test result ## Strategy 2 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. - Timeframe: 1-3 Months (immediate) - Audience: Civil Society, Vulnerable Populations, Organized Civil Society, Nonprofits - Type: Partnerships, Capacity Building, Vulnerable Populations - Strategy page: https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/strategies/partner-with-local-community-organizations-to-recr ### Actions governments should take (strategy 2) 1. Develop criteria that outlines profiles of organizations and people from the local community, that have the requisite knowledge of the community . 2. Meet with local authorities and key stakeholders (women, youths, older people) and discuss the importance of the contact tracers. 3. Establish a contract with local organizations to identify and recruit potential members of the contact tracing workforce 4. Provide financing and administrative support to allow the local community to make recruitment decisions 5. Partner with a local university or community based organization to hire, manage and/or train the contact tracing workforce 6. Develop plans for training and managing new contact tracing “employees” who are not full time employees of the public health system. ### Examples from around the world (strategy 2) 1. [Spain hired and trained community health workers to support contact tracing efforts for tuberculosis, particularly in neighborhoods with a large number of immigrants. The government hired community health workers from countries in North Africa because they had the necessary language skills and the cultural knowledge to successfully engage with hard to reach immigrants groups. The use of these workers increased trust in the contact tracing system and improved outcomes.](https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-12-158) ## Strategy 3 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. - Timeframe: 1-3 Months (immediate) - Audience: Civil Society, Vulnerable Populations, Healthcare Providers, Essential Workers, Government Workers, Organized Civil Society, Nonprofits - Type: Communications, Partnerships, Vulnerable Populations - Strategy page: https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/strategies/conduct-a-public-health-messaging-campaign-explain ### Actions governments should take (strategy 3) 1. Identify local people and organizations that influence local opinions 2. Offer education opportunities to community leaders. 3. Work with community groups to adapt messaging to the local culture and context 4. Contract with local influencers to develop and disseminate messages about contact tracing 5. Partner with trusted community sources to conduct regular press briefings to provide information about contact tracing 6. Develop key messages that focus on getting people to answer their phones and to engage honestly with contact tracers ### Examples from around the world (strategy 3) 1. [During the 2014 – 2015 Ebola outbreak, thousands of community health workers were trained to serve as contact tracers. The community health workers were a crucial supplement to the existing public health workforce and helped to link the community to testing and treatment centers. The community health workers were important to the success of the program, not only because they increased the number of workers, but because they were able to help overcome the fear and lack of trust in the country’s health system during the outbreak.](https://jglobalbiosecurity.com/articles/10.31646/gbio.69/) ## Strategy 4 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. - Timeframe: 1-3 Months (immediate) - Audience: Private Sector, Healthcare Providers, Organized Civil Society, Nonprofits - Type: Communications - Strategy page: https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/strategies/incorporate-communication-about-contact-tracing-in ### Actions governments should take (strategy 4) 1. Inform people who are being tested that they will be contacted by people from the contact tracing program if they test positive 2. Share information about the organization that is in charge of contact tracing and the telephone number from which they should expect a call 3. Develop communications materials, such as brochures and handouts, that explain the purpose of the contact tracing program and the questions that contactants will be asked ## Strategy 5 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. - Timeframe: 1-3 Months (immediate) - Audience: Civil Society, Vulnerable Populations, Organized Civil Society, Nonprofits - Type: Communications, Partnerships, Vulnerable Populations - Strategy page: https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/strategies/incorporate-information-about-the-local-community- ### Actions governments should take (strategy 5) 1. Identify relevant features of the public health system that contact tracers need to understand 2. Identify cultural and institutional features of the community that may influence the response of the public to contact tracing, including information about any sources of distrust that may influence the community’s response to the program 3. Develop training modules that provide information about the local public health system and the local community 4. Invite members of marginalized communities to [review the script](https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/10/21285166/contact-tracing-community-partnerships-trust-coronavirus) contact tracers will use to avoid the use of language that discourage cooperation.