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Your Call Is Important to Us: COVID-19 and Trends in Public Health Unit Call Service Utilization
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 July 2021
Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) -related call data at Metro North Public Health Unit, Brisbane Australia, over the 2020 calendar year to assist surge preparedness.
Call data were retrieved by call category or reference to “COVID” in summaries from the call management system at a large metropolitan public health service. Under a mixed-methods approach, qualitative data (caller, call purpose, and call outcome) were categorized with categories arising de novo. Resulting variables were numerically analyzed to identify trends by categories and time.
Of the 3468 calls retrieved, 160 duplicates and 26 irrelevant calls were excluded. Of 3282 included calls, general practitioners, followed by the public, contributed the greatest call volumes. Health-care–related callers and the public made 84.2% of calls. Calls most frequently related to patient testing (40.7%) and isolation/quarantine (23.2%). Education provision accounted for 29.4% of all outcomes. A total of 11.8% of all call outcomes involved applying relevant case definitions, and 49.1% of calls were identified as potentially preventable through effective emergency risk communication and targeted call-handling.
This study identified key drivers of public health unit phone service use related to the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2020. The results highlighted where risk perception influenced call volume and provided important insights for future public health preparedness.
- Type
- Original Research
- Information
- Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 6 , December 2022 , pp. 2583 - 2590
- Copyright
- © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2021