Becoming Equipped to Tackle Epidemics Right (BETTER)

BETTER is an interdisciplinary research project that brings together three highly qualified teams from outcomes research, infectious disease modelling, and evidence synthesis. The goal of BETTER is to use real world data from the COVID-19 (corona virus disease 2019) pandemic to model hypothetical decision-scenarios that are applicable to future (non-COVID-19) epi- or pandemic situations. Based on scenario calculations and results of modelling and a workshop with stakeholders, we will develop concrete recommendations for health policy decisionmakers to improve the preparedness for future public health crises due to infectious diseases. The proposed project consists of four work packages (WP). WP1 conducts qualitative research with stakeholders to determine key decisions points during the pandemic and factors that had a strong impact on health system-level, epidemiological, and economic outcomes deemed to be most important by stakeholders. WP2 systematically summarizes and synthesizes evidence for model parameters that were found to be crucial for the course of the pandemic during WP1. WP3 implements the identified scenarios and parametrizations in microscopic dynamic simulation models and develops state of the art sensitivity analyseis as well as scenario comparisons on the identified outcome dimensions identified during WP1. We will consider scenarios in an urban setting like Vienna and in rural settings like Lower Austria. WP 4 condenses results of the previous WPs and derives concrete recommendations for a better preparedness for future epi- and pandemic situations. We will conduct a workshops to discuss and reflect draft recommendations with experts, citizens, and patient representatives, revise them, and ask for the degree of agreement by means of a voting system.