Rural Pandemic Influenza Public Engagement (R-PIPE) project: A strategy for collaborative planning and policy development

An emerging emphasis has been placed on the role and involvement of the public in preparedness planning and policy decision-making (Public Engagement Pilot Project on Pandemic Influenza and 2006 Conference, Disease, Disaster, and Democracy: The Public's Stake in Health Emergency Planning). Collaborative planning and policy development is even more relevant for issues that may arise in a flu pandemic, to better reflect society's values, produce sounder, more supportable decisions, and result in greater public trust and compliance. It is particularly critical that rural areas engage the community-at-large, given that these communities lack a formal public health and healthcare infrastructure and are frequently dependent upon non-traditional partners and volunteers in preparedness planning and response.

The USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness at the Texas A&M School of Rural Public Health worked with local and regional public health representatives, as well as local elected officials in two rural Texas counties to implement the Rural Pandemic Influenza Public Engagement (R-PIPE) project. R-PIPE partners identified and convened a broad range of stakeholders to discuss ethical and values-oriented issues related to a flu pandemic. Working groups were created to develop public health policy recommendations for these issues. These recommendations were presented to local decision-makers, as well as the community-at-large, at a town hall meeting.

This project serves as a demonstration of effective methodologies in engaging rural community stakeholders in planning and policy development. Using multiple process and outcome measures, a model will be created to improve rural community-based collaborative planning and policy development.