A novel framework for evaluating the impact of individual decision-making on public health outcomes and its potential application to study antiviral treatment collection during an influenza pandemic

This study developed a new way to model how people’s decisions affect public health outcomes during emergencies. The framework is based on the COM-B behavior model (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation) and was tested using antiviral drug collection during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in England. The model showed that increasing people’s awareness of disease risk (Capability) and improving access to treatment sites (Opportunity) could significantly increase antiviral collection rates. Better collection could reduce hospitalizations and deaths. The study highlights the importance of including human behavior in emergency planning and suggests collecting better behavioral data to guide future interventions