Social Science Strengthens One Health: A Participatory Approach to Codevelop a Guidebook on Countering Zoonotic Spillover in Southeast Asia, 2022-2024

Abstract

Diseases caused by pathogens that affect animals, humans, and their shared environment (zoonoses) impact regional and global health security. Context-specific recommendations could help control animal-to-human pathogen spillover and mitigate the risk of epidemics and pandemics. Our objective is to share the codevelopment of a guidebook to counter zoonotic spillover in Southeast Asia and how participatory approaches and implementation science guided One Health actor groups towards a common goal. The project was a collaboration between the International Network for Governmental Science Advice Asia and the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Experts in disciplines including virology, bioinformatics, wildlife conservation, biodefense, epidemiology, participatory research, and implementation science codeveloped behavior change and policy recommendations. Participatory exercises, including silent reflections, role-playing, and the "systems-thinking iceberg" enabled dynamic discussions that helped incorporate diverse perspectives. The team identified ways to overcome linguistic and discipline-specific language barriers, time differences, limitations to voluntary participation, and technological challenges. The frameworks and concepts that guided the team were the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, the principle that participatory approaches enable positive social learning, and the concept that interventions can be adapted to the local context but should not be reinvented. Participatory approaches can support One Health actor groups work toward a collective vision, which catalyzes a process that can improve local ownership, ultimately working to strengthen health security.