Improving modelling for epidemic responses: reflections from members of the UK infectious disease modelling community on their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic both relied and placed significant burdens on the experts involved from research and public health sectors. The sustained high pressure of a pandemic on responders, such as healthcare workers, can lead to lasting psychological impacts including acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, burnout, and moral injury, which can impact individual wellbeing and productivity. Methods: As members of the infectious disease modelling community, we convened a reflective workshop to understand the professional and personal impacts of response work on our community and to propose recommendations for future epidemic responses. The attendees represented a range of career stages, institutions, and disciplines. This piece was collectively produced by those present at the session based on our collective experiences. Results: Key issues we identified at the workshop were lack of institutional support, insecure contracts, unequal credit and recognition, and mental health impacts. Our recommendations include rewarding impactful work, fostering academia-public health collaboration, decreasing dependence on key individuals by developing teams, increasing transparency in decision-making, and implementing sustainable work practices. Conclusions: Despite limitations in representation, this workshop provided valuable insights into the UK COVID-19 modelling experience and guidance for future public health crises. Recognising and addressing the issues highlighted is crucial, in our view, for ensuring the effectiveness of epidemic response work in the future.

Analysing MyOptions: experiences of Ireland's abortion information and support service.

BACKGROUND: In 2018, the Irish government enacted a liberalised abortion law permitting expanded access to abortion from January 2019. A dedicated information and support service - MyOptions - was established to provide non-directive counselling and clinical advice about unplanned pregnancy. MyOptions provides contact details for abortion providers but does not make appointments for abortion-seekers. In 2020, the Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) conducted research into Irish residents' experiences of abortion care under the new law, including their experiences with MyOptions. METHODS: Between September 2020 and March 2021, ARC administered an online survey. Qualitative data were coded using NVIVO software and analysed through thematic analysis. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively. This article analyses a subsection of these data to answer the question: What were abortion-seekers' experiences of using MyOptions? RESULTS: Many respondents were unaware of MyOptions before becoming pregnant. Some described MyOptions as useful and compassionate. Others noted a lack of clarity from MyOptions about the scope of its service and a lack of information on accessing abortion after 12 weeks. Respondents reported frustration that the service did not arrange appointments, explaining that having to contact general practitioners (GPs) themselves was stressful and time-consuming, as was GPs' refusal to provide care or refer to a willing provider. CONCLUSIONS: MyOptions primarily benefits abortion-seekers whose pregnancies are under 12 weeks and who are comfortable contacting a GP themselves. The addition of an appointments booking service and guidance on how to access abortion for medical reasons and abortion after 12 weeks could improve the service.

From the Grassroots to the Oireachtas: Abortion Law Reform in the Republic of Ireland.

In 1983, voters inserted the Eighth Amendment into Ireland's constitution, equating the right to life of a fetus with that of a pregnant person. Hundreds of thousands of women were forced overseas to access basic health care and thousands more were forced underground, importing abortion pills and risking prosecution. The realities of life under the Eighth Amendment sparked a powerful feminist grassroots struggle for abortion access. This article charts the path to abortion law reform in the Republic of Ireland from the perspective of grassroots activists in the Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC). The first half highlights the national and international policy mechanisms that activists leveraged to bring Ireland's abortion regime to the point of reform, as well as the power of challenging abortion stigma to mobilize the public and politicians, culminating in a resounding vote in May 2018 to repeal the Eighth Amendment. The second half analyzes the legislation enacted in late 2018 in order to give effect to the vote. While the new law and its commitment to free abortion is a momentous step for Ireland, it also establishes a needlessly cumbersome regime that remains grounded in a criminal law framework and incorporates barriers that have no grounding in medical evidence.