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Public Health Preparedness

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Public health emergencies such as infectious disease, bioterrorism, or natural disasters require a coordinated response at the local, national, and international levels. RAND research improves the capability of public health systems to anticipate and prepare for such emergencies, by providing a robust set of standardized response measures, tabletop exercises, and toolkits; using GIS technology for planning; and identifying best practices and lessons learned from multiagency exercises.

Q&A
The End of the U.S. COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Q&A with RAND Experts
We asked RAND experts to reflect on the past three years: What were the effects on the United States and around the world, what has changed, what are the most important takeaways, what was done right, and what was done wrong? At the same time, they looked ahead to what might be done to mitigate the health and geopolitical impacts of future pandemics.
May 8, 2023
Commentary
An Opportunity to Learn from Our COVID-19 Successes and Failures
COVID-19 showed that the U.S. pandemic response plans of the past were no match for a protracted nationwide health emergency. What lessons were learned that could help the United States effectively protect its population and other vital national interests going forward?
Apr 27, 2023

Explore Public Health Preparedness

Journal Article
Preparing for the Next Pandemic: Has COVID-19 Changed American Attitudes?
This study explores how personal experiences of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, attitudes about institutions (government and business), and views of social change could either pose challenges or help with planning for the next pandemic.
Jun 7, 2023
Blog
Reflecting on the Pandemic, RAND Turns 75, Labor Trafficking: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, 75 years of influential RAND research, reducing labor trafficking in the United States, and more.
May 12, 2023
Blog
Ukraine's Recovery, Mental Health First Aid, School Staffing: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the trade-offs of Ukraine's reconstruction, the effects of a Mental Health First Aid training program, school staffing challenges, and more.
May 5, 2023
Commentary
Healthy Nation, Safe Nation: Build Health Security into National Security
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a need for a more-robust health security paradigm within the broader national security context. But addressing preparedness and response shortfalls for national-level challenges might not be fully possible without first addressing the glaring seams and gaps between the various stakeholder communities.
Mar 17, 2023
Journal Article
Optimal Non-Pharmaceutical Pandemic Response Strategies Depend Critically on Time Horizons and Costs
This paper performs a large-scale optimization exercise to find optimal non-pharmaceutical pandemic response strategies.
Feb 14, 2023
Commentary
Lost Opportunities to Contain COVID-19 in China
Three years after the SARS-COV-2 virus emerged in Wuhan, China is now facing a tsunami of COVID-19 infections. The unprecedented spread of the disease appears to have been fueled by an ill-timed change in COVID-19 policy and a lack of vaccination and boosting. A rethinking of national strategy could still help.
Jan 6, 2023
Multimedia
Emergency Management in California: Reflections by Mark Ghilarducci
During a November 2022 webinar, Mark Ghilarducci, the Director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), reflected on his more than 30 years of experience and diversified service in public safety and emergency management at the local, state, and federal levels.
Dec 30, 2022
Dissertation
Robust Decision Making in Health Policy: Applications to COVID-19 and Colorectal Cancer
Presents three papers exploring the utility of Robust Decision Making for supporting health policy decisions.
Dec 22, 2022
Commentary
Toward 'Smarter' Federal Funding of Public Health Emergencies
The next public health emergency or large-scale disaster may be looming. It may be time to rethink the way federal relief funds are sought and allocated so that aid is more rapidly, accurately, and fairly distributed to hospitals and health systems. This could help ensure patients and communities get the care when and where they need it when crisis hits.
Dec 20, 2022
Blog
Lessons from the Pandemic, Diplomacy in Ukraine, Defending Taiwan: RAND Weekly Recap
This week, we discuss lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, planning to end the war in Ukraine, reducing deaths in law enforcement custody, and more.
Nov 4, 2022
Report
Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Outbreak
The deadly havoc that COVID-19 has caused around the world has highlighted many weaknesses in pandemic response planning and capabilities. What can the United States and other nations do to prevent and manage future health crises?
Nov 1, 2022
Report
Harnessing the Power of Science and Technology Communities for Crisis Response
In this Perspective, RAND researchers describe how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could leverage science and technology communities to support the use of science, technology, innovation, and analytical capabilities during crisis response.
Sep 19, 2022
Blog
National Security After Roe, Women Veterans, COVID-19's Lasting Effects: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on how overturning Roe could affect national security, supporting women veterans, responding to the next pandemic, and more.
Sep 16, 2022
Journal Article
District-Level Universal Masking Policies and COVID-19 Incidence During the First 8 Weeks of School in Texas
We used quasi-experimental methods to analyze the impact of school mask mandates, which appear to have resulted in approximately 40 fewer student cases per week in the first eight weeks of school.
Sep 15, 2022
Report
Public Health and Soft Power: The Republic of Korea's Initial COVID-19 Response and Its Implications
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Republic of Korea (ROK) had one of the highest success rates in adopting effective nonpharmaceutical interventions. Can these pandemic response and foundation characteristics be turned into soft power assets for ROK?
Sep 7, 2022
Commentary
Can South Korea Help the World Beat the Next Pandemic?
As the world emerges from the long and devastating COVID-19 pandemic, nations around the world, including the United States, could look to South Korea's near-perfect response as a model for dealing with future public health crises.
Sep 7, 2022
Commentary
Vaccinating All Kids for COVID-19 May Demand a Block-by-Block Effort
Community-based organizations know how to register voters and increase census participation. Reaching out block by block, even door to door, they can be just as effective in boosting vaccination rates.
Aug 29, 2022
Commentary
Learning, Relearning, and Not Learning the Lessons of COVID-19
Recent announcements have demonstrated how little has been learned from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential need for a national reckoning to assess shortfalls and develop recommendations for preparing for and responding to future pandemics and other biological risks. The United States could create a national commission to develop a way forward.
Aug 12, 2022

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RAND Topic:
Public Health Preparedness

Topic Synonyms:
Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Matthew W. Lewis

Senior Research Scientist

Matthew W. Lewis (he/his) is a senior research scientist at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His work has centered on using technology to improve learning and decision-making by individuals, teams, and organizations. He also uses modeling and simulation…
Daniel M. Gerstein

Senior Policy Researcher

Daniel M. Gerstein is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Previously, he served at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as under secretary (acting) and deputy under secretary in the Science & Technology Directorate. He has extensive experience in security and defense…

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