Exploring the Roles of Community-Based Organi-zations in Biological Hazards: A Thematic Analysis

Background: Health professionals tackle biological hazards on the basis of international guidelines and instructions. However, concerns over the flexibility and viability of guidelines do exist since regional conditions as well as cultural traits of communities tend to differ. Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) are gatekeepers of communities whose roles and responsibilities have been assessed inorder to learn how they can assist health systems in times of natural disasters.Methods: A content analysis was conducted among directors of CBOs and disaster authorities in government based organizations. The participants were made to read a hypothetical scenario, followed by a semi-structured interview to investigate the relevance of CBOs in that scenario. Data were analyzed using MAXQDA 10.Results: Five main themes and effects of the categories were determined. The results showed that more investments should be made to show the significance of roles of CBOs during biological hazards, fill any existing capacity gaps and take advantage of existing capabilities. Therefore; communities need to direct their efforts in the context of social capitals and leading strategies.Conclusion: Success cannot be achieved as long as the control is not shared and unless, communities and government don’t work together when community-based actions are concerned.

کلیدواژه ها:

Biohazard ، Community Organizations ، Community Health Capabilities