What to know
Applying outbreak analytics to public health response
The following video introduces the training series and briefly summarizes the public health contexts in which modeling can be helpful. It introduces qualitative assessments, nowcasts, short-term forecasts, and scenario models.
Key modeling and analytic outputs
These next sections will provide introductions to different kinds of outputs informed by modeling and analytics. They include overviews of the outputs and practical, real-world examples of how they are being applied in public health preparedness and response.
The following videos provide overviews and examples of a key qualitative assessment type, the Risk Assessment. CDC uses Risk Assessments to inform response actions and decision-making during outbreaks, especially early on when data is limited.
Keep reading
These videos cover another type of qualitative assessment, the scenario assessment. Scenario Assessments are used to outline what could occur in the coming weeks to months of an outbreak, even with limited data.
Keep reading
This video and accompanying resources cover nowcasting, an analytic method that uses models to adjust incomplete data to estimate current trends and provide up-to-date information for outbreak preparedness and response.
Keep reading
Short-term forecasts predict public health outcomes, such as new infections or hospital admissions, for the near future. This video and related resources provide an in-depth look at what kinds of short-term forecasts can be generated and how they are applied in public health practice.
Keep reading
Scenario modeling can tell public health practitioners what kinds of outcomes they may expect in the long-term. This video and resources summarize this approach and show CFA's work on the respiratory virus season to inform preparedness annually.
Keep reading
Communicating public health recommendations based on modeling and analytics
Modeling and analytic outputs are inherently uncertain when they look into potential future outcomes. Public health communications principles should be applied when sharing modeling and analytics results with organization partners, the media, and the public. This section provides a brief overview of these principles and how they can be applied in these instances.