Postdoctoral Fellow Jessica Dimka is about to complete her two-year fellowship period at OsloMet, conducting research on disability and disease during the 1918 Influenza pandemic. In July 2019 we made an episode with Jessica talking about pandemics, and then came COVID.

How has it been to conduct pandemic research during a pandemic? And what can we learn from the 1918 Influenza pandemic today?

In this episode, Jessica talks about the model she developed based on a school for deaf  children. The model includes social spaces, outside spaces, schedules and most importantly, how the virus spreads between students and staff.

Better knowledge of small groups, such as people with disabilities, will help us to improve our understanding of pandemics and how to handle flu-like situations in the future.

Image of the simulation model. Social spaces in the school are shown as rectangles of different colors.

Webinar:

May 20th, 2021 “Disability, Institutionalization, and the 1918 Flu Pandemic: From Historical Records to Simulation Models”

Papers:

1918 Influenza Outcomes among Institutionalized Norwegian Populations: Implications for Disability-Inclusive Pandemic Preparedness https://www.sjdr.se/articles/10.16993/sjdr.725/

Social Disparities in Adopting Non-pharmaceutical Interventions During COVID-19 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0169796X21996858