In December 2023, the first in-person iCARE collaborators meeting occurred at the Université Paris Cité, in Paris (hosted by Dr. Mathieu Beraneck and co-organized by Kim Lavoie, Simon Bacon and the team of the Montreal Behavioural Medicine Centre). The meeting was an occasion to plan future surveys, organize an international symposium, and discuss research questions and analysis plans to explore the strengths and weaknesses of international pandemic policies. Scientists and trainees from Australia, Colombia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Canada and the United-Kingdom participated.
A lot of great ideas for future analyses emerged from this meeting. The iCARE team decided to focus on the following key areas:
- Investigate the evolution and impact of trust in government and health authorities’ on adherence to preventive measures during the pandemic (including vaccination against COVID-19 and other vaccine preventable illnesses).
- Understand the behaviours adopted by the population when they are sick or have COVID-10/cold/flu symptoms, in the absence of mandates.
- Assess if and how the differential policies implemented during the pandemic across Canadian provinces affected adherence to prevention measures (mask wearing, vaccination) and virus transmission.
- Examine the sociodemographic, clinical and psychological predictors of attitudes of being in favor re-introducing of preventive measures across countries.
