Australian understandings of infectious disease symptoms in the COVID era

This project will study how Australians interpret symptoms of acute infectious diseases and how those beliefs shape their health-seeking behaviour. Using mixed social science methods it will document how Australians decide when to seek medical treatment at clinics or hospitals and when to stay at home, how they believe disease spreads and how they decide whether to go to work, school, social commitments, shops, or stay home when unwell, and what they think about government health policy regarding infectious disease in the wake of COVID- 19. Humans spread diseases through culturally coded patterns of behaviour, and this project will offer critical public health insights in an era of infectious disease epidemics and pandemics.