Social tipping-points and the spread of disease

Social dynamics are an integral part of the spread of disease affecting contact rates and the adoption of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions. This talk will present behavioural-epidemiological models that feature tipping-point dynamics in which behaviour can undergo rapid changes. Health, economic costs, and social payoffs are all unified into payoff functions that determine changes in behaviour, potentially creating collective action problems. Key findings include: nonlinear responses to key epidemiological parameters, increased public awareness can undermine disease control, and behavioural synchronization. A discussion of optimal public policies in light of these findings will also be discussed.