SimpleHealthSeekingBehavior

The SimpleHealthSeekingBehavior intervention class models the time delay that typically occurs between when an individual experiences onset of symptoms and when they seek help from a health care provider. Several factors may contribute to such delays including accessibility, cost, and trust in the health care system. This intervention models this time delay as an exponential process; at every time step, the model draws randomly to determine if the individual will receive the specified intervention. As an example, this intervention can be nested in a NodeLevelHealthTriggeredIV so that when an individual is infected, he or she receives a SimpleHealthSeekingBehavior, representing that the individual will now seek care. The individual subsequently seeks care with an exponentially distributed delay and ultimately receives the specified intervention.

Note

Parameters are case-sensitive. For Boolean parameters, set to 1 for true or 0 for false. Minimum, maximum, or default values of “NA” indicate that those values are not applicable for that parameter.

EMOD does not use true defaults; that is, if the dependency relationships indicate that a parameter is required, you must supply a value for it. However, many of the tools used to work with EMOD will use the default values provided below.

JSON format does not permit comments, but you can add “dummy” parameters to add contextual information to your files. Any keys that are not EMOD parameter names will be ignored by the model.

The table below describes all possible parameters with which this class can be configured. The JSON example that follows shows one potential configuration.

Parameter

Data type

Minimum

Maximum

Default

Description

Example

Actual_IndividualIntervention_Config

json object

NA

NA

NA

The configuration of an actual intervention sought. Selects a class for the intervention and configures the parameters specific for that intervention class. Only used if Event_Or_Config is set to ‘Config’.

{
  "Event_Or_Config": "Config",
  "Actual_IndividualIntervention_Config": {
    "Cost_To_Consumer": 1,
    "Drug_Type": "FirstLineCombo",
    "Durability_Profile": "FIXED_DURATION_CONSTANT_EFFECT",
    "Primary_Decay_Time_Constant": 180,
    "Remaining_Doses": 1,
    "Secondary_Decay_Time_Constant": 0,
    "TB_Drug_Cure_Rate": 0.2,
    "TB_Drug_Inactivation_Rate": 1e-09,
    "class": "AntiTBDrug"
  }
}

Actual_IndividualIntervention_Event

enum

NA

NA

“”

The event of an actual intervention sought. Selects a class for the intervention and configures the parameters specific for that intervention class. See Event list for possible values. Used only if Event_Or_Config is set to ‘Event’.

{
  "Actual_IndividualIntervention_Config": {
    "Actual_IndividualIntervention_Event": "ProviderOrdersTBTest",
    "Tendency": 0.005,
    "Event_Or_Config": "Event",
    "class": "SimpleHealthSeekingBehavior"
  }
}

Disqualifying_Properties

array of strings

NA

NA

[]

A list of IndividualProperty key:value pairs that cause an intervention to be aborted (persistent interventions will stop being distributed to individuals with these values). See NodeProperties and IndividualProperties parameters for more information. Generally used to control the flow of health care access. For example, to prevent the same individual from accessing health care via two different routes at the same time.

{
  "Disqualifying_Properties": [
    "InterventionStatus:LostForever"
  ]
}

Dont_Allow_Duplicates

boolean

0

1

0

If an individual’s container has an intervention, set to true (1) to prevent them from receiving another copy of the intervention. Supported by all intervention classes.

{
  "Dont_Allow_Duplicates": 0
}

Event_Or_Config

enum

NA

NA

Config

Specifies whether the current intervention (or a positive diagnosis, depending on the intervention class) distributes a nested intervention (the Config option) or an event will be broadcast which may trigger other interventions in the campaign file (the Event option). Possible values are:

  • Event

  • Config

{
  "Event_Or_Config": "Config"
}

Intervention_Name

string

NA

NA

SimpleHealthSeekingBehavior

The optional name used to refer to this intervention as a means to differentiate it from others that use the same class.

{
  "Intervention_Config": {
    "class": "SimpleHealthSeekingBehavior",
    "Intervention_Name": "Return to clinic after treatment is unsuccessful"
  }
}

New_Property_Value

string

NA

NA

“”

An optional IndividualProperty key:value pair that will be assigned when the intervention is applied. See NodeProperties and IndividualProperties parameters for more information. Generally used to indicate the broad category of health care cascade to which an intervention belongs to prevent individuals from accessing care through multiple pathways. For example, if an individual must already be taking a particular medication to be prescribed a new one.

{
  "New_Property_Value": "InterventionStatus:None"
}

Single_Use

boolean

0

1

1

If set to true (1), the health-seeking behavior gets used once and discarded. If set to false (0), it remains indefinitely.

{
  "Single_Use": 1
}

Tendency

float

0

1

1

The probability of seeking healthcare.

{
  "Tendency": 0.01
}
{
     "Use_Defaults": 1,
     "Events": [{
          "class": "CampaignEvent",
          "Event_Name": "Drugs after TB activation",
          "Nodeset_Config": {
               "class": "NodeSetAll"
          },
          "Start_Day": 9125,
          "Event_Coordinator_Config": {
               "class": "StandardInterventionDistributionEventCoordinator",
               "Number_Repetitions": 1,
               "Target_Demographic": "Everyone",
               "Demographic_Coverage": 1,
               "Intervention_Config": {
                    "class": "NodeLevelHealthTriggeredIV",
                    "Trigger_Condition_List": ["NewInfectionEvent"],
                    "Actual_IndividualIntervention_Config": {
                         "class": "SimpleHealthSeekingBehavior",
                         "Event_Or_Config": "Config",
                         "Tendency": 0.0015,
                         "Actual_IndividualIntervention_Config": {
                              "class": "AntiTBDrug",
                              "Cost_To_Consumer": 90,
                              "Drug_Type": "FirstLineCombo",
                              "Durability_Profile": "FIXED_DURATION_CONSTANT_EFFECT",
                              "Primary_Decay_Time_Constant": 180,
                              "Remaining_Doses": 1,
                              "Secondary_Decay_Time_Constant": 0
                         }
                    }
               }
          }
     }]
}