Evaluation and Behavioural Science

Information on the behavioural research completed by the Intelligence, Surveillance and Knowledge Group, within the Public Health Agency.

Behavioural science has been key to the COVID-19 response and enhancing our preparedness for future pandemcis.

Throughout the pandemic, this research has assisted with identifying issues, testing solutions, providing a guide to actions to improve equity, and documented learnings that will improve pandemic preparedness in the future.

The Intelligence, Surveillance and Knowledge Group and its predecessors, including the Evaluation and Behavioural Science Team, have collaborated with teams across the Ministry of Health and partner agencies to inform the COVID-19 response. This work has contributed by monitoring and understanding how personal beliefs, social context, and individual capability impact adherence to preventative and protective behaviours and what barriers hinder people from taking these actions. These actions include but are not limited to taking a COVID-19 test, self-isolation, vaccination, and wearing masks.

This research has continued to provide insights to inform actions and advice to overcome barriers arising throughout the COVID-19 response and continue to inform on planning for future pandemics. The research projects and surveys were critical inputs into the public health risk assessments and other policies which were key to guiding the public health advice and operations behind the response.

On this page:

Behavioral insights survey reports
National and population survey reports
Project reports

Behavioural insights surveys

This research was commissioned to support public health services and policymakers to better assess what public health measures could be effective and proportionate in protecting New Zealanders from harm during a future pandemic. Specifically, this research examines changes in attitude and behaviours to public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Health commissioned research and evaluation agency Verian to carry out four reports on this subject. These include two reports examining the drivers behind people’s public health actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and two reports based on behavioural surveys.

One of these reports has now been published and can be found below. This report is focused on the drivers behind people’s public health actions and attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they have changed over time. It is informed by 30 in-depth interviews between September and December 2023. People interviewed include Māori, Pacific people, Asian, Pākehā, disabled people and older people. Interviewees came from different parts of New Zealand, urban and rural, and a range of occupations and living situations.

Life since the pandemic: How the COVID-19 pandemic experience has shaped public attitudes and beliefs on public health, infectious disease and vaccination

The other three reports in this series are expected to be released during 2024.

National and population survey reports

The Evaluation and Behavioural Science team, now part of the Intelligence, Surveillance and Knowledge Group, conducted population surveys to better understand the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours related to, and at, various stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The topics of these surveys have been developed with different teams within the Ministry.

All surveys methodologies have some limitations. Please see below for an explanation of the methods.

The team commissioned Horizon Research to run the online surveys. Questions were asked only in English, and they were tested by independent reviewers for clarity and simplicity. This was to minimise misunderstanding of the questions and improve reliability of the results. Each survey aimed to gather at least 1,000 respondents. For some surveys, the sample was also boosted for Māori and Pacific peoples. In addition to the use of demographic quotas, during the analysis the results were adjusted (i.e., weighted) to closely match the New Zealand population characteristics. This was to achieve greater representativeness of the results. For additional information, each report has a section describing the methods used to collect and analyse the data.

Survey titles:

Project reports

Improving maritime border workers' adherence to the Required Testing Order (RTO)

November 2021

The RTO was an important control measure for the COVID-19 response to minimise the risk of onward transmission into the community. This research was conducted to understand the barriers that individuals faced when trying to adhere to the RTO, and the findings were used to inform advice on how to increase uptake of testing in these communities.

Increasing adherence to Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) guidelines in Managed Isolation and Quarantine Facilities (MIQFs)

April 2022

Understanding the barriers to adherence to IPC guidelines was important to avoid COVID-19 transmission in MIQF facilities. This project looked to assess knowledge, attitudes, practices and behaviours of infection, prevention and control measures for community members and returnees in the MIQF system.