This DrPH thesis takes a social science lens to examine how communities engaged with Ebola responses, and how responses engaged with the knowledge and experiences of communities, in the Sierra Leone and North-Kivu, DRC outbreaks. A single case of Ebola is considered an outbreak, and generally results in a massive mobilization of human, financial, logistical and technical resources. These large scale responses, made up of many actors, can overwhelm local health systems and communities with activities intended to end transmission of the virus. Communities living through Ebola outbreaks have the capacity and drive to stop the spread of the disease and to maintain health through engagement with health services, but only when the policy environment of the broader Ebola response facilitates such action. This thesis took a case study approach to answer the overarching question about how communities engage with Ebola responses. The first case study examined women’s perceptions of seeking (or not seeking) women’s gendered health care services during the Sierra Leone Ebola outbreak, and is used as a lens to understand decision making and health care access in the midst of a widespread epidemic. The second case study was conducted in 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in North-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo and investigated how the Red Cross’ new system of collecting and analysing community feedback was utilized by the Ebola response. Both case studies used qualitative methods to collect data, predominantly in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The studies have been grounded in literature reviews to contribute to the ongoing academic and operational discussions relating to community needs in outbreak situations. The two case studies are brought together in this thesis to make the wider argument that the needs and experiences of communities in Ebola-affected spaces are often discounted in favour of the needs of the response, to the detriment of the overarching aim: to stop the spread of Ebola.