Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Garabam Consulting, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Glob Health Sci Pract. 2021 Mar 31;9(1):177-186. doi: 10.9745/GHSP-D-20-00468.
There is an urgent need for data to inform coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic response efforts. At the same time, the pandemic has created challenges for data collection, one of which is interviewer training in the context of social distancing. In sub-Saharan Africa, in-person interviewer training and face-to-face data collection remain the norm, requiring researchers to think creatively about transitioning to remote settings to allow for safer data collection that respects government guidelines. Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA, formerly PMA2020) has collected both cross-sectional and longitudinal data on key reproductive health measures in Africa and Asia since 2013. Relying on partnerships with in-country research institutes and cadres of female interviewers recruited from sampled communities, the project was well-positioned to transition to collecting data on COVID-19 from the onset of the pandemic. This article presents PMA's development of a remote training system for COVID-19 surveys in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Nigeria, including challenges faced and lessons learned. We demonstrate that remote interviewer training can be a viable approach when data are critically needed and in-person learning is not possible. We also argue against systematic replacement of in-person trainings with remote learning, instead recommending consideration of local context and a project's individual circumstances when contemplating a transition to remote interviewer training.
非常需要数据来为应对冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行提供信息。与此同时，大流行给数据收集带来了挑战，其中之一是在保持社交距离的情况下进行访谈员培训。在撒哈拉以南非洲，面对面的访谈员培训和面对面的数据收集仍然是常态，这要求研究人员创造性地思考如何过渡到远程环境，以进行更安全的数据收集，并尊重政府的指导方针。自 2013 年以来，行动绩效监测（PMA，前身为 PMA2020）一直在非洲和亚洲收集关于关键生殖健康措施的横断面和纵向数据。该项目依靠与国内研究机构的伙伴关系以及从抽样社区招募的女性访谈员干部，已经做好了从大流行开始就过渡到收集 COVID-19 数据的准备。本文介绍了 PMA 在刚果民主共和国、肯尼亚和尼日利亚开发 COVID-19 调查远程培训系统的情况，包括所面临的挑战和吸取的经验教训。我们证明，当数据非常需要且无法进行现场学习时，远程访谈员培训是一种可行的方法。我们还反对系统地用远程学习取代现场培训，而是建议在考虑过渡到远程访谈员培训时，要考虑到当地情况和项目的具体情况。
