Omer Khalid, Ansari Umaira, Aziz Amar, Hassan Khalid, Bgeidam Lami Aminati, Baba Muhd Chadi, Gidado Yagana, Andersson Neil, Cockcroft Anne
Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales (CIET), Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, Acapulco, Mexico.
Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Bauchi, Nigeria.
Digit Health. 2022 Jan 4;8:20552076211070386. doi: 10.1177/20552076211070386. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have used Internet-based applications to conduct virtual group meetings, but this is not feasible in low-resource settings. In a community health research project in Bauchi State, Nigeria, COVID-19 restrictions precluded planned face-to-face meetings with community groups. We tested the feasibility of using cellular teleconferencing for these meetings.
In an initial exercise, we used cellular teleconferencing to conduct six male and six female community focus group discussions. Informed by this experience, we conducted cellular teleconferences with 10 male and 10 female groups of community leaders, in different communities, to discuss progress with previously formulated action plans. Ahead of each teleconference call, a call coordinator contacted individual participants to seek consent and confirm availability. The coordinator connected the facilitator, the reporter, and the participants on each conference call, and audio-recorded the call. Each call lasted less than 1 h. Field notes and debriefing meetings with field teams supported the assessment of feasibility of the teleconference meetings.
Cellular teleconferencing was feasible and inexpensive. Using multiple handsets at the base allowed more participants in a call Guidelines for facilitators and participants developed after the initial meetings were helpful, as were reminder calls ahead of the meeting. Connecting women participants was challenging. Facilitators needed extra practice to support group interactions without eye contact and body language signals.
With careful preparation and training, cellular teleconferencing can be a feasible and inexpensive method of conducting group discussions in a low-resource setting.
在新冠疫情期间，研究人员利用基于互联网的应用程序召开虚拟小组会议，但在资源匮乏的环境中这并不可行。在尼日利亚包奇州的一个社区健康研究项目中，新冠疫情防控措施使原计划与社区团体进行的面对面会议无法举行。我们测试了使用手机电话会议进行这些会议的可行性。
在初步尝试中，我们利用手机电话会议组织了六场男性和六场女性社区焦点小组讨论。基于这一经验，我们在不同社区与10组男性和10组女性社区领袖进行了手机电话会议，以讨论先前制定的行动计划的进展情况。在每次电话会议之前，一名电话协调员联系每位参与者征求同意并确认其是否有空。协调员将主持人、记录员和每位会议参与者连接起来，并对通话进行录音。每次通话时长不到1小时。实地记录以及与实地团队的汇报会议有助于评估电话会议的可行性。
手机电话会议可行且成本低廉。在基站使用多部手机能让更多参与者加入通话。初次会议后制定的主持人和参与者指南很有帮助，会议前的提醒电话也同样如此。联系女性参与者具有挑战性。主持人需要额外练习，以便在没有眼神交流和肢体语言信号的情况下支持小组互动。
通过精心准备和培训，手机电话会议可以成为在资源匮乏环境中进行小组讨论的一种可行且低成本的方法。
