Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Centre for Medical Education, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Front Public Health. 2022 Sep 23;10:962478. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.962478. eCollection 2022.
During COVID-19 the re-opening of educational institutes was frequently debated, however with the decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, The Aga Khan University (AKU) in Karachi, Pakistan opened its campus for medical and nursing students after more than 6 months of closure. To ensure gradual resumption of activities on-campus, a combination of interventions was diligently deployed to minimize student infection rates. Scarce literature exists on students' perceptions regarding decisions implemented by university leadership. The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy of these interventions.
We conducted a convergent, parallel, mixed-methods observational study targeting medical and nursing students. An online questionnaire was disseminated to elicit students' degree of (dis)agreement on a four-point Likert scale. Focused group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to comprehend reasons for (dis)agreement.
Total of 183 students responded to questionnaire (59.0% nursing, 67.8% female), 11 FGDs were conducted with 85 students. Interventions with highest agreement were mandatory face masks policy (94.54%), weekly mandated COVID-testing (92.35%) and students' Academic Bubble (91.26%); highest disagreement was for Sehat Check application (41.53%); and stay strong campaign (40.44%). Four themes emerged from FGDs: Effective safety interventions, Safety interventions with limited effectiveness, Utility of Sehat Check Application and Future recommendations for informing policy.
It is paramount to seek student-feedback at forefront of university re-opening strategy. Clear communication channels are as important as an administrative response system's robustness. Bidirectional communication channels are fundamental and requisite during ever-changing policies and regulations. Engaging student representatives in decision making or implementation processes (such as "pilot" before "roll-out") would allow any potential issues to be managed early on. Gather real-time anonymous feedback and identify key areas that need further promulgation and those that need to be replaced with more effective ones.
在 COVID-19 期间，教育机构的重新开放经常引起争议，然而，随着 COVID-19 病例数量的下降，巴基斯坦卡拉奇的 Aga Khan 大学（AKU）在关闭 6 个多月后为医学和护理专业的学生重新开放校园。为确保校园活动的逐步恢复，大学领导采取了一系列干预措施，以尽量降低学生的感染率。关于大学领导实施的决策，学生的看法相关文献很少。本研究旨在确定这些干预措施的效果。
我们进行了一项汇聚性、平行性、混合方法的观察性研究，以医学和护理专业的学生为研究对象。我们通过在线问卷向学生分发，让他们就 4 点李克特量表对某些决定表示（赞成/不赞成）。我们还进行了焦点小组讨论（FGD），以了解（赞成/不赞成）的原因。
共有 183 名学生对问卷做出了回应（59.0%为护理专业，67.8%为女性），11 次焦点小组讨论有 85 名学生参加。最受学生赞成的干预措施是强制性佩戴口罩政策（94.54%）、每周强制性 COVID-19 检测（92.35%）和学生的学术泡泡（91.26%）；最受反对的是 Sehat Check 应用程序（41.53%）和保持坚强运动（40.44%）。焦点小组讨论中出现了四个主题：有效的安全干预措施、安全干预措施效果有限、Sehat Check 应用程序的实用性和未来制定政策的建议。
在大学重新开放策略中，首先要征求学生的反馈意见。清晰的沟通渠道与行政响应系统的稳健性同样重要。在不断变化的政策和法规下，双向沟通渠道是基本且必要的。让学生代表参与决策或实施过程（如“试点”前“铺开”）可以及早处理任何潜在问题。收集实时匿名反馈意见，确定需要进一步推广的关键领域和需要用更有效的措施取代的领域。
