Abstract
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.
Highlights
Transitioning toward COVID-19 research is important for countries in subSaharan Africa, where the limitations of disease surveillance systems were well known even before the pandemic.[9,10]
We present PMA’s remote interviewer training approach implemented in 3 of the 4 countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, and Nigeria
This article demonstrates that when data are urgently needed and in-person interviewer trainings are not possible, a well-designed remote training can be an effective replacement in low-resource contexts in sub-Saharan Africa
Summary
Since the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic began, researchers have repurposed ongoing survey platforms to provide timely data and inform COVID-19 response efforts.[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] Transitioning toward COVID-19 research is important for countries in subSaharan Africa, where the limitations of disease surveillance systems were well known even before the pandemic.[9,10] Existing survey platforms can offer critical support to COVID-19 monitoring efforts; rapid repurposing of survey infrastructure is not without challenges. Preparing for PMA’s baseline survey begins with a 2-week in-person training for the country team project staff and field supervisors, followed by a 2-week training of interviewers. We describe here the PMA COVID-19 survey, the key features of PMA’s approach to remote interviewer training, an interviewer’s typical training experience, and country-specific adaptations to the training system. Recognizing that interviewers had limited familiarity with online learning, our goal was to develop a training system that mimicked the inperson experience This included sharing content through video lectures, reinforcement through small group activities, evaluation through electronic assessments, and active monitoring via one-on-one phone calls between facilitators and interviewers. The WhatsApp “Info” group served as the “training room,” or the central location where interviewers could follow along with the training agenda and access training content It was designed as a unidirectional group, where only the lead trainer and facilitators could post. An Interviewer’s Typical Experience with Remote Training for the Performance Monitoring for Action COVID-19 Survey
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