Community-based Data Collection Research Articles

Using vessels of opportunity for determining important habitats of bottlenose dolphins in Port Phillip Bay, south-eastern Australia.

Understanding species' critical habitat requirements is crucial for effective conservation and management. However, such information can be challenging to obtain, particularly for highly mobile, wide-ranging species such as cetaceans. In the absence of systematic surveys, alternative economically viable methods are needed, such as the use of data collected from platforms of opportunity, and modelling techniques to predict species distribution in un-surveyed areas. The present study used data collected by ecotourism and other vessels of opportunity to investigate important habitats of a small, poorly studied population of bottlenose dolphins in Port Phillip Bay, south-eastern Australia. Using 16 years of dolphin sighting location data, an ensemble habitat suitability model was built from which physical factors influencing dolphin distribution were identified. Results indicated that important habitats were those areas close to shipping channels and coastlines with these factors primarily influencing the variation in the likelihood of dolphin presence. The relatively good performance of the ensemble model suggests that simple presence-background data may be sufficient for predicting the species distribution where sighting data are limited. However, additional data from the center of Port Phillip Bay is required to further support this contention. Important habitat features identified in the study are likely to relate to favorable foraging conditions for dolphins as they are known to provide feeding, breeding, and spawning habitat for a diverse range of fish and cephalopod prey species. The results of the present study highlight the importance of affordable community-based data collection, such as ecotourism vessels, for obtaining information critical for effective management.

Modeling the transmission of antibiotic-resistant Enterobacterales in the community: A systematic review

BackgroundAntibiotic-resistant Enterobacterales (ARE) are a public health threat worldwide. Dissemination of these opportunistic pathogens has been largely studied in hospitals. Despite high prevalence of asymptomatic colonization in the community in some regions of the world, less is known about ARE acquisition and spread in this setting. As explaining the community ARE dynamics has not been straightforward, mathematical models can be key to explore underlying phenomena and further evaluate the impact of interventions to curb ARE circulation outside of hospitals. MethodsWe conducted a systematic review of mathematical modeling studies focusing on the transmission of AR-E in the community, excluding models only specific to hospitals. We extracted model features (population, setting), formalism (compartmental, individual-based), biological hypotheses (transmission, infection, antibiotic impact, resistant strain specificities) and main findings. We discussed additional mechanisms to be considered, open scientific questions, and most pressing data needs. ResultsWe identified 18 modeling studies focusing on the human transmission of ARE in the community (n=11) or in both community and hospital (n=7). Models aimed at (i) understanding mechanisms driving resistance dynamics; (ii) identifying and quantifying transmission routes; or (iii) evaluating public health interventions to reduce resistance. To overcome the difficulty of reproducing observed ARE dynamics in the community using the classical two-strains competition model, studies proposed to include mechanisms such as within-host strain competition or a strong host population structure. Studies inferring model parameters from longitudinal carriage data were mostly based on models considering the ARE strain only. They showed differences in ARE carriage duration depending on the acquisition mode: returning travelers have a significantly shorter carriage duration than discharged hospitalized patient or healthy individuals. Interestingly, predictions across models regarding the success of public health interventions to reduce ARE rates depended on pathogens, settings, and antibiotic resistance mechanisms. For E. coli, reducing person-to-person transmission in the community had a stronger effect than reducing antibiotic use in the community. For Klebsiella pneumoniae, reducing antibiotic use in hospitals was more efficient than reducing community use. ConclusionsThis study raises the limited number of modeling studies specifically addressing the transmission of ARE in the community. It highlights the need for model development and community-based data collection especially in low- and middle-income countries to better understand acquisition routes and their relative contribution to observed ARE levels. Such modeling will be critical to correctly design and evaluate public health interventions to control ARE transmission in the community and further reduce the associated infection burden.

Bridging local and scientific knowledge for area-based conservation of useful plants in Colombia

While the importance of interdisciplinary approaches is increasingly recognised in conservation, bridging knowledge systems across scales remains a fundamental challenge. Focusing on the Important Plant Areas (IPA) approach, we evaluate how complementing scientific and local knowledge can better inform the conservation of useful plants in Colombia. We worked in three municipalities to investigate knowledge on useful plant richness, species composition and use types, as well as perceptions on area-based plant conservation approaches. Participatory focus groups and ethnobotanical walks-in-the-woods were undertaken with local communities, while scientific data were represented by occurrence records from global data aggregators and digitised collections. A total of 1190 species with human uses were reported. Combining knowledge systems provided the richest understanding of useful plants but the relative contribution of each system varied between study areas, influenced by the history of scientific studies, socio-ecological context and study design. Meanwhile, local perceptions of how conservation areas should be selected differed from global IPA criteria. These results show that working with local communities can improve biological understanding for spatial conservation planning. Additionally, participatory approaches must move beyond community-based conservation and data collection, to inform the design of global conservation programmes.

Disruptions of sexually transmitted and blood borne infections testing services during the COVID-19 pandemic: accounts of service providers in Ontario, Canada

BackgroundSince the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 in Canada, the availability of sexual health services including sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection (STBBI) testing has been negatively impacted in the province of Ontario due to their designation as “non-essential” health services. As a result, many individuals wanting to access sexual healthcare continued to have unmet sexual health needs throughout the pandemic. In response to this, sexual health service providers have adopted alternative models of testing, such as virtual interventions and self-sampling/testing. Our objective was to investigate service providers’ experiences of disruptions to STBBI testing during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada, and their acceptability of alternative testing services.MethodsBetween October 2020-February 2021, we conducted semi-structured virtual focus groups (3) and in-depth interviews (11) with a diverse group of sexual health service providers (n = 18) including frontline workers, public health workers, sexual health nurses, physicians, and sexual health educators across Ontario. As part of a larger community-based research study, data collection and analysis were led by three Peer Researchers and a Community Advisory Board was consulted throughout the research process. Transcripts were transcribed verbatim and analysed with NVivo software following grounded theory.ResultsService providers identified the reallocation of public health resources and staff toward COVID-19 management, and closures, reduced hours, and lower in-person capacities at sexual health clinics as the causes for a sharp decline in access to sexual health testing services. Virtual and self-sampling interventions for STBBI testing were adopted to increase service capacity while reducing risks of COVID-19 transmission. Participants suggested that alternative models of testing were more convenient, accessible, safe, comfortable, cost-effective, and less onerous compared to traditional clinic-based models, and that they helped fill the gaps in testing caused by the pandemic.ConclusionsAcceptability of virtual and self-sampling interventions for STBBI testing was high among service providers, and their lived experiences of implementing such services demonstrated their feasibility in the context of Ontario. There is a need to approach sexual health services as an essential part of healthcare and to sustain sexual health services that meet the needs of diverse individuals.

A pilot study on the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a brief text message intervention for co-occurring alcohol misuse and PTSD symptoms in a community sample

Accessible, brief, and self-directed intervention are needed to improve treatment access for individuals with co-occuring PTSD and alcohol misuse. This pilot study tests the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a brief text message intervention based on cognitive behavioral therapy plus message framing (CBT + Framing) compared to active control providing kind support and attention (KAM), to reduce PTSD symptoms and alcohol use. Two waves of community-based data collection (Wave 1 n = 50; Wave 2 n = 59) were completed. Participants self-reported symptoms at baseline, post-intervention, and 8-week follow-up. Engagement and retention were high, suggesting messages were feasible and acceptable. Across waves and conditions, from baseline to follow-up primary outcomes of PTSD symptoms (medium to large effects), weekly drinks (medium effects), and heavy episodic drinking (small to medium effects) decreased. Consistent with hypotheses, CBT + Framing outperformed KAM for PTSD at post in Wave 2 and for number of heavy drinking episodes at both post and follow-up in Wave 1. Contrary to hypotheses, KAM outperformed CBT + Framing for PTSD at post in Wave 1, and minimal differences were observed between conditions for weekly drinks in both waves. Future studies should continue to develop and test brief, accessible interventions.

Accumulated social vulnerability and experiences of psycho-trauma among women living with albinism in Tanzania

People with albinism are prone to experiencing negative attitudes from society, including stigma and discrimination, which place them at risk of mental health-related challenges. This exploratory study expanded and deepened our understanding of people with albinism by examining in-depth the experiences of women with albinism residing in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The study utilized community-based descriptive cross-sectional and mixed data collection methods to identify the unique experiences of women with albinism. Findings indicate that women with Albinism experience stress and adversity at some point throughout their lives. This study showed that threats to their safety, discrimination, and abuse affect this population physically and bring profound psychological/emotional impacts. Myths and misconceptions about albinism have laid the foundation for the present prejudices and social stigma, thus requiring increased efforts at public education regarding albinism in Tanzania. Points of interest This article explores the unique experiences of women with albinism in Tanzania; albinism might be an additional factor to others which might contribute to the development of mental health challenges. This study also contributes to research on people with albinism in Tanzania by examining the unique experiences of women from their own voices. The present study focuses on psychological problems and provides awareness on risks the population faces regarding their general mental health. Understanding the experiences and psychological impacts of such experiences to people with albinism, particularly women, may impart knowledge to service providers and society at large. The study found that personal threats to the life of women with albinism or other people with albinism are significant sources of trauma which causes major distress at the time of the experience and in the months following experiences.

A clinimetric analysis of the euthymia, resilience, and positive mental health scales

BackgroundEuthymia has been described as a transdiagnostic construct characterized by the absence of mood disturbances and the presence of an integration of psychic forces, such as coping strategy and well-being. A multidimensional measure, the Euthymia Scale (ES), has been proposed to assess it. We investigated construct and concurrent validity of the ES. MethodsConstruct validity was studied via Rasch and Mokken analyses and compared with that of the 11-item Resilience Scale (RS-11) and 9-item Positive Mental Health Scale (PMH-Scale). A total of 951 participants were recruited (77.5% women; 24.86 ± 5.62 years). ResultsThe ES, RS and PMH demonstrated similar sensitivity and construct validity. Findings indicate minor needs for adjustments only. As expected the ES demonstrated a strong negative correlation with neuroticism. LimitationsThe convenience sample of subjects recruited primarily from female Italian university students and a community-based data collection limit the generalizability of the present findings. The cross-sectional design precludes the assessment of test-retest reliability, predictive and incremental validity. Only self-report measures and a Likert version of the ES were used. ConclusionsES is the most comprehensive measure of euthymia. The RS-11 is a valid measure of a specific component of euthymia, namely subjective ability to cope with stress and empower well-being in face of life adversities. The PMH-Scale is a valid measure of overall positive mental health.

Healthy family index assessment through community-based health information system approach

The healthy Indonesia program with a family approach (<em>PIS-PK</em>) has not been implemented optimally. There are several obstacles and challenges in this program’s implementation, e.g., human resources. A community-based health information system (CBHIS) is a strategic approach to obtain data and information at the population level by directly involving cadres and the community. A project with the CBHIS approach was implemented in Kasemen Village, Serang, Banten Province, Indonesia to support the <em>PIS-PK</em> program. The study aimed to determine the population’s health status according to the healthy family index through the CBHIS approach. The data of healthy family indicators in the village were collected by cadres using a mHealth application. Overall, 1316 households consisting of 5312 residents were registered. The analysis results of the healthy family index showed that most families in the Kasemen subdistrict were pre-healthy (64.2%), almost one third were unhealthy (27.8%) and only a small proportion were healthy (8%). Assessing the healthy family index through the CBHIS approach can support decision-making at the community level, thereby determining the magnitude of family health problems and providing appropriate interventions to improve community health status. Well-trained cadres equipped with better electronic data collection tools may be an alternative to community-based data collection.

Identification of fishing ground hotspot of traditional purse seine fisher at northern waters of Aceh – A community-based data collection approach

Fishing grounds are among the most important key of information kept by the fishermen. Understanding the fishing ground locations are considered important as an evaluation of the fishing effort being reached by the fishermen as well as understanding the pressure being received to the fish stock at the surrounding water. The recent study has shown that a community-based data collection approach was found successful in recording and analyzing the fishing ground locations and its properties. One of the few projects implementing this concept is the Community-Based Bathymetric Survey (CBBS), which was realized by the Body of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (BRR) Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) – Nias with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). As many as 151 GPS-transducer recording devices were installed to the fishermen boats along the coast of Aceh, with 45 devices were installed to the traditional purse seine fisher at the northern water of Aceh. These devices were configured to automatically record locations each time the boat moved 30 m. Other important information, such as water depth, time, speed, and sea surface temperature (SST) were recorded as well. This study aims to examine the fishing ground and its fishing hotspot of the traditional purse seine fisher in the northern waters of Aceh. The data collection was performed between June 2007 and May 2009 and gathered as many as 922 data sets consist of 6,170,648 data points, from the 45 purse seine boats. Trough the data, we are able to identify the typical fishing activities of purse seiner and as many as 1,619 data points were being detected. The results indicate that there are five main regions of the fishing ground hotspot in the northern waters of Aceh, i.e. 1. Western offshore of Lhok Nga, 2. Northern offshore of Ulee Lheue, 3. Western offshore of Aceh Islands, 4. Eastern offshore of Aceh Island, and 5. Northern offshore of Krueng Raya. Among the fishing ground hotspot analyzed, the Western offshore of Lhok Nga is the highest density of fishing ground, while the lowest is at the northern offshore of Krueng Raya. These findings suggest that the western offshore of northern waters of Aceh are likely more fertile than its north- northeastern offshore.

Community engagement in outbreak response: lessons from the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone

Documentation of structured community engagement initiatives and real-time monitoring of community engagement activities during large-scale epidemics is limited. To inform such initiatives, this paper analyses the Community Led Ebola Action...

Citizen Seismology in the Arctic

Landslides, earthquakes and other natural disasters are expected to increase in the Arctic, yet our ability to make informed decisions about safety is tightly limited by lack of data. As part of the Integrated Arctic Observation System (INTAROS) project, geophones were installed by residents in Greenland and by University of Bergen in Svalbard in 2018. The purpose of the installations was to explore challenges and benefits of community-based data collection for seismological monitoring in the Arctic region. Raspberry Shake units with one/three-component velocity sensors were selected for the deployment, due to their user-friendly configuration, easy installation, and well established digital platform and web services. The purpose of engaging community members in the use of geophone sensors was to monitor earthquakes, cryoseisms (events generated by ice mass), and landslides. We report our findings with respect to challenges regarding the installation and operation of the Raspberry Shake sensors at both locations. Connecting community-based recordings with permanent seismological networks improved both the detection capability and the data support for understanding seismic events in Greenland. In contrast, finding suitable locations for deployments in Longyearbyen turned out to be challenging, because most buildings are constructed on poles due to the permafrost and indoor space is expensive. Promoting citizen seismology in the Arctic could improve monitoring of seismic events in the Arctic while simultaneously raising community awareness of natural hazards.

A DNA Barcoding Survey of an Arctic Arthropod Community: Implications for Future Monitoring.

Accurate and cost-effective methods for tracking changes in arthropod communities are needed to develop integrative environmental monitoring programs in the Arctic. To date, even baseline data on their species composition at established ecological monitoring sites are severely lacking. We present the results of a pilot assessment of non-marine arthropod diversity in a middle arctic tundra area near Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay), Victoria Island, Nunavut, undertaken in 2018 using DNA barcodes. A total of 1264 Barcode Index Number (BIN) clusters, used as a proxy for species, were recorded. The efficacy of widely used sampling methods was assessed. Yellow pan traps captured 62% of the entire BIN diversity at the study sites. When complemented with soil and leaf litter sifting, the coverage rose up to 74.6%. Combining community-based data collection with high-throughput DNA barcoding has the potential to overcome many of the logistic, financial, and taxonomic obstacles for large-scale monitoring of the Arctic arthropod fauna.

Community-Based Data Justice: A Model for Data Collection in Informal Urban Settlements

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become important curators of data from informal urban settlements. Given the absence of these communities in public datasets, they work to take informal settlements from a state of invisibility and injustice to one of visibility and justice, in and through data. The working premise of these NGOs is that by producing data about informal settlements, data can act as a “currency” through which individuals can access different forms of justice. However, the literature that studies datafication in marginalized urban communities shows this is not always the case. Data scholars have pointed out that datafication implies a series of risks, as well as new forms of exclusion and inequality for vulnerable populations and minorities. This paper studies, through the analysis of interviews of residents of informal settlements in Lima, Peru, whether intensive data collection in informal settlements is considered a process to access justice by vulnerable communities. The study concludes that in the short term, datafication does not give access to justice to vulnerable communities but in fact, deepens or reproduces instances of oppression by reinforcing the perception of their lack of knowledge, lack of capabilities or lack of authority to use data to lead their own development. However, participating in the process of datafication sparked an interest among community leaders about the different ways in which data could be used to further their capabilities, mobilize collective action and address their development needs. Community leaders are interested and willing to use data in constructive ways to collaborate with diverse actors and transform their conditions. However, this interest, power and potential needs to be activated through capability development and the cooperation of data partners willing to invest their resources to provide this training. The paper closes with a list of recommendations, suggested by community leaders from informal settlements, on how to build a community-based data collection model that redresses harms and individual forms of injustice from previous experiences.

The Praxis of Decoloniality in Researcher Training and Community-Based Data Collection.

In this paper, we detail our praxis of decoloniality in the context of a community-based study that employs a quantitative experimental methodology to evaluate an intervention for girls involved in the juvenile legal system. We resist the essentializing of methodology that positions quantitative paradigms as impermeable to reflexivity and decoloniality, and describe a model for training and supervising researchers engaged in an experimental randomized controlled trial of an advocacy program for girls, most of whom are girls of color and about half of whom identify as LGBT. In this way, we consider researcher training as a critical teaching context and describe the ways in which our training, community-based data collection, and supervision structure are anchored in de/anti/post colonial and indigenous scholarships. Specifically, our praxis is centered on conducting research as a site of resistance to hegemony, and practicing a critical compassion rooted in remembering complex personhoods. We further discuss the boundaries and limitations of our own epistemic power in relation to two central questions: how can researchers influence how knowledge is produced? How can researchers influence how knowledge producers are themselves produced?

170 - An integrated community based redox database development approach for next generation redoxomics

The advent of high throughput technologies and development of mathematical models of systems biology has led to finer and clearer observations in various domains of biology, especially proteomics, metabolomics, and genomics. Redox biology is certainly a prospective domain to include these approaches. Some initial attempts have been successfully made by researchers at the development of redox protein database, systems biology of thiol redox systems. However, the development of an integrated database of redox parameters is highly required to pace up the redox biology research. The challenges are primarily a collection of a large dataset of various redox parameters which remain scattered across several thousands of research articles and their curation. We developed a community-based approach to gather the data and develop a composite database. We used some existing models of community-based data collection systems used in tuberculosis research and prepared an organized hierarchical system for data collection, validation, and manual curation. We have gathered more than 20 different parameters of redox systems in more than 200 datasets, which is likely to increase to >20,000 datasets by the second phase of the project. Use Google forms and Google live sheets were used for the collection of data and this was followed by data curation by specific team leaders. We observed that there was a high degree of heterogeneity in the data in terms of the units used, prevailing experimental conditions, which were normalized and segregated by curators, that can be beneficial in the next level integration with the systems biology tools. The dataset will be transformed into a highly interactive web-portal with machine learning and artificial intelligence tools, to provide live simulations of redox biology in various model systems.

Modeling short-term fishing dynamics in a small-scale intertidal shellfishery

We assessed the relative contribution of a set of predictors on the short-term dynamics of the yellow clam intertidal fishery in Uruguay based on a community-based data collection program for five consecutive fishing seasons. Results of generalized linear mixed models showed that the occurrence of fishable days depends on the absence of red tide events and prevailing wind conditions, but also was related to the timing of each fishing event throughout the fishing season. Furthermore, higher fishing yields were coincident with the prevalence of northerly offshore winds. Catch per unit of effort levels of each fishing event were mostly related to interannual characteristics of each fishing season and, to a lesser extent, with fisher attributes (gender and age) and the timing of each fishing event. The adverse effect of red tides and unfavorable environmental conditions impose a high degree of uncertainty in this social-ecological system, leading to economic inefficiency. A key challenge for successful management of the yellow clam fishery and other similar small-scale fisheries relies in considering not only the resource and the governance subsystems, but also the dynamics of the resource users, together with relevant external drivers affecting them.

Using community-based reporting of vital events to monitor child mortality: Lessons from rural Ghana.

BackgroundReducing neonatal and child mortality is a key component of the health-related sustainable development goal (SDG), but most low and middle income countries lack data to monitor child mortality on an annual basis. We tested a mortality monitoring system based on the continuous recording of pregnancies, births and deaths by trained community-based volunteers (CBV).Methods and findingsThis project was implemented in 96 clusters located in three districts of the Northern Region of Ghana. Community-based volunteers (CBVs) were selected from these clusters and were trained in recording all pregnancies, births, and deaths among children under 5 in their catchment areas. Data collection lasted from January 2012 through September 2013. All CBVs transmitted tallies of recorded births and deaths to the Ghana Birth and deaths registry each month, except in one of the study districts (approximately 80% reporting). Some events were reported only several months after they had occurred. We assessed the completeness and accuracy of CBV data by comparing them to retrospective full pregnancy histories (FPH) collected during a census of the same clusters conducted in October-December 2013. We conducted all analyses separately by district, as well as for the combined sample of all districts. During the 21-month implementation period, the CBVs reported a total of 2,819 births and 137 under-five deaths. Among the latter, there were 84 infant deaths (55 neonatal deaths and 29 post-neonatal deaths). Comparison of the CBV data with FPH data suggested that CBVs significantly under-estimated child mortality: the estimated under-5 mortality rate according to CBV data was only 2/3 of the rate estimated from FPH data (95% Confidence Interval for the ratio of the two rates = 51.7 to 81.4). The discrepancies between the CBV and FPH estimates of infant and neonatal mortality were more limited, but varied significantly across districts.ConclusionsIn northern Ghana, a community-based data collection systems relying on volunteers did not yield accurate estimates of child mortality rates. Additional implementation research is needed to improve the timeliness, completeness and accuracy of such systems. Enhancing pregnancy monitoring, in particular, may be an essential step to improve the measurement of neonatal mortality.

Preliminary study of the sea surface temperature (SST) at fishing ground locations based on the net deployment of traditional purse-seine boats in the northern waters of Aceh — A community-based data collection approach

Reconstruction projects after the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 26, 2004 were typically contracted out to implementing partners or government agencies. One of the few projects directly implemented by the Body of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (BRR) was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help reestablish fisheries. During the course of the project, 151 GPS-enabled depth sounders with data-logging devices were installed on various types of artisanal fishing boats engaged in the different types of fishing strategies in Aceh such as purse-seine, drop-line, long-line, and gill net fishing. These devices were configured to automatically record time, position, speed, water depth, and sea surface temperature (SST) every time the boat moved 30 m. This study examines the relationship between the sea surface temperature (SST) and the net deployment (ND) of traditional purse seine fishers. The data consists of 922 data sets (6,170,648 data points) collected from 45 purse seine boats between June 2007 and May 2009. Among the data, 1,619 data points indicated the total number of ND; the nets were deployed only when schools of fish were actually sighted. The results indicate that the most frequent SST for ND is 28–28.5°C±0.1365°C with a mean standard error of 0.0117% in a 95% confidence interval. This study has demonstrated that the data gathered from the fishermen (community-based approach) has near-real-time character and, consequently, is an important source for the monitoring and managing of the local fish stocks.

"We actually care and we want to make the parks better": A qualitative study of youth experiences and perceptions after conducting park audits.

This study explored youths' experiences and perceptions about community engagement as a result of participating in a community-based data collection project using paper and mobile technology park environmental audit tools. In July 2014, youth (ages 11-18, n=50) were recruited to participate in nine focus groups after auditing two parks each using paper, electronic, or both versions of the Community Park Audit Tool in Greenville County, SC. The focus groups explored the youths' experiences participating in the project, changes as a result of participation, suggested uses of park audit data collected, and who should use the tools. Four themes emerged related to youths' project participation experiences: two positive (fun and new experiences) and two negative (uncomfortable/unsafe and travel issues). Changes described as a result of participating in the project fell into four themes: increased awareness, motivation for further action, physical activity benefits, and no change. Additionally, youth had numerous suggestions for utilizing the data collected that were coded into six themes: maintenance & aesthetics, feature/amenity addition, online park information, park rating/review system, fundraising, and organizing community projects. Finally, six themes emerged regarding who the youth felt could use the tools: frequent park visitors, community groups/organizations, parks and recreation professionals, adults, youth, and everyone. This study revealed a wealth of information about youth experiences conducting park audits for community health promotion. Understanding youth attitudes and preferences can help advance youth empowerment and civic engagement efforts to promote individual and community health.

Combining Healthcare-Based and Participatory Approaches to Surveillance: Trends in Diarrheal and Respiratory Conditions Collected by a Mobile Phone System by Community Health Workers in Rural Nepal.

BackgroundSurveillance systems are increasingly relying upon community-based or crowd-sourced data to complement traditional facilities-based data sources. Data collected by community health workers during the routine course of care could combine the early warning power of community-based data collection with the predictability and diagnostic regularity of facility data. These data could inform public health responses to epidemics and spatially-clustered endemic diseases. Here, we analyze data collected on a daily basis by community health workers during the routine course of clinical care in rural Nepal. We evaluate if such community-based surveillance systems can capture temporal trends in diarrheal diseases and acute respiratory infections.MethodsDuring the course of their clinical activities from January to December 2013, community health workers recorded healthcare encounters using mobile phones. In parallel, we accessed condition-specific admissions from 2011–2013 in the hospital from which the community health program was based. We compared diarrhea and acute respiratory infection rates from both the hospital and the community, and assigned three categories of local disease activity (low, medium, and high) to each week in each village cluster with categories determined by tertiles. We compared condition-specific mean hospital rates across categories using ANOVA to assess concordance between hospital and community-collected data.ResultsThere were 2,710 cases of diarrhea and 373 cases of acute respiratory infection reported by community health workers during the one-year study period. At the hospital, the average weekly incidence of diarrhea and acute respiratory infections over the three-year period was 1.8 and 3.9 cases respectively per 1,000 people in each village cluster. In the community, the average weekly rate of diarrhea and acute respiratory infections was 2.7 and 0.5 cases respectively per 1,000 people. Both diarrhea and acute respiratory infections exhibited significant differences between the three categories of disease rate burden (diarrhea p = 0.009, acute respiratory infection p = 0.001) when comparing community health worker-collected rates to hospital rates.ConclusionCommunity-level data on diarrhea and acute respiratory infections modestly correlated with hospital data for the same condition in each village each week. Our experience suggests that community health worker-collected data on mobile phones may be a feasible adjunct to other community- and healthcare-related data sources for surveillance of such conditions. Such systems are vitally needed in resource-limited settings like rural Nepal.