scholarly journals Conducting Population Health Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts and Recommendations

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3320
Author(s):  
Amy R. Villarosa ◽  
Lucie M. Ramjan ◽  
Della Maneze ◽  
Ajesh George
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Residential Aged Care ◽  
Recruitment Methods ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many changes, including restrictions on indoor gatherings and visitation to residential aged care facilities, hospitals and certain communities. Coupled with potential restrictions imposed by health services and academic institutions, these changes may significantly impact the conduct of population health research. However, the continuance of population health research is beneficial for the provision of health services and sometimes imperative. This paper discusses the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the conduct of population health research. This discussion unveils important ethical considerations, as well as potential impacts on recruitment methods, face-to-face data collection, data quality and validity. In addition, this paper explores potential recruitment and data collection methods that could replace face-to-face methods. The discussion is accompanied by reflections on the challenges experienced by the authors in their own research at an oral health service during the COVID-19 pandemic and alternative methods that were utilised in place of face-to-face methods. This paper concludes that, although COVID-19 presents challenges to the conduct of population health research, there is a range of alternative methods to face-to-face recruitment and data collection. These alternative methods should be considered in light of project aims to ensure data quality is not compromised.

scholarly journals Utilizing asynchronous email interviews for health research: overview of benefits and drawbacks

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Amri ◽  
Christina Angelakis ◽  
Dilani Logan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Data Accuracy ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Face To Face

Abstract Objective Through collating observations from various studies and complementing these findings with one author’s study, a detailed overview of the benefits and drawbacks of asynchronous email interviewing is provided. Through this overview, it is evident there is great potential for asynchronous email interviews in the broad field of health, particularly for studies drawing on expertise from participants in academia or professional settings, those across varied geographical settings (i.e. potential for global public health research), and/or in circumstances when face-to-face interactions are not possible (e.g. COVID-19). Results Benefits of asynchronous email interviewing and additional considerations for researchers are discussed around: (i) access transcending geographic location and during restricted face-to-face communications; (ii) feasibility and cost; (iii) sampling and inclusion of diverse participants; (iv) facilitating snowball sampling and increased transparency; (v) data collection with working professionals; (vi) anonymity; (vii) verification of participants; (viii) data quality and enhanced data accuracy; and (ix) overcoming language barriers. Similarly, potential drawbacks of asynchronous email interviews are also discussed with suggested remedies, which centre around: (i) time; (ii) participant verification and confidentiality; (iii) technology and sampling concerns; (iv) data quality and availability; and (v) need for enhanced clarity and precision.

scholarly journals Bridging the research–practice gap in healthcare: a rapid review of research translation centres in England and Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Robinson ◽  
Cate Bailey ◽  
Heather Morris ◽  
Prue Burns ◽  
Angela Melder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Health Science ◽  
System Level ◽  
Rapid Review ◽  
Research Translation ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Google Search ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Large-scale partnerships between universities and health services are widely seen as vehicles for bridging the evidence–practice gap and for accelerating the adoption of new evidence in healthcare. Recently, different versions of these partnerships – often called academic health science centres – have been established across the globe. Although they differ in structure and processes, all aim to improve the integration of research and education with health services. Collectively, these entities are often referred to as Research Translation Centres (RTCs) and both England and Australia have developed relatively new and funded examples of these collaborative centres. Methods This paper presents findings from a rapid review of RTCs in Australia and England that aimed to identify their structures, leadership, workforce development and strategies for involving communities and service users. The review included published academic and grey literature with a customised search of the Google search engine and RTC websites. Results RTCs are complex system-level interventions that will need to disrupt the current paradigms and silos inherent in healthcare, education and research in order to meet their aims. This will require vision, leadership, collaborations and shared learnings, alongside structures, processes and strategies to deliver impact in the face of complexity. The impact of RTCs in overcoming the deeply entrenched silos across organisations, disciplines and sectors needs to be captured at the systems, organisation and individual levels. This includes workforce capacity and public and patient involvement that are vital to understanding the evolution of RTCs. In addition, new models of leadership are needed to support the brokering and mobilisation of knowledge in complex organisations. Conclusions The development and funding of RTCs represents one of the most significant shifts in the health research landscape and it is imperative that we continue to explore how we can progress the integration of research and healthcare and ensure research meets stakeholder needs and is translated via the collaborations supported by these organisations. Because RTCs are a recent addition to the healthcare landscape in Australia, it is instructive to review the processes and infrastructure needed to support their implementation and applied health research in England.

scholarly journals Information for mental health systems: an instrument for policy-making and system service quality

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 383-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lora ◽  
A. Lesage ◽  
S. Pathare ◽  
I. Levav
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
System Level ◽  
Low Middle Income Countries

Aims.Information is crucial in mental healthcare, yet it remains undervalued by stakeholders. Its absence undermines rationality in planning, makes it difficult to monitor service quality improvement, impedes accountability and human rights monitoring. For international organizations (e.g., WHO, OECD), information is indispensable for achieving better outcomes in mental health policies, services and programs. This article reviews the importance of developing system level information with reference to inputs, processes and outputs, analyzes available tools for collecting and summarizing information, highlights the various goals of information gathering, discusses implementation issues and charts the way forward.Methods.Relevant publications and research were consulted, including WHO studies that purport to promote the use of information systems to upgrade mental health care in high- and low-middle income countries.Results.Studies have shown that once information has been collected by relevant systems and analyzed through indicator schemes, it can be put to many uses. Monitoring mental health services, represents a first step in using information. In addition, studies have noted that information is a prime resource in many other areas such as evaluation of quality of care against evidence based standards of care. Services data may support health services research where it is possible to link mental health data with other health and non-health databases. Information systems are required to carefully monitor involuntary admissions, restrain and seclusion, to reduce human rights violations in care facilities. Information has been also found useful for policy makers, to monitor the implementation of policies, to evaluate their impact, to rationally allocate funding and to create new financing models.Conclusions.Despite its manifold applications, Information systems currently face many problems such as incomplete recording, poor data quality, lack of timely reporting and feedback, and limited application of information. Corrective action is needed to upgrade data collection in outpatient facilities, to improve data quality, to establish clear rules and norms, to access adequate information technology equipment and to train health care personnel in data collection. Moreover, it is necessary to shift from mere administrative data collection to analysis, dissemination and use by relevant stakeholders and to develop a “culture of information” to dismantle the culture of intuition and mere tradition. Clinical directors, mental health managers, patient and family representatives, as well as politicians should be educated to operate with information and not just intuition.

scholarly journals Remote mental health clients prefer face-to-face consultations to telehealth during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 103985622110435
Author(s):  
Andrew James Amos ◽  
Jocelyn Middleton ◽  
Fergus W. Gardiner
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Far North ◽  
Mental Health Clients ◽  
The Impact

Objective: To guide the efficient and effective provision of mental health services to clients in Central West and Far North Queensland, we surveyed preferences for face-to-face or in-person contact. Methods: A clinician-designed survey of contact preferences was offered to 248 clients of mental health services in Far North and Central West Queensland in mid-2020. With the onset of COVID-19, the survey was modified to measure the impact of the pandemic. Results: Just over half of the services’ clients participated in the survey (50.4%), of whom more were female (63.2%). Of the participants, 46.3% in Far North and 8.6% in Central West Queensland identified as Indigenous. Strong resistance to telehealth before the pandemic across groups (76%) was moderated during COVID-19 (42.4%), an effect that appeared likely to continue past the pandemic for Central West clients (34.5%). Far North clients indicated their telehealth reluctance would return after the pandemic (77.6%). Conclusions: Our results suggest that remote Australians strongly prefer in-person mental health care to telehealth. Although the COVID-19 pandemic increased acceptance of telehealth across regions while social distancing continued, there was evidence that Indigenous Australians were more likely to prefer in-person contact after the pandemic.

Video-Enhanced Self-Administered Computer Interviews

2012 ◽  
pp. 99-119
Author(s):  
Joachim Gerich
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Video Sequences ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Logical Extension

In video-enhanced computer interviews, questions are presented by virtual interviewers by means of pre-recorded video sequences. To date, two strands of scientific interest in video-enhanced data collection are identifiable. On the one hand, video-enhanced data collection is employed for interviewing respondents with special needs (especially deaf respondents) and young respondents. On the other hand, research is focused on the impact on data quality. Following previous results on enhanced data quality with audio-enhanced computer interviews, video-enhanced surveys are seen as a logical extension. In this chapter, previous research on both strands of applications of video-enhanced computer interviews is summarized to gain insight into preliminary evidence about the impact of these methods.

scholarly journals Population Health and Health Services: Old Challenges and New Realities in the COVID-19 Era

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Sarría-Santamera ◽  
Alua Yeskendir ◽  
Tilektes Maulenkul ◽  
Binur Orazumbekova ◽  
Abduzhappar Gaipov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Disease Prevention ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Network Governance ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Complex Solutions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Proven Method

(1) Background: Health services that were already under pressure before the COVID-19 pandemic to maximize its impact on population health, have not only the imperative to remain resilient and sustainable and be prepared for future waves of the virus, but to take advantage of the learnings from the pandemic to re-configure and support the greatest possible improvements. (2) Methods: A review of articles published by the Special Issue on Population Health and Health Services to identify main drivers for improving the contribution of health services on population health is conducted. (3) Health services have to focus not just on providing the best care to health problems but to improve its focus on health promotion and disease prevention. (4) Conclusions: Implementing innovative but complex solutions to address the problems can hardly be achieved without a multilevel and multisectoral deliberative debate. The CHRODIS PLUS policy dialog method can help standardize policy-making procedures and improve network governance, offering a proven method to strengthen the impact of health services on population health, which in the post-COVID era is more necessary than ever.

scholarly journals Data Quality and Cost-Effectiveness Analyses of Electronic and Paper-Based Interviewer-Administered Public Health Surveys: Protocol for a Systematic Review (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atinkut Alamirrew Zeleke ◽  
Tolga Naziyok ◽  
Fleur Fritz ◽  
Rainer Röhrig
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Cost Reduction ◽  
Health Surveys ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Population Level ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Population-level survey is an essential standard method used in public health research to quantify sociodemographic events and support public health policy development and intervention designs with evidence. Although all steps in the survey can contribute to the data quality parameters, data collection mechanisms seem the most determinant, as they can avoid mistakes before they happen. The use of electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet computers improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of public health surveys. However, there is lack of systematically analyzed evidence to show the potential impact on data quality and cost reduction of electronic-based data collection tools in interviewer-administered surveys. OBJECTIVE This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of interviewer-administered electronic device data collection methods concerning data quality and cost reduction in population-level surveys compared with the traditional paper-based methods. METHODS We will conduct a systematic search on Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Global Health, Trip, ISI Web of Science, and Cochrane Library for studies from 2007 to 2018 to identify relevant studies. The review will include randomized and nonrandomized studies that examine data quality and cost reduction outcomes. Moreover, usability, user experience, and usage parameters from the same study will be summarized. Two independent authors will screen the title and abstract. A third author will mediate in cases of disagreement. If the studies are considered to be combinable with minimal heterogeneity, we will perform a meta-analysis. RESULTS The preliminary search in PubMed and Web of Science showed 1491 and 979 resulting hits of articles, respectively. The review protocol is registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42018092259). We anticipate January 30, 2019, to be the finishing date. CONCLUSIONS This systematic review will inform policymakers, investors, researchers, and technologists about the impact of an electronic-based data collection system on data quality, work efficiency, and cost reduction. CLINICALTRIAL PROSPERO CRD42018092259; http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?ID= CRD42018092259 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT PRR1-10.2196/10678

LESSONS LEARNED: THE CASE FOR DATA OPTIMIZATION BETWEEN RESPONSE AND NRDA

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 3134-3150
Author(s):  
Laurie Benton ◽  
Linda Cook ◽  
Bob Haddad ◽  
Paul Boehm
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Multiple Uses ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Data Optimization

ABSTRACT 2017-284: Over the past decade, three realizations have evolved from our collection and analysis of oil spill data. First is that more response data are being collected than ever before, including field and laboratory measurements in addition to observational data. To process this diverse information, we use sophisticated computer-based systems that allow us to integrate, analyze, and visualize satellite imagery, real-time weather and ship locations, field notes (e.g., shoreline cleanup assessment technique [SCAT] data), chemistry data, and photos. The second is the increased political and social interest in spills. Increased use of social media and the impact of these information pathways on the public’s perception of the spill response can drive real political decisions; making spill communications based on timely and high data quality critical. Lastly is the growing linkages between the collection, management, and uses of environmental data, not only for spill response, but also for NRD assessment (NRDA), determination of civil penalties (e.g., the Clean Water Act [CWA]), and third party legal claims. For example, observational and remote sensing data collected for response actions will ultimately be used to understand questions about contaminant pathways and exposures inherent to NRDA. Similarly, data collected as part of response mitigation and cleanup needs often provides our earliest understanding of the potential and actual natural resource damage issues, which are important for NRDA, third party claims, and CWA penalty mitigation. Historically, the inherent differences in temporal and spatial scales over which oil spill data are collected and used, coupled with the requirements of data quality, usability, and/or provenance, diminishes the ability to effectively optimize collection and uses of these data. Data optimization recognizes that data can/will have multiple uses and thus requires all data, whether response or NRDA-related to be of high and equivalent quality and be based on compatible, if not identical, data quality objectives (DQOs). In this paper, we review several examples that underscore the need for data optimization in environmental data collection. Specifically, we will explore how a focus on the long view and the need for data optimization can drive the collection of appropriate and multipurpose data, as well as inform the structure of data management systems. Using specific examples, we will demonstrate the value of embracing a data optimization framework in developing a common sample/data collection imperative that facilitates multiple uses.

scholarly journals Language Proficiency Among Respondents: Implications for Data Quality in a Longitudinal Face-to-Face Survey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Wenz ◽  
Tarek Al Baghal ◽  
Alessandra Gaia
Keyword(s):  
Data Quality ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Primary Response ◽  
The Self ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Primacy Effects ◽  
The Impact

Abstract When surveying immigrant populations or ethnic minority groups, it is important for survey researchers to consider that respondents might vary in their level of language proficiency. While survey translations might be offered, they are usually available for a limited number of languages, and even then, non-native speakers may not utilize questionnaires translated into their native language. This article examines the impact of language proficiency among respondents interviewed in English on survey data quality. We use data from Understanding Society: The United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) to examine five indicators of data quality, including “don’t know” responding, primacy effects, straightlining in grids, nonresponse to a self-completion survey component, and change in response across survey waves. Respondents were asked whether they are native speakers of English; non-native speakers were subsequently asked to self-rate whether they have any difficulties speaking or reading English. Results suggest that non-native speakers provide lower data quality for four of the five quality indicators we examined. We find that non-native respondents have higher nonresponse rates to the self-completion section and are more likely to report change across waves, select the primary response option, and show straightlining response behavior in grids. Furthermore, primacy effects and nonresponse rates to the self-completion section vary by self-rated level of language proficiency. No significant effects were found with regard to “don’t know” responding between native and non-native speakers.

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