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School of Public Health
College of Health Sciences, Makerere University

Voices from the Field –Data Collectors share on working for Performance Monitoring for Action and the impact of COVID-19 on them and their communities

Posted on : Thursday, August 6, 2020

Sarah, a RE in South Western Uganda.

Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) has been collecting high-quality actionable data since 2013 on a range of sectors, including family planning, maternal and child health, nutrition, water and sanitation and primary health care. With the advent of COVID-19, PMA is implementing a survey to collect data on the knowledge of the pandemic, economic implications of social distancing and barriers to accessing health services- all of which will be provided to local governments in implementing countries to guide the public health response.

One feature that makes PMA unique is a cadre of highly-trained female data collectors (known as resident enumerators, or REs) who work in their own communities, thus establishing a rapport with female respondents that produces reliable information on sensitive topics, like abortion.

Melody Kukundakwe, PMA Uganda’s Communications Officer, recently spoke with Resident Enumerators (REs) on their experience working with PMA and how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting them personally, as well as their communities.

The interviews revealed that the REs have personally benefited from the interactions with the subjects of the survey in a variety of ways, including boosting their public speaking abilities, increased confidence in approaching strangers and their interpersonal skills with their fellow community members.

Personal and Financial Benefits

As a resident enumerator in Uganda, Sarah did not fathom the amount of exposure it would bring her way. Sarah has been able to interact with so many people that she would never have met, from district leadership to people at the grass roots. She has also been able to travel to many districts and communities where she believes she would never have set foot if it were not for this opportunity.

“My research skills have improved, I am so confident while talking to people and I have now become more aware of the issues effecting women in my community,” Sarah adds.

 

Ruth, RE Eastern Uganda

Ruth, RE Eastern Uganda
Ruth, RE Eastern Uganda

Ruth takes pride in the exposure she has received through her work as a RE.

“Working as a RE has exposed me to using the Open Data Kit, improved my skills in data collection, listing and mapping, confidentiality skills, building rapport, consenting and good communication skills,” She proudly says.

The wife and mother of five children and many other dependents says the income from PMA has allowed her to pay tuition for her children up to university level.

COVID-19 Impact

As the world grapples with the fast spreading pandemic and it’s social and economic effects on society, we do not yet know the long-term impacts that COVID-19 will have. However, we are getting a glimpse into how it is impacting family planning and the personal effect it has had on the data collectors. The pandemic has had a serious impact on household finances for small-business owners due to the restrictions on movement and social distancing requirements.

Many of the REs believe there will be an increase in pregnancies due to limited or no access to contraceptives, while others feel that most women will avoid getting pregnant, thus eliminating the need to visit a health facility where they may not get the care they need or risk being exposed to the virus.

Sarah, a RE in South Western Uganda, shares the impact of the virus on her daily life. For the past two months she has not been able to hold her adult classes. Her retail shop that she operates on the side has also had very few customers since most are financially constrained this season. This has left the mother of four worried of how she will survive the next few months.

Sarah is also worried for the mothers in her community who are currently having challenges accessing health and family planning services in their community.

 “My neighbor tried to access a health facility for family planning services but got frustrated and left when she waited in the queue for three hours and was still not attended to.

Another friend almost lost her pregnancy when she could not access transport to the health facility for delivery. The baby was delivered on the way due to delay in accessing transport. Luckily both mother and baby survived,” Sarah recalls.

For Ruth, the number of long-distance truck drivers testing positive for COVID-19 is worrisome; their numbers are rising every day in Uganda.

Ruth and her family live in Jinja district, a transit town in Uganda where many truck drivers from neighboring countries make stops while transporting goods into the city.

 “These truck drivers interact with people who live in our communities and might spread the disease to us,” Ruth says.

“I live in a typical village in Jinja district with a population of about 800 people. When I listen to the news and hear that thousands of people are dying in other countries, I imagine if the virus came to my village. It would wipe us all out in a day,” she adds.

Ruth is also concerned about the difficulty in accessing health services.

“My brother- in- law was very ill during the lock down, he was meant to go to the hospital for review. We struggled to access permission from the Resident District Commissioner to transport him. We tried twice but the process was so difficult. We resorted to using local herbs for treatment,” she laments.

Her son was also meant to graduate in June but due to the lockdown of schools this might not be possible. Ruth was hoping he would get a job and contribute financially at home, with COVID-19 this dream has also stalled.

PMA data collection

Collecting timely high-quality data will be critical to addressing the pandemic. PMA has been collecting data since 2013 and is well positioned to shed light on this public health emergency by collecting data on women’s knowledge, attitudes and practices related to COVID-19, the economic implications of social distancing and barriers to accessing health services.

PMA will be implementing a phone survey focusing on COVID-19 awareness, personal risk assessment, mitigation behaviors, socioeconomic impacts and the impact on family planning and health services access and use.

“When we collect data and send it to the server, it is analyzed, and disseminated. With this data, the government can plan for the different communities basing on the indicators. Quality data collected leads to quality planning and in turn quality services provided to the communities,” Ruth concludes.

 

To read more on the Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) visit https://www.pmadata.org/countries/uganda

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