COVID-19 and the lessons we learnt

Author: Gioia Mosler  (Programme and Research Manager for ACACIA and CAPPA studies, responsible for Community Engagement and Involvement)

Date: 18/07/2023

I am Dr. Gioia Mosler, programme manager across ACACIA and CAPPA. As part of my work I am responsible to keep all activities on time, within budget, and on track to produce high quality outcomes.

Research studies are often complex, have multiple partners, high expectations, and often run on a tight schedule over several years. It is therefore inevitable to come across some unexpected changes and challenges during a research study. Our ACACIA and CAPPA projects were no different and we faced our fair share of challenges from difficulties to setting up a budget at one partner institution, to changes in key staff, and initially slow numbers of study participants. Those challenges however paled in comparison to the major disruptions we faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the next paragraphs I will talk through the different elements of the project, the challenges each faced during the pandemic, and how we overcame them.

 

How did the pandemic effect project and partner management?

Project management was highly impacted by the pandemic. Many tasks became more difficult, as multiple institutions involved in the research did not function as effectively as usual. At the start of the pandemic partner institutions had suddenly been closed, and essential equipment needed to be retrieved. Over time there were more general problems, such as issues around staff employment, and delays in essential study milestones, especially for school-based fieldwork activities.

As a response to the situations, all meetings with sites were held virtually between March 2020 and September 2022, and with higher frequency. Initially, we mostly discussed in these meetings how to best adapt to the new and constantly changing situation, over time these meetings also provided important opportunities for teams to voice their general concerns about life during the pandemic.

 

What happened to data collection?

Due to COVID-19, some sites were not able to continue all study elements. In Uganda, for example, schools were closed for 22 months, and the planned collection of personal air pollution monitoring data was not possible. Other elements of the fieldwork could be adapted to the situation, e.g. by meeting participants outside, or in smaller groups.

 

What about extra costs?

Project finances were difficult to adapt during the pandemic. All fieldwork activities required more funds, for example to run smaller groups, the number of sessions and related costs went up. Staff was not able to do all activities they were paid for, especially during lockdowns, and couldn’t always be redirected to work on other project elements. This drove up staff costs. Some savings were made, for example by having virtual instead of face-to-face general meetings. Yet, many sites struggled to keep key staff employed towards the end of the project, as their budgets were tight. At the same time, we were not able to get any additional funding, as much of the usual funding sources had dried up due to a re-direction of funds to COVID-19 related costs.

 

Where any lessons learned?

I asked some of our African principle investigators (PIs) if they can think of any lessons learned from the challenges:

‘One of the major lessons learnt was the importance of continuous engagement with schools on how to best conduct the activities and engagement with the parents, and flexibility in conducting activities to suit within the school programmes. This approach was very instrumental in achieving the objectives despite the COVID-19 disruptions.’ (PI Uganda)

‘Be gently persistent in your requests to the teachers, parents, or students in obtaining consent or permission to carry out activities in their space. Be flexible in your approach and be aware of parents’ concern and address them truthfully, confidently, and amicably.‘ (PI Zimbabwe)

‘Ensuring access to study participants and parents/guardians a more pro-active approach which takes into account finances, availability of time off from work and a responsive study team will ensure success with future work.’ (PI South Africa)

‘One main lesson is key to building good relationships with key stakeholders. Because we put effort in building relationships with the schools and surrounding communities, our study finished successfully despite COVID-19 challenges. The schools welcomed the study back following the easing of COVID-19 challenges at a time when they were reluctant to let in outsiders as they wanted to focus on catching up on lost time.‘ (PI Malawi)

 

Did this effect the research outputs and impact?

Considering the scale of the challenges we faced from the pandemic, these had a surprisingly small effect on research outputs and impact. This success can be attributed directly to our amazing local teams, who never tired of finding new solutions to the myriad of problems thrown at them during the difficult months. I believe we also did a good job in sharing solutions during meetings, so that teams could learn from another. Our success is also due to incredibly dedicated local stakeholders and especially partner school staff, who collaborated with our teams throughout the pandemic and were crucial for reaching our data collection goals.

I feel very privileged to have witnessed the incredible dedication, perseverance, and professionalism that everyone on this project displayed throughout the particularly challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic. A very heartfelt thank you and well done to everyone involved!