Investigators
Study information
- Research Area: COVID-19
- Research type: This study uses an online survey design and provides individualized feedback and advice, based on the scores people have on different questionnaires
- Start date: Apr 01, 2020
- End date: Jan 04, 2022
Study aim of the objectives
COVID-19 crisis is causing relatively few direct health victims, but it is causing already a very real economic disaster in countries that have very few reserves to absorb such shocks. Reading reports from the Global North on how COVID-19 negatively impacts on people's lives, we expect similar negative outcomes to happen in the Global South.The purpose of this survey is to collect data on how people and families are coping with the COVID-19 crisis and to give people personalized feedback and advice on how they can deal with the situation.
As a team of Rwandan scientists of the Mental Health and Behaviour Research Group at the University of Rwanda, we have developed an online interactive questionnaire that asks people in the Global South how they and their families are coping with the COVID-19 crisis and we give personalized feedback and advice on how they can deal with the situation. We ask people a number of questions (using standardized validated scales) on how COVID-19 impacts on their daily life, their overall well-being, their social situation, their relationship (in case they are in a relationship), parenting issues (in case they have children), their alcohol use and their level of worry. Importantly, we compare their scores to other people in their country and give personalized feedback on these issues using authoritative psycho-social advice resources from WHO, MHPPS and others, combined with expertise available in our local research team. Interestingly, we are capable of measuring the impact of our intervention (i.e., the psycho-educational messages), through people who complete the questionnaire multiple times.So far 650 people from Rwanda and Uganda have completed the questionnaire and some of them gave us positive feedback about the survey.We are very ambitious about this project,we started reaching out through our networks to have research teams to support the project and use the questionnaire and feedback/advice messages in other Global South countries. Recently, we came in contact with the University of Antwerp who allowed us to use the platform they developed and they are now assisting us in reaching out to twenty more Global South Countries. Through our own networks, we intend to reach out to even more countries.
In conclusion, we hope that this project will actively help people coping with aggression control, alcohol control and other issues during this COVID-19 crisis. We also want to demonstrate how South Universities contribute to solutions for the Global South.
Study setting/Area (Location)
Rwanda, Uganda and other global south countries
Implementing institution
Mental Health and Behaviour Research Group at the University of Rwanda
Department/Division
Mental Health and Behaviour Research Group at the University of Rwanda