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

Author

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  • Amy R. Villarosa

    (Centre for Oral Health Outcomes and Research Translation (COHORT), Western Sydney University, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
    South Western Sydney Local Health District, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
    Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia)

  • Lucie M. Ramjan

    (Centre for Oral Health Outcomes and Research Translation (COHORT), Western Sydney University, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
    Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
    Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia)

  • Della Maneze

    (Centre for Oral Health Outcomes and Research Translation (COHORT), Western Sydney University, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
    South Western Sydney Local Health District, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
    Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia)

  • Ajesh George

    (Centre for Oral Health Outcomes and Research Translation (COHORT), Western Sydney University, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
    South Western Sydney Local Health District, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
    Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
    Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy R. Villarosa & Lucie M. Ramjan & Della Maneze & Ajesh George, 2021. "Conducting Population Health Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts and Recommendations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-11, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3320-:d:518985
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lokman I. Meho, 2006. "E‐mail interviewing in qualitative research: A methodological discussion," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 57(10), pages 1284-1295, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ashraful Kabir & Md Nazmul Karim & Jahirul Karim & Baki Billah, 2023. "Challenges and Strategies in Conducting Population Health Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience from a Nationwide Mixed-Methods Study in Bangladesh," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(9), pages 1-9, April.
    2. Vincenza Capone & Roberta Borrelli & Leda Marino & Giovanni Schettino, 2022. "Mental Well-Being and Job Satisfaction of Hospital Physicians during COVID-19: Relationships with Efficacy Beliefs, Organizational Support, and Organizational Non-Technical Skills," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-18, March.

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