Covid-19 research underway in Wentworth
The Human Sciences Research Council, Sarraounia Public Health Trust and the South African Medical Research Council are conducting a voluntary survey to assess the impact of Covid-19 on the community.
THE community of Wentworth has been selected for a survey to determine the public’s views on the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Human Sciences Research Council, Sarraounia Public Health Trust and the South African Medical Research Council are conducting a voluntary survey to assess the impact of Covid-19 on the community.
The title of the broad project is called the ‘Ward-based case studies of vaccine hesitancy and the covid-19 response in South Africa’. The study in Wentworth is run by Dr Gregory Houston with a group of researchers.
According to Houston, the objective is to obtain the survey participants’ views of the impact of Covid-19 on them, their families and the Wentworth community, and their attitudes towards the vaccine to develop a community-based strategy to deal with the pandemic.
“It is a voluntary survey that will be conducted among a sample of 300 participants that will be randomly included based on certain demographic characteristics such as gender, age, dwelling and area they live in Wentworth. The survey will take place at a few central venues that people will be invited to by the community and religious leaders who have agreed to assist with securing volunteers, at local events and in the homes of individual members of the community. ‘Vax-Scenes’ is a name we use to identify the researchers in the project, with the phrase added at the back of the t-shirts they will be wearing,” he explained.
Voluntary participation can be made by sending a WhatsApp message to the cell number provided indicating willingness to participate in the survey to enable the volunteer to be contacted, or by volunteering when calls to participate are made by the community and religious leaders. Interested persons can also agree to participate when approached by members of the research team at local events such or participating in the survey when the research team visits home.
When asked why has the community of Wentworth was selected for this research, Houston said, “Wentworth is one among four wards selected because of its relatively small area size making of ease of research, a large number of community organisations active in the community, and the high incidence of covid-19 deaths during the second wave. “The research teams in the four wards in which the study is being conducted (Wentworth and Sweetwaters in KwaZulu-Natal, Alexandra Township in Gauteng, and Athlone in the Western Cape) are made up of researchers drawn from one or more of the three collaborating institutions.”
Houston explained that each ward-based study will result in a preliminary report that will be communicated to the community before being included in the Technical Report, including the four ward-based studies. “The report will give rise to various publications, including newspaper and journal articles. The involvement of two Science Councils in the study that are both agencies of the Department of Science and Innovation, inevitably means that the final report will come to the attention of the government. It is hoped that the study will impact government response to Covid-19 and vaccination.
“It is hoped that a community-based response to the pandemic can assist with the development of national responses that apply as well to other areas in the country that are similar to Wentworth. The Wentworth community can, and is, making a major contribution in this regard,” said Houston.
He assured that participant’s anonymity and that details that indicate their identities will not be requested in the survey. Interviews are currently underway in the area and will continue until the end of the month.
