Population Health Researcher Launches COVID-19 Survey
Jefferson’s Dr. Sharon Larson hopes to gather real-time data during the pandemic to ‘inform practice and policy.’
The survey touches on fear of contracting the virus, health history, grocery shopping habits and more.
Dr. Sharon Larson, a research professor in the Jefferson College of Population Health, has launched an online survey designed to gather real-time data in an effort “to understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the many changes that we are making in our daily lives.”
The anonymous, 64-question survey touches on topics ranging from fear of contracting the virus, health history, grocery shopping habits, basic demographics, and housing and employment situations as they apply to the shutdown.
The results will “help inform practice and policy,” says Dr. Larson, who is based at Main Line Health Center for Population Health Research at Lankenau Institute for Medical Research.
“The coronavirus situation has created changes in our daily lives for many of us unlike any experience we have previously had,” the survey reads. “We want to know how this pandemic has impacted your life.”
We do not have solid information about the impacts and particularly those impacts on vulnerable populations.
The survey, which has elicited more than 750 responses to date, is also designed to examine information flow during the pandemic.
“Often, we are bombarded with mixed messages and daily updates on how many are sick and how many have died. There are edicts from our government,” she says. “We do not know how people are receiving the information. We do not know how this information is challenging folks. We do not have solid information about the impacts and particularly those impacts on vulnerable populations.”
She also hopes respondents will help shed light on anxiety levels and, among other things, how vulnerable populations are dealing with child-care and food concerns.
Researchers hope to provide quick-turnaround reports as data becomes available and will also produce a report for the general public, community leaders and the media “to help shape how we address some of the information issues that may have emerged,” Dr. Larson says.
