Survey ID Number
LBR_2011_MIS_v01_M
Title
Malaria Indicator Survey 2011
Data Collection Notes
Training of Field Staff
Eighty-seven individuals were invited to attend a two-week training course from September 5-19, 2011, at the Catholic Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Monrovia. Training of the interviewer/supervisor candidates consisted of reviewing how to fill out the Household and Woman’s Questionnaires, mock interviewing, and sessions covering tips on interviewing, how to locate selected households, and how to code interview results. Trainers included the LMIS team (project director, assistant project director, data manager, field coordinator, and lab supervisors) and three LISGIS staff, with support from two ICF staff. Quizzes were administered daily. Selection for the different positions was strictly based on performance during training. Despite the large candidate pool, many did not qualify on the basis of their quiz scores or because of their interviewing skills. Overall, few were proficient in the major local languages. Of the 87 attendees in the interviewer/supervisor training, 12 were selected as supervisors, and 24 were selected as interviewers.
Among the 87 training participants, NMCP also identified 32 staff with either laboratory or medical experience who were trained in taking blood for the anemia and malaria testing at the same time and place as the interviewer/supervisor candidates. Of these, 24 were selected as health technicians for the biomarker data collection. The health technicians were trained by an ICF biomarker specialist on how to identify children eligible for testing, how to administer informed consent, how to conduct the anemia and malaria rapid tests, and how to make a proper thick blood smear. They were also trained on how to store the blood slides, how to record test results on the questionnaire, and how to provide results to the parents/caretakers of the children tested. Training included how to record children’s anemia and malaria results on the anemia and malaria brochure, which was to be left in every household in which children were tested, and on how to fill in the referral slip for any child who was found to be severely anemic or who had reported symptoms indicative of severe malaria. Trainees participated in numerous practice sessions in the classroom.
All trainees participated in four days of field practice exercises in households close to the training site. They also received a lecture on the epidemiology of malaria in Liberia and NMCP malaria prevention programs.
Fieldwork
Twelve teams were organized for the data collection, each comprised of one supervisor, two interviewers, two health technicians, and one driver. Two staff from LISGIS and two from NMCP were designated as field coordinators, and each field coordinator was assigned a number of teams to monitor.
The LMIS fieldwork was implemented in three phases because of Liberia’s 2011 general and presidential elections. The first phase of data collection started on September 20, 2011. To allow for maximum supervision in the first few weeks of the survey and also to allow the field teams to familiarize themselves with the task, all 12 teams started work in Monrovia. Phase One of the survey ran through October 9, 2011, and included EAs in Monrovia, as well as in rural Monserrado, Grand Cape Mount, and Gbarpolu counties. The field staff returned to Monrovia to vote after Phase One. Phase Two of the LMIS began on October 15 and continued through November 5, 2011. Phase Two included EAs within Sinoe, River Cess, Grand Bassa, Margibi, Bomi, Bong, and Lofa counties. The field staff took a temporary hiatus from fieldwork during the presidential run-off election. Nimba, Grand Geddeh, Maryland, Grand Kru, and River Gee counties were visited in Phase Three of the LMIS. Phase Three of the LMIS commenced on November 14 and ended on December 8, 2011.