Capturing and Documenting the Wider Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan Initiative: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Interdisciplinary Project

BackgroundIn the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the global COVID-19 pandemic appeared amidst existing social health challenges in food insecurity, housing precarity and homelessness, poor mental health, and substance misuse. These chronic features intersected with the pan...

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Main Authors: Nazeem Muhajarine, James Dixon, Erika Dyck, Jim Clifford, Patrick Chassé, Suvadra Datta Gupta, Colleen Christopherson-Cote
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2023-06-01
Series:JMIR Research Protocols
Online Access:https://www.researchprotocols.org/2023/1/e46643
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author Nazeem Muhajarine
James Dixon
Erika Dyck
Jim Clifford
Patrick Chassé
Suvadra Datta Gupta
Colleen Christopherson-Cote
author_facet Nazeem Muhajarine
James Dixon
Erika Dyck
Jim Clifford
Patrick Chassé
Suvadra Datta Gupta
Colleen Christopherson-Cote
author_sort Nazeem Muhajarine
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundIn the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the global COVID-19 pandemic appeared amidst existing social health challenges in food insecurity, housing precarity and homelessness, poor mental health, and substance misuse. These chronic features intersected with the pandemic, producing a moment in time when the urgency of COVID-19 brought attention to underlying shortcomings in public health services. ObjectiveThe objectives of the program of research are (1) to identify and measure relationships between the pandemic and wider health and social impacts, namely, food insecurity, housing precarity and homelessness, and mental health and substance use in Saskatchewan, and (2) to create an oral history of the pandemic in Saskatchewan in an accessible digital public archive. MethodsWe are using a mixed methods approach to identify the impacts of the pandemic on specific equity-seeking groups and areas of social health concern by developing cross-sectional population-based surveys and producing results based on statistical analysis. We augmented the quantitative analysis by conducting qualitative interviews and oral histories to generate more granular details of people’s experiences of the pandemic. We are focusing on frontline workers, other service providers, and individuals within equity-seeking groups. We are capturing digital evidence and social media posts; we are collecting and organizing key threads using a free open-source research tool, Zotero, to trace the digital evidence of the pandemic in Saskatchewan. This study is approved by the Research Ethics Board at the University of Saskatchewan (Beh-1945). ResultsFunding for this program of research was received in March and April 2022. Survey data were collected between July and November 2022. The collection of oral histories began in June 2022 and concluded in March 2023. In total, 30 oral histories have been collected at the time of this writing. Qualitative interviews began in April 2022 and will continue until March 2024. Survey analysis began in January 2023, and results are expected to be published in mid-2023. All data and stories collected in this work are archived for preservation and freely accessible on the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan project’s website. We will share results in academic journals and conferences, town halls and community gatherings, social and digital media reports, and through collaborative exhibitions with public library systems. ConclusionsThe pandemic’s ephemeral nature poses a risk of us “forgetting” this moment and the attendant social inequities. These challenges inspired a novel fusion among health researchers, historians, librarians, and service providers in the creation of the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan project, which focuses on preserving the legacy of the pandemic and capturing data to support an equitable recovery in Saskatchewan. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/46643
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spelling doaj.art-d38efb187ffd4f729d22c43acc57d2c92023-08-29T00:01:05ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Research Protocols1929-07482023-06-0112e4664310.2196/46643Capturing and Documenting the Wider Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan Initiative: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Interdisciplinary ProjectNazeem Muhajarinehttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6781-5421James Dixonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6817-466XErika Dyckhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2745-6695Jim Cliffordhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2004-5161Patrick Chasséhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9395-4433Suvadra Datta Guptahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1324-0180Colleen Christopherson-Cotehttps://orcid.org/0009-0008-2097-4992 BackgroundIn the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the global COVID-19 pandemic appeared amidst existing social health challenges in food insecurity, housing precarity and homelessness, poor mental health, and substance misuse. These chronic features intersected with the pandemic, producing a moment in time when the urgency of COVID-19 brought attention to underlying shortcomings in public health services. ObjectiveThe objectives of the program of research are (1) to identify and measure relationships between the pandemic and wider health and social impacts, namely, food insecurity, housing precarity and homelessness, and mental health and substance use in Saskatchewan, and (2) to create an oral history of the pandemic in Saskatchewan in an accessible digital public archive. MethodsWe are using a mixed methods approach to identify the impacts of the pandemic on specific equity-seeking groups and areas of social health concern by developing cross-sectional population-based surveys and producing results based on statistical analysis. We augmented the quantitative analysis by conducting qualitative interviews and oral histories to generate more granular details of people’s experiences of the pandemic. We are focusing on frontline workers, other service providers, and individuals within equity-seeking groups. We are capturing digital evidence and social media posts; we are collecting and organizing key threads using a free open-source research tool, Zotero, to trace the digital evidence of the pandemic in Saskatchewan. This study is approved by the Research Ethics Board at the University of Saskatchewan (Beh-1945). ResultsFunding for this program of research was received in March and April 2022. Survey data were collected between July and November 2022. The collection of oral histories began in June 2022 and concluded in March 2023. In total, 30 oral histories have been collected at the time of this writing. Qualitative interviews began in April 2022 and will continue until March 2024. Survey analysis began in January 2023, and results are expected to be published in mid-2023. All data and stories collected in this work are archived for preservation and freely accessible on the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan project’s website. We will share results in academic journals and conferences, town halls and community gatherings, social and digital media reports, and through collaborative exhibitions with public library systems. ConclusionsThe pandemic’s ephemeral nature poses a risk of us “forgetting” this moment and the attendant social inequities. These challenges inspired a novel fusion among health researchers, historians, librarians, and service providers in the creation of the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan project, which focuses on preserving the legacy of the pandemic and capturing data to support an equitable recovery in Saskatchewan. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/46643https://www.researchprotocols.org/2023/1/e46643
spellingShingle Nazeem Muhajarine
James Dixon
Erika Dyck
Jim Clifford
Patrick Chassé
Suvadra Datta Gupta
Colleen Christopherson-Cote
Capturing and Documenting the Wider Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan Initiative: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Interdisciplinary Project
JMIR Research Protocols
title Capturing and Documenting the Wider Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan Initiative: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Interdisciplinary Project
title_full Capturing and Documenting the Wider Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan Initiative: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Interdisciplinary Project
title_fullStr Capturing and Documenting the Wider Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan Initiative: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Interdisciplinary Project
title_full_unstemmed Capturing and Documenting the Wider Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan Initiative: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Interdisciplinary Project
title_short Capturing and Documenting the Wider Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan Initiative: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Interdisciplinary Project
title_sort capturing and documenting the wider health impacts of the covid 19 pandemic through the remember rebuild saskatchewan initiative protocol for a mixed methods interdisciplinary project
url https://www.researchprotocols.org/2023/1/e46643
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