How to investigate Adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment ... - INRUD

CHAPTER 7. TRAINING OF DATA COLLECTORS AND TEAM LEADERS
If the information gained from this survey is to have any meaning, then it is essential that all
data collectors have the same interpretation of the questions and the same way of asking
questions in the interview. To ensure this, an intense training period is needed.
During the training, each of the data collection tools needs going through column by column,
question by question, during which time all the different ways of possibly interpreting the
questions need to be discussed and a consensus reached. Some of the misunderstandings have
been described in the instructions on how to fill in the form in chapter 4, such as writing
times in minutes and not hours and minutes in the exit interview. If one person writes 1.5
(hours) and another writes 90 (minutes) for time to get to clinic, then the comparison is
meaningless. Everyone must write in the same unit format. Similarly, if one person writes the
number of tablets and another writes the number of days, again the comparison becomes
meaningless. With the exit interviews; if one person asks a question in one way and another
in another way, then the answers cannot be compared. Training and practice on the exit
interview is essential.
Remember—
• You can only get meaningful data if all data collectors have the same understanding.
• The skill of the facilitator for the training is to be able to imagine everything that can
be misunderstood and discuss.
• Assumed mutual understanding is a misunderstanding in the making.
• If something can go wrong, it will go wrong.
The facility interview will be filled in by the team leader only. This means that there needs to
be time, at least half a day, for training the team leaders on the facility form.
Training Team Leaders before Data Collectors
It may be a good idea to hold a two-day training for team leaders and then have the team
leaders act as facilitators for the three-day training of the data collectors. The syllabi will be
similar, but more emphasis is needed on the facility questionnaire with the team leaders as
they will be responsible for carrying that out. The two sample syllabi are described in tables
14 and 15 below. Typically, the training of team leaders may take one and a half to two days
and for data collectors will take two and a half to three days.
The vital thing to remember throughout is that all situations that will be encountered need to
be understood the same way by all team leaders and all data collectors.
Some PowerPoint slides are included on the CD-ROM which may be helpful, but the training
is possible without them if everyone has copies of the forms under discussion and the manual.
59