RESUMO
Background: Aided by a collaborative partnership dating back to 2011, the Canadian Network for Public Health Intelligence (CNPHI) and the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program (CPSP) quickly undertook substantial enhancements to the CPSP's data collection instruments on the CNPHI platform to characterize the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on children and youth in Canada. Faced with an emerging public health threat with impacts yet unknown, the objective of the intervention was to rapidly complete enhancements to existing data collection and analytical tools to enable the CPSP's ability to characterize the impacts of COVID-19 in Canadian children and youth. Intervention: Reporting frequency from CPSP's network of paediatric practitioners was increased from monthly to weekly, and the flexibility of detailed case data collection was substantially enhanced using complex survey instruments, interactively designed using CNPHI's Web Data technology. To ensure their data collection proceeded along all required lines of surveillance, CPSP's data collection tools were enhanced to collect demographic, epidemiological, microbiological and clinical data including comorbidities of cases identified. Outcomes: Less than a month after the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic, CPSP was able to start collecting detailed weekly case data on emerging cases of COVID-19 among Canadian children and youth. By May 2020, CPSP was able to launch a detailed study, supporting research into potential risk factors for severe COVID-19-related illness in children and youth. Conclusion: In response to a novel public health threat, CNPHI and CPSP were able to implement rapid adaptations and enhancements to existing data collection instruments while fortifying their preparedness to do the same in the future, when needed. With innovative and agile technologies at the ready, this experience helps to emphasize the importance of established collaborative partnerships across public health disciplines as a factor contributing to preparedness and agility to respond to the unforeseen. Canadian Network for Public Health Intelligence's Web Data technology showed agile adaptability and a capacity for complex and detailed data collection, supporting timely surveillance and response.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: The Canadian Network for Public Health Intelligence (CNPHI) is a secure, web-based scientific informatics and biosurveillance platform that leverages disparate public health information resources and expertise for the direct benefit of local, regional and national decision makers. CNPHI fosters collaboration and consultation through innovation in disease surveillance, intelligence exchange, research and response to protect, promote and support public health. The objective of this article is to present the CNPHI 'on the go' mobile application, and to discuss preliminary evaluation of the technology. The mobile application is intended to enable rapid mobile data collection using both online and offline modes supporting various stages of surveillance and response through the extension of data collection and analysis to the mobile environment. METHODS: Two needs assessment meetings were held with stakeholders representing individuals from government, academia and research institutions, to inform the development of the CNPHI "on the go" mobile application. An initial version of the mobile technology (an "app") was developed and piloted by end-users with expertise in the field. Two focused pilots were conducted to test the technology: Pilot 1: 17-7-2017 to 21-11-2017 (6 participants); Pilot 2: 25-7-2017 to 15-9-2017 (2 participants). An initial consultation was held with the project leads to identify data elements for mobile data collection. A custom data collection form was designed using CNPHI's Web Data technology for each pilot, which was then made available through the mobile app. The technology was assessed using feedback received during each pilot as well as through a survey that was conducted at the conclusion of pilots. RESULTS: Pilot participants reported that the mobile technology allowed seamless data collection, data management and rapid information sharing. Participants also reported that the entire process was seamless, simple, efficient, and that fewer steps were required for data collection and management. Further, significant efficiencies were gained by directly entering information using the mobile app without having to transfer handwritten information into an electronic database. An overall positive experience was reported by participants from both pilots. DISCUSSION: Literature suggests that traditional methods of surveillance and data collection using a paper based methodology pose many challenges such as data loss and duplication, difficulty in managing the database, and lack of timely access to the data. Accurate and rapid access is critical for public health professionals in order to effectively make decisions and respond to public health emergencies. Results show that the CNPHI "on the go" app is well poised to address some of the suggested challenges. A limitation of this study was that sample size for pilot participation was small for capturing overall feedback on the readiness of the technology for integration into regular surveillance activities and response procedures. CONCLUSIONS: CNPHI "on the go" is a customizable technology developed within an already thriving collaborative CNPHI platform used by public health professionals, and performs well as a tool for rapid data collection and secure information sharing.
