Mamre Community Health Project--rationale and methods.
The overall aim of the Mamre Community Health Project is to improve the health status of the people of Mamre and to develop an approach to health promotion which may be applicable to other similar areas. Integral to this is the establishment of a surveillance system to monitor changes longitudinally with particular reference to the effects of interventive programmes and the rural-urban transition that the community is experiencing. A multidisciplinary approach that also involves both postgraduate and undergraduate students will be utilised. This article outlines the methodology employed in the first phase of the project, which was concerned with the collection of the baseline data to determine priorities, plan interventions and establish a suitable surveillance system. Approximately 1,000 households were visited and 5,000 residents interviewed by 10 trained interviewers who were selected from the community. Sampling was not used. Methodological issues addressed include the methods used to gain the co-operation and participation of the community, development of an appropriate questionnaire, selection and training of interviewers, supervision of field-work, coding of data and steps taken to ensure the reliability and validity of information collected. Thorough planning with meticulous attention to detail ensured that the Mamre Community Health Project was completed on target with fairly smooth implementation of the data collection phase. Future research will focus on refining epidemiological methods, especially aspects of study design, case definition and exposure status.
Department of Community Health, University of Cape Town.
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M
Hoffman
D
D
Yach
J
J
Katzenellenbogen
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W
Pick
J M
JM
Klopper
D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods; D008722:Methods; D013019:South Africa