title: Let's talk about death: data collection for verbal autopsies in a demographic and health surveillance site in Malaysia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Verbal autopsies have gained considerable ground as an acceptable alternative to medically determined cause of death. Unlike with clinical or more administrative settings for data collection, verbal autopsies require significant involvement of families and communities, which introduces important social and cultural considerations. However, there is very little clear guidance about the methodological issues in data collection. The objectives of this case study were: to explore the range of bereavement rituals within the multi-ethnic, multi-faith population of the district; to investigate the preparedness of communities to talk about death; to describe the verbal autopsy process; to assess the effects of collecting verbal autopsy data on data collectors; and to determine the most accurate sources of information about deaths in the community.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case study approach was used, using focus group discussions, indepth interviews and field notes. Thematic analyses were undertaken using NVivo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consideration of cultural bereavement practices is importance to acceptance and response rates to verbal autopsies. They are also important to the timing of verbal autopsy interviews. Well trained data collectors, regardless of health qualifications are able to collect good quality data, but debriefing is important to their health and well being. This article contributes to guidance on the data collection procedures for verbal autopsies within community settings.
authors.affiliation: South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), Monash University, Segamat, Malaysia.|Global Public Health, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Malaysia; pascale.allotey@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Pascale A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Allotey
authors.affiliation: South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), Monash University, Segamat, Malaysia.|Global Public Health, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Daniel D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Reidpath
authors.affiliation: South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), Monash University, Segamat, Malaysia.|Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Natalie C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), Monash University, Segamat, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nirmala
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Devarajan
authors.affiliation: South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), Monash University, Segamat, Malaysia.|Global Public Health, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Kanason
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rajagobal
authors.affiliation: South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), Monash University, Segamat, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ruhaida
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bachok
authors.affiliation: South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), Monash University, Segamat, Malaysia.|Global Public Health, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Kridaraan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Komahan
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D001601:Bereavement; D002423:Cause of Death; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005190:Family; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008296:Malaysia; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D057545:Social Stigma; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014944:World Health Organization
keywords: SEACO; beliefs; bereavement; cause of death; customs; health and demographic surveillance; verbal autopsy