Public Health Network Cymru: COVID-19 Webinar Series Evaluation Summary Report Rebecca Winslade-Rees Public Health Network Cymru August 2020
Introduction Public Health Network Cymru is hosted by the Wider Determinants of Health Unit based within Public Health Wales and provides a range of support to practitioners and researchers across all sectors that influence any aspect of public health and health improvement in Wales. Amongst the services we provide is a seminar series that seeks to promote best practice based on existing and emerging evidence. The series covers a diverse range of topics and recent examples have included Nutrition in Early Years, Learning Disabilities and Homelessness. A vision statement for the seminar series is presented below: The Public Health Wales Seminar Series will engage stakeholders on contemporary public health issues through lectures, debates and conversations, in order to enhance knowledge and understanding and contribute to present and future public health dialogue. The aims of the seminar series are: • • •
To provide new opportunities for learning on a range of contemporary public health issues affecting wales; To develop public health knowledge amongst a wide audience; To share and further enhance the evidence base for public health.
Due to COVID-19 and the need to follow social distancing guidance, we have put our face-to-face annual seminar series on hold. However we felt it was important to continue to share and learn during this unprecedented time. Therefore we started a series of COVID-19 related webinars in July 2020 and further webinars will be held in the autumn and winter of 2020. This evaluation reports on first two webinars and will be used for planning and improving the user experience of future webinars.
COVID-19: In a Nutshell webinar This webinar was held on 22 July 2020 using Microsoft Teams live events software. The webinar was facilitated by Dr Ciarån Humphreys Consultant in Public Health, Wider Determinants of Health Unit, Public Health Wales including an introduction from Jan Williams, Chair of Public Health Wales. Dr Chris J Williams, Consultant Epidemiologist, Public Health Wales delivered the main presentation which gave an overview of COVID-19 for a non-medical audience. During the webinar Chris outlined what we know about coronavirus and COVID-19, the population groups that have been most affected, how we are managing the disease in Wales, what we know and don’t know about immunity and the progress being made on finding a vaccine. With the easing of the lockdown across the UK, Chris also discussed which prevention measures are most effective and the likelihood of a second wave of the disease. The individual presentations are available by contacting publichealth.network@wales.nhs.uk or can be accessed on the Public Health Network Cymru website.
Evaluation of COVID-19: In a Nutshell webinar One hundred and thirty eight people registered for the COVID-19: In a Nutshell webinar and 72 attended on the day. The following table illustrates which sector attendees represented on the day: Sector Public Health Wales Central Team Public Health Wales Local Team Health Board NHS Other Local Authority Third Sector Academic Private Data support to WG and Local Government
Number 31 0 8 7 6 5 4 1 1
Attendees were asked to complete an anonymous online evaluation survey via Survey Monkey following the webinar. The response rate to the survey was 44% (N=32).
Quantitative Results Survey respondents were asked whether or not they were members of Public Health Network Cymru. The majority (56%) were members of the Network. In the week following the seminar the Network had 4 new member registrations many of which could be seen as a direct result from attendees promoting the Network in their areas. As this is the first live webinar Public Health Network Cymru has hosted we felt it necessary to ask attendees if they had any technical difficulties participating in the webinar. Four survey respondents experienced difficulties ranging from volume control, live stream freezing and glitches completing the webinar survey. Another question on the evaluation form asked attendees to rank from 1 to 5, (where 1 is not at all useful and 5 is very useful) ‘How useful did you find the webinar?’ The majority of survey respondents (69%) found the webinar very useful with the remainder (31%) answering useful. Attendees were asked to choose from a series of answers and/or provide their own response to the following question; ‘As a result of participating in the webinar which actions are you going to take (select all that apply)?’ Seventy percent of survey respondents stated they would share the presentation with colleagues, 27% wanted to find further information on the topic and 51% of attendees stated they would discuss contents of the webinar with colleagues to inform action. Forty eight percent of the attendees stated they would recommend Public Health Network Cymru to colleagues. Three percent specified they would “share the info with the third sector”. It is important to note that attendees could choose multiple answers to this question.
Qualitative Results The evaluation survey also asked freetext questions. The responses to these questions are documented in the next sections.
Do you have any suggestions for future webinar topics? “Effects of loneliness and isolation on people’s health and wellbeing” “Effect of lockdown on mental health, domestic problems etc.” “Maintaining good mental health during lockdown” “Something around obesity & COVID-19? Obesity is a major issue in things like Type 2 Diabetes, and these people are doing worse” “BAME Covid research” “More of the same” “COVID-19 and climate change opportunities and challenges” “Updates on COVID as new information/guidance emerges” “A webinar on complete tracking and tracing of COVID-19” “Vaccine hesitancy and safety” “Greater understanding of the socio economic impacts of COVID”
Do you have any additional comments about the webinar? Survey respondents were very positive about the webinar with notable comments shown below.
““It was one of the best webinars I’ve attended on this topic. Informative, succinct and accessible.” “Surprised how good Microsoft Teams is. Fantastic organisation and very well-delivered presentation. Thank you” “Worked really well - can someone share advice on use of Teams for running virtual conferences etc?” “Very informative. The presentation was a good example of using non-medical language that was fully inclusive and clear” “It was so informative, so well produced and really interesting.” “Very professional” “It was very engaging and informative” “Presenter was very good” “No - it was nicely presented and managed” “Times where it used complex terms and not general public friendly” “Great webinar and great to get an informed insight into Covid-19” “Presenter/s were very good and the whole webinar was run/moderated very well” “Excellent thank you - good pace and no too long”
Live Question and Answer Session During the webinar attendees had the opportunity to ask questions to the presenter. These were put to the presenter by the facilitator during the remaining time of the event. Attendees asked the following questions: • • • • • • •
“Are there deaths attributed to COVID which may not have been directly caused by COVID of the virus among school children?” “Are we getting better at treating people who are ill than we were at the beginning?” “Do you think that we will have a second wave later in the year and how bad is it likely to be please?” “Is there a possibility that the vaccine may be produced this year?” “Could I have had Coronavirus in late Dec early Jan in UK as had all the symptoms but have not been tested so unsure?” “How has the pandemic exposed differences in data and data collection in similar areas of health between Wales and England?” “You mentioned that the evidence on face masks is evolving - what is the evidence of the efficacy of face masks at the moment and how has it changed?”
Additional comments captured from attendees immediately following the end of the webinar were as follows.
“Thanks very much - I really enjoyed” “Really interesting - thank you for such an informative webinar” “Very good presentation Chris” “Good honest attempts by Chris to answer all questions. Maybe the politicians could take a leaf from his book!”
COVID-19: Health Impact Assessment ‘Staying at Home and Social Distancing Policy’ in Wales webinar
This webinar was held on 29 July 2020 using Microsoft Teams live events software. The webinar was facilitated by Christian Heathcote-Elliott, Principal Public Health Practitioner, Wider Determinants of Health Unit, Public Health Wales including an introduction from Chris Jones, Chair of Health Education and Improvement Wales. Liz Green Programme Director for Public Health Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit and Laura Morgan Public Health Practitioner, both from the WHO Collaborating Centre on Investment for Health and Wellbeing gave the main presentation. Liz and Laura discussed the findings from the recently published ‘A Health Impact Assessment of the Staying at Home and Social Distancing Policy in Wales in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’. The report highlights the positive and negative impacts of the Staying at Home and Social Distancing policy on the population of Wales and learning from international evidence, latest data and intelligence as well as the views of expert stakeholders. The Individual presentations are available by contacting publichealth.network@wales.nhs.uk or can be accessed on the Public Health Network Cymru website.
Evaluation of COVID-19: Health Impact Assessment ‘Staying at Home and Social Distancing Policy’ in Wales webinar One hundred and fifty three people registered for the COVID-19: Health Impact Assessment ‘Staying at Home and Social Distancing Policy’ in Wales webinar and 158 attended on the day. We note there is a discrepancy between our registrants and attendees which is an area that requires addressing in following webinars to ensure data accuracy within the evaluation.
The following table illustrates which sector the 153 registered delegates represented on the day: Sector Public Health Wales Central Team Unknown Third Sector Public Health Wales Local Team Health Board Academic NHS other Local Authority Private Welsh Government Local Authority Other Other - Natural Resources Wales Private / Academic Other - Health Other- Welsh Government sponsored body Other - Health Care, Nursing Home Other - Public Sector Other - WGSB Other- Housing Other- WG sponsored agency Other - Locum Public Health Practitioner Other - Healthcare
Number 42 36 24 23 17 10 10 9 4 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Attendees were asked to complete an online evaluation survey via Survey Monkey following the webinar. The response rate to the survey was 19% (N=30).
Quantitative Results Survey respondents were asked whether or not they were members of Public Health Network Cymru. The majority (57%) were members of the Network. In the week following the seminar the Network had 7 new member registrations many of which could be seen as a direct result from attendees promoting the Network in their areas. Survey respondents were asked if they had any technical difficulties participating in the webinar. Four attendees experienced issues ranging from difficulties loading Microsoft Teams, brief loss of connection and poor sound at beginning of the webinar. Four attendees did sympathetically mention the technical difficulties experienced by presenters for a short time during the webinar. Another question on the evaluation form asks attendees to rank from 1 to 5, (where 1 is not at all useful and 5 is very useful) ‘How useful did you find the webinar?’ The majority of survey respondents (60%) answered 4 to this question with 27% respondents providing the answer of 5.
Attendees were asked to choose from a series of answers and/or provide their own response to the following question; ‘As a result of participating in the webinar which actions are you going to take (select all that apply)?’ Forty seven percent of respondents stated they would share presentation with colleagues. Thirty three percent of attendees wanted to find further information on the topic and 77% of attendees stated they would discuss contents of the webinar with colleagues to inform action. Thirty seven percent of the attendees stated they would recommend Public Health Network Cymru to colleagues. In addition, 17% of attendees specified they would:
“Use to support evidence of need in funding applications” “Disseminate to third sector organisations in Powys” “Use this HIA along with other new and emerging evidence to help inform our equality objectives and our actions to support homeless and other vulnerable groups” “Share with students” “Contact speakers to gain further information”
It is important to note that attendees could choose multiple answers to this question.
Qualitative Results The evaluation survey also asked freetext questions. The responses to these questions are documented in the next sections.
Do you have any suggestions for future webinar topics? “Heart failure, AF, CKD” “Examine Welsh regional data on COVID cases” “COVID and different aspects/updates/case studies of impact” “No - keep up the good work!” “More COVID-specific webinars” “Lessons learnt form a pandemic” “No, you always seem to present on excellent topics” “Something on the test/trace system would be helpful” “Maybe a focus on some of the specific issues faced by the more vulnerable and at risk groups mentioned in the webinar” “I’d welcome something around the Socio-economic Duty which will come into effect 31.3.21” “Emotional wellbeing as people leave homes, lots of anxiety from carers, people with learning disabilities etc. Need for positive messages, current obesity messages from England are triggering for eating disorders.” “Wellbeing of staff”
“Other relevant HIA’s, e.g. housing and homelessness” “Investment in public health post pandemic: priority areas for investment in health and social care in Wales” “Make more time for questions please” “Health literacy of C&YP and the resourcing of SCPHN School Nurse’s in relation to IT and digital literacy” “Use of behavioural science during COVID-19”
Do you have any additional comments about the webinar? Attendee responses were overall positive with some notable comments to inform future webinars.
“Well done - it was great.” “Very informative thank you”” “Very good apart from technical difficulties” “It was interesting - thank you. It is refreshing to see research in action” “Really thorough and informative, gives lots of food for thought moving forward and ideas of what to do to support people as we begin the process of building better” “A very interesting, thought provoking webinar. Thank you all” “Interesting and good to hear some positives as well as negatives” “Interesting piece of work. I hope it informs future actions in Wales” “Really interesting work - would be good to see it updated as more impacts become apparent (and hopefully more research gets published).” “I found it difficult to stay engaged when there was no element of presentation - the slides didn’t show for a while and the presenter, although on camera, was just head down, reading her notes which was not engaging.” “There was a lot of info but the presentation was very didactic and not engaging”
Live Question and Answer Session During the webinar attendees had the opportunity to ask questions to the presenters. Some of these were summarised and put to the presenters by the facilitator during the remaining time of the event. However due to time restrictions attendees were informed that unanswered questions would be sent to the presenters following the event. Attendees asked the following questions: •
“What did the HIA find out about the mental health effects of the policy and which groups were most affected?”
•
“Is there a plan to monitor longer term impacts, e.g. are things missed using digital assessment, are the short-term changes sustainable?”
•
“How were questions for the health survey decided? It’s a useful data source but it didn’t include wider health issues such as smoking. With the current tobacco control plan in Wales due to end next year, it seems like a good idea to use this survey to find out how covid and lockdown has meant for smoking levels.”
•
“Is there any statistics or figures referencing violence against men?”
•
“In regards to VAWDASV was anything asked about stalking and if lockdown had any positive impacts?”
•
“Did you find any consideration/literature re: the ‘key worker’ rhetoric as a double-edged sword, in other words those who weren’t considered key workers having a negative reaction/perspective on their work/occupation? (My thinking being there may have been mental health impacts for those not considered ‘key’)”
•
“Did the health survey include equality monitoring, to know that some of the most vulnerable and protected characteristic groups were providing responses? With services being delivered online/ remotely, many with additional communication needs experienced difficulties with access such as those who use BSL or speak a language other than English or Welsh.”
•
“Digital exclusion has cropped up from many stakeholders, with impacts on social isolation but also on access to vital health information and guidance. Again when inequity comes into play for poorer communities, migrant communities and son on these problems are exacerbated. How do we combat this in our delivery and embed it into our approach?”
•
“Whilst local authorities provided temporary accommodation support to the known homeless, many of these were unable to stay in the accommodation long term due to a variety of behavioural issues for which a system of behavioural support was not put in place. To what extent has this been captured, or will this be an area of focus in future?”
•
“Really interested to hear about the rapid health assessment for housing and homelessness, is this likely to touch on interlinked services, such as Primary Care and Substance?”
•
“To what extent do you feel existing policy and evidence can inform our immediate actions, or are there any urgent gaps in evidence and policy in the short term?”
•
“Any thoughts on how we might prioritise our efforts on the vast range of impacts?”
•
“To what extent was the private sector workforce engaged in this and if not, to what extent do you think this might affect how we interpret the results?”
Additional comments captured from attendees immediately following the end of the webinar were as follows:
“Thank you, interesting webinar” “Thank you for the informative session. And well done to Liz, Laura and the team for the work and the report.” “Thank you very much, excellent session.” “Thank you great session”
Overall Summary Overall, the evaluation data from attendees who completed the survey and comments captured during the webinars would suggest the webinars were successful and positively received. The aims of the webinars have been met in the following ways:
To provide new opportunities for learning on a range of contemporary public health issues affecting wales The webinars provided an opportunity for delegates to increase their knowledge about COVID-19 through presentations about the latest policy, research and practice aspects of the topic. The webinars also gave people a chance to find out about how the COVID-19 response is developing across Wales.
To develop public health knowledge amongst a wide audience The webinars are aimed at people not only working in Public Health Wales and the NHS but from a range of sectors. Despite the majority of attendees being Public Health Wales colleagues it was encouraging to see a wide range of sectors attended both the webinars including representation from Local Authority and Third Sector organisations. There was also representation from the Health Sector, Welsh Government and Academia. A number of delegates said that they would be disseminating the learning gained from these events to work colleagues to help inform action. Furthermore, the webinars allow for much larger audiences than our face to face seminars could accommodate. This combined with the webinar recordings and presentations being available to view via the website after the event, enables the information from the day to be disseminated to a much wider audience from a range of sectors.
To share and further enhance the evidence base for public health Presentations from the webinars highlighted the current situation and an emerging evidence base for this topic area as well as providing further detail about some of the recent research. It is hoped that partnerships will be developed to further enhance some of the recent and emerging evidence to inform future practice.
Further Information Further information and recordings of the webinars are available on the Public Health Network Cymru website or by contacting publichealth.network@wales.nhs.uk