What is the aim of this research?

The aim of this research project is to gain a deeper understanding of the ways COVID-19 is impacting on our efforts to support our children’s wellbeing, in our practices, services and policies. By learning about the innovations and challenges faced by those working to protect children, provide for their unique needs, enable their participation in decisions that affect them, and prevent harm, at different stages in the current pandemic, we can learn how we can best support children’s wellbeing.

Who created the COVID 4P Log?

The COVID 4P Log was created by a small team at the Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures at the University of Strathclyde, UK, in partnership with the project’s Key Partners, and led by Professor Jennifer Davidson.

Who are the key partners involved in this research project?

We are delighted to work with the following organisations as our Key Partners: African Child Policy Forum, African Partnership to End Violence Against Children, Barnafrid National Centre on Violence Against Children, Child Rights Coalition Asia, Child Rights Connect, Defence for Children International, European Social Network, FICE, Global Social Services Workforce Alliance, International Child and Youth Care Network, National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, OECD, Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, REPSSI, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, The Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland and Terre des hommes.

What are the investigative streams and where do they stem from?

The COVID 4P Log investigates a weekly theme related to children’s wellbeing in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The investigative themes are as follows:

WEEK 1: Lessons from the pandemic so far

WEEK 2 : Protection: Ending Violence against Children

WEEK 3: Provision: Access to Food, Health, Education

WEEK 4: Special considerations—Access to Justice, Alternative Care

WEEK 5: Prevention: Children’s Social and Emotional Wellbeing

WEEK 6: Participation – Responding to Children and Young People’s #COVIDUnder19 Study Findings

WEEK 7: Learning from Past Pandemics

WEEK 8: Preparing to rebuild post-COVID

The investigative stream questions are drawn from the key issues that were raised across a wide range of COVID-related international statements, technical guidance and COVID reports, and based on children’s human rights frameworks.

Who created the COVID 4P Log?

The COVID 4P Log was created by a small team at the Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures at the University of Strathclyde, UK, in partnership with the project’s Key Partners, and led by Professor Jennifer Davidson.

Is the COVID 4P Log still live for download?

Phase 1 of the COVID 4P Log is now complete. During phase one, 250+ respondents from 22 countries shared 3300+ responses.

The findings from the COVID 4P Log are now being generated into Learning Reports, available now!

Click here to read the preliminary findings.

How do I use the app?

Each day, a new daily question will be available for you to answer. In the daily question home page, you are invited to answer the question of the day, which generally should take you no more than two minutes. A new question will be available each day. You can also find these questions in the calendar tab. You can watch a short instructional video here

The COVID 4P Log app also consists of four key tabs: the calendar tab, the FAQs tab, information tab and settings. These can all be accessed using the icons at the bottom of the screen.

The calendar tab:

If you have a little more time to spare, you might want to consider using the calendar page to fill in additional questions for the full set of seven questions that week, or to fill in gaps you may have missed over the previous seven days. You can go back to amend your answers up to a maximum of seven days. To access more daily questions, you can swipe down the pink horizontal ‘pull’ bar. This lets you access the full calendar. New questions are refreshed each week, on the day of the week that you first started using the app.

The information tab:

If you head to the information tab, you will find links to more information about the COVID 4P Log through our website. Additionally, you can find information on sharing the app to friends, colleagues and others working in child wellbeing. And also, you can access a link here for information on how to access resources in the instance that you are affected by the experiences that you have logged within the app.

The settings tab:

In the settings tab, you can enable notifications and let us know which time of the day you would like us to remind you to answer your daily question! You can also find information here on how to delete the data you have entered from your phone, and if required, also from the research database.

The FAQ tab:

For answers to a full range of questions, the FAQ should be able to help.

Do I need to log daily, or is there another option?

It’s up to you! If you would prefer, you can log up to a week of questions at a time. To access more daily questions, you can swipe down the pink horizontal ‘pull’ bar. This lets you access the full calendar. Here, you can read and even fill in the questions for the full set of seven questions for that week. You can see the available questions on the calendar by looking for dates with a pink dot above them. New questions are refreshed each week, on the day of the week that you first started using the app. You can also change your answers, up to 7 days back by clocking on the text box again and edit the previously submitted text.

How do I edit my answers?

To edit your answers, you can go to the calendar tab and swipe down the pink bar to view the full set of questions you have filled in.

Here, you can edit your answers for up to a maximum of seven days prior to the current date, and you can also answer the full set of questions available for that week.

You can see the available questions on the calendar by looking for dates with a pink dot above them. To change your answers, just click on the text box again and edit the previously submitted text.

What happens when I submit an answer?

When you press submit, if you are connected to WiFi or mobile data your answer will be automatically transmitted to our cloud server. If you are not connected, the app will hold your answers within your phone until a connection becomes available. It will then transmit your answers to the project team via an encrypted route.

How do I use the calendar feature?

The COVID 4P calendar feature allows you to access more questions than the one question available each day on the Daily Log homepage. The calendar tab can be accessed by tapping the icon on the bottom of your screen. Here, you can see today’s question and your answer. If you tap on the date at the top, you can go back up to seven days to edit those previous answers or fill in gaps you may have missed over the past week. Here, you can also read and even fill in the questions for the full set of seven questions for that week. If you swipe down from the pink horizontal ‘pull’ bar, you can access the full calendar. New questions are refreshed each week, on the day of the week that you first started using the app.

How do I use the voice to text function?

To use the voice to text function when answering daily questions, click the small icon which sits just under the question. You can tap once to start recording your answer and tap again to confirm that you have finished. This is not a voice record function, but rather turns your voice into text, which you can then correct before you send it in. If you wish to use this function in the Calendar view, please use the voice-to-text function built into your smartphone’s keyboard.

Can someone under the age of 18 take part in the research project?

For this research project we are only asking those over the age of 18 and who are working to support children’s wellbeing to contribute. This project has worked in partnership with the #CovidUnder19 study, and for more information see: https://www.tdh.ch/en/projects/covidunder19

Who should use the app? I am a volunteer; do I still take part in this research project?

We ask anybody working in the field of children’s wellbeing to contribute, whether you are working full-time or less than full-time, and whether you are paid or you volunteer - we’d really like to hear about your experiences!

How long should I be using the app to contribute to the research project?

We would really appreciate if you are able to fill out the log daily, or as much as possible, for the full 8 weeks of questions.

How does this project uphold its duty of care to children if concerns are raised by an app user?

If an app user is worried about any experiences that they have logged within the app, we signpost them to our project website, where Key Partners have contributed country-based resources contact information. There, app users can find the contact details for organisations that can support and/or offer advice. Due to user anonymity and the unidentifiable nature of this app, we cannot follow up or escalate any pieces of data that have been logged on the COVID 4P Log.

How much space does this app take in my phone?

The app is about 8MB in size, and takes care to use as little processing and battery power as possible.

How will the app ensure that my data is non-identifiable and stored securely?

This research is not gathering any personal or identifiable information, and no phone analytics are being collected. This means that no identifiable information, such as phone type, operating system, geolocation address, or e-mail address, will be asked of you. The information is stored in a secure database at the University of Strathclyde, and only the designated research team will have access to the raw data directly. The raw data will be screened before it is analysed, to ensure no identifiable information has been submitted by the user unintentionally; this will be deleted.

Who has access to the data I input?

Our specialised research project team will be the only people to have access to your secured, anonymised data. This data will be used to create thematic Learning Reports as well as shared in webinars, learning sessions, and written articles. These Learning Reports will be accessible to anybody on our website. When using your data to inform these reports, any information/quotes taken will be anonymous and sufficiently unidentifiable.

Does any government have access to the data inputted?

No, we do not share the raw data with anybody beyond our specialised research advisory group.

How do I delete my data?

You have an option to delete all the data (that is, your responses) from your phone at any time via the Settings icon by clicking on ‘Delete my data’. Deleting the data from your phone can be activated at any time. You can also request the data is deleted from the research database by contacting our research team. If you wish to remove your data from the research database, before deleting the data from your phone, please respond to any question in the app with the text ‘delete my data’, and then contact our research team directly via email at covid19-log4p-project@strath.ac.uk. Deleting the data from the research project can be accommodated within a limited timeframe, before the data analysis has begun.

Will someone make money from my data?

No, this is a non-profit, educational project and your answers will be used only to inform the reports.

In which countries is the COVID 4P Log available?

Practitioners and policymakers in the following countries may now log their responses in the COVID 4P Log: Australia, Belgium, Canada, eSwantini, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palestine, Philippines, Romania, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland & Wales), USA Uganda and Zambia.

The COVID 4P Log isn't available in my country. When may I access the COVID 4P Log in my country?

Thank you for your interest in contributing to the COVID 4P Log for children’s wellbeing! We are keen to hear the experiences of policymakers and practitioners working for children’s wellbeing across the globe. The current 8-week run of the COVID 4P Log is the first of its kind. If you find that you cannot yet access the app in your country, please stay tuned for additional runs in the future which may include your country. If you think you/ your organisation would benefit from the COVID 4P Log being available in your country, please contact our team.

How were the participating COVID 4P Log countries selected?

Our Key Partners have proposed the countries in which the App is now available, and the final selected countries were chosen by the COVID 4P Log team, in liaison with our key partners. These countries were selected based on a geographical spread across continents, and shaped by the fact that the COVID 4P Log is only available in English at present.

If I want to sign up to receive updates about the project, who do I contact?

You can sign up to the mailing list here.

If I have some concerns or questions that have not been answered in these FAQs, where do I raise them?

Please contact us on iicf-hello@strath.ac.uk

If I wish to contact an independent person with my concerns: Please contact: ethics@strath.ac.uk

How do I make contact with the research team?

To make contact with the research team, please email iicf-hello@strath.ac.uk or send us a tweet @IICFStrath.

I’d like to re-read the terms and conditions that I agreed to at the start of using the app.

Great! The questions that are answered below encompass the general information and related terms and conditions that app users will have agreed to, after downloading the app, and before beginning to respond to the questions in the app:

The Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures at the University of Strathclyde is working with many organisations around the world to gather the views and experiences of practitioners and policy makers who are working to protect children, provide for their unique needs, enable their participation in decisions that affect them, and prevent harm, during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.

Who are the Key Partners on the Steering Group for this project?

African Child Policy Forum

African Partnership to End Violence Against Children

Barnafrid Swedish National Center on Violence Against Children

Child Rights Coalition Asia

Child Rights Connect

Defence for Children International

European Social Network

FICE

Global Social Services Workforce Alliance

International Child and Youth Care Network

National Child Welfare Workforce Institute USA

Observatory for Children’s Human Rights in Scotland

OECD

REPSSI

Terre des hommes

Pathfinders for Justice

Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Violence Against Children

What’s the purpose of this study?

We are keen to generate rich understanding of the views and experiences of practitioners and policy-makers who are working to support children’s rights and wellbeing, in the face of the added constraints and challenges that COVID-19 has created. We would like to know what we can learn for policy-making, workforce capacity building, and advocacy, to prompt more effective policies and system responses, and caring practices, in this pandemic, and for the future.

Do you have to take part?

It is completely voluntary to take part in this study.

What will you do in the project?

Please help us by completing 1 main question a day for 8 weeks. It should only take you about 2 minutes each day, and if you choose to, you can answer up to 7 days’ questions at any point in the week. You can answer using text or using the voice-to-text function. You can skip any question you do not have time to answer or you do not want to answer. If you agree, and then you change your mind, you can stop taking part by not using the App.

Who is invited to take part?

If you are over the age of 18, and you are working to support children’s wellbeing as a policy maker, practitioner, supervisor or manager, we would like to hear from you.

What information is being collected in the project?

This research is not gathering any personal or identifiable information, and no phone analytics are being collected. This means that no identifiable information, such as phone type, operating system, geolocation address, or e-mail address, will be asked of you. You will be reminded not to provide any names or potentially identifiable information as you use the App.

Who will have access to the information?

The data (that is, the responses to the questions) will be stored locally and securely within our EU-based cloud hosting service and University of Strathclyde system, and only the project team will have access to the raw data.

Should you wish to withdraw your data from the study, this can be deleted at any point from your mobile phone, and withdrawn at any point up until the point of data analysis.

Where will the information be stored and how long will it be kept for?

All study data will be held in accordance with UK and EU data protection law. The data will be accessible by the project team for 10 years, after which time the data will be destroyed.

What happens next?

The collected data will be analysed to draw out the themes, and then shared through regular Learning Reports to prompt policy and practice improvements. These are now available here!

You can stay in touch with the project by sending an email to the project team to ask to be included in our e-News Updates.

You can follow our social media updates on:

Twitter: @COVIDLog4P @IICFStrath LinkedIn: The Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures

What is the process to consent to participate in the project?

Within the app, the following questions must be answered YES to proceed to the research project questions:

Who do I contact if I have questions or complaints about this study?

If you have questions or complaints about this study, please contact the Chief Investigator:

Professor Jennifer Davidson: iicf.execdirector@strath.ac.uk

If you have any questions/concerns, during or after the study, or wish to contact an independent person to whom any questions may be directed or further information may be sought from, please contact:

Secretary to the University Ethics Committee Research & Knowledge Exchange Services, University of Strathclyde, Graham Hills Building, 50 George Street, Glasgow G1 1QE

Telephone: (+44) (0) 141 548 3707 Email: ethics@strath.ac.uk