Reflecting on this past year, the Research & Evaluation (R&E) team both rang in and ended 2021 navigating our ongoing Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) virtually. In January we launched into analyzing ‘round one’ focus group transcripts of youth participants’ feedback about COVID experiences held via Zoom, while December found us hosting round two of those conversations in the same format.

While young people have demonstrated some Zoom fatigue, they persevered and provided incredible feedback, especially pertaining to their challenges with virtual learning, and staying connected to cherished relations amidst social distancing.

Throughout the year as well, despite significant delays due to pandemic conditions, the R&E team helped youth participants completing follow-up surveys. We are excited to explore the results of the surveys and see what our young people express about how they think and feel about a spectrum of mental, physical and relationship issues, as compared to what they shared with us in classrooms years prior.

Additionally, seven GEAS participants stepped up to participate in the National Youth Advisory Board (NYAB), a school-year long research justice internship featuring training on research methods, public speaking and communication, advocacy and community mobilization. Throughout the spring, NYAB interns “chose their own adventure” by exploring GEAS data for their work, then leveraged their personal experiences and strengths to frame the research process. Each intern’s work received a feature in the IWES newsletter, and interns presented their findings via a virtual oral presentation for the full IWES staff.

Engaging youth in these various activities amid a still very present pandemic called for the R&E team to utilize web-based tools such as Zoom for virtual conversations, as well as the texting platform Text-it, to communicate with young people and parents directly about program updates, educational content sharing and new opportunities.

Apart from GEAS activities, R&E team members supported programs across IWES, as well. Key among these efforts were:

• Qualitative research analysis of transcripts from our Maternal & Child Health program’s interviews with birthing people and health care providers.

• Program evaluation and capacity building with clinical partners on the Care and Treatment Services NOLA initiative at Priority Health Care.

• Work with teachers across charter networks brought together for student Universal Mental Health Screenings, with IWES navigating tools such as online surveying and data management.

This year the R&E team also supported ongoing research projects with local partners, including the New Orleans Family Justice Center’s national Polyvictimization Initiative which was created to better serve survivors of multiple forms of abuse. Another project the team contribute to was through a partnership with Tulane’s School of Public Health’s city-wide Healthy Neighborhoods Project that aims to improve the physical conditions of neighborhoods and reduce community violence. Both projects continued steadfast with adaptations. Finally, the R&E team also supported a novel research project in partnership with UNITY of Greater New Orleans, where we conducted surveys with providers and young people to shed light on both existing supports and emergent needs for youth experiencing unstable housing.

IWES’ community Institutional Review Board (IRB) convened virtually six times to ensure our fourteen research protocols were best situated to continue serving participants, be it students, parents, clients and/or parents engaging in person or via remote activities. Board members gave special attention to supporting sensitivity and safety in virtual spaces, in both trained staff and resources, as a response in case any participant required extra support. Our Chair, Dr. Krista Mincey, conducted countless rounds of expedited reviews to keep projects moving full steam ahead while remaining as adaptive as possible of changing conditions and participants' needs.

Looking into the new year, we are excited to continue supporting our IWES programming, designing new research initiatives and helping to set a new paradigm in community-engaged, led and participatory research.

For more information about the R&E Department, please contact Gabriella Roude, Research & Evaluation Manager.