DSS by its nature has a start date but no end date. It goes on as long as it is needed and there are
funds available. This means the dynamics of the population under surveillance are going to be
followed closely till one exits from the population under surveillance through death or migration. The
periodic follow ups of persons enumerated in a DSS through out their life time may pose challenges
to DSS sites with regard to respondent fatigue. Fortunately, this has not occurred or been
documented in any of the 40 DSS sites in the INDEPTH Network, despite the fact that some of
these sites have been operating for many years. For example Niakhar DSS in Senegal, Matlab
DSS in Bangladesh and Navrongo DSS in Ghana have been going on for, 44, 40 and 15 years
respectively, but there has not been any indication that the populace are tired of their activities.
They continue to enjoy excellent cooperation from their respective DSA through strategies being
adopted by the DSS sites. However it is prudent to strengthen this relationship to ensure that
respondent fatigue does not set in. Some of the strategies being adopted include:
- Periodic interaction with the people through durbars, barazas or other community meetings
which help to facilitate the understanding of longitudinal surveys by the communities. During
such meetings some findings are disseminated to the people.
- Any add on Module goes with community sensitization on the module even if the activity has
been going on at each round or annually. This serves as a reminder strategy and helps improve
the understanding of work by the community;
- In addition to holding of community meetings, interacting with community leaders such as
chiefs, chairpersons, regents, District Health Authorities or opinion leaders is a useful tool in
sustaining their interest and periodically they are invited to the DSS office centre to interact
with other staff and also be introduced to some of the activities that are going on in the DSS;
- The district political institution is not left out. The assembly meetings of local authorities
provide a useful opportunity for the dissemination of findings and explanations of DSS activities;
- Where it is possible to reach the people on FM radio stations, frequent dissemination of core
activities after each round or periodically has been used successfully to inform the
communities which keeps on increasing their knowledge and understanding of DSS activities;
- Production and distribution of simple reading materials and feedback newsletters about sites
and their activities and circulating it in the DSA is improving the community perception of
longitudinal surveys. These documents can be translated into the local main languages to
reach majority of the people in the DSA;
- Field workers have been living in their Field Worker Area. They are seen as members of the
community. Periodically they are swapped across areas so that their experiences and
challenges benefit other areas. Also it helps the management team to easily identify field
workers who are not performing well with the community and quickly address the issue.
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