Presenter: Melinda Davies-Cole, Public Health Science, Global Public Health Scholars
For my practicum, I chose to do a research study with the University of Maryland in
which I read transcripts of interviews pertaining to COVID-19 from community members in Calaba Town, Sierra Leone, to identify behaviors and attitudes that might influence the spread, prevention, or management of COVID-19. I picked this project because I've always been interested in global public health, and given COVID-19's importance and relevance, I thought it would be interesting to learn about other countries' opinions and responses to the virus. I also chose this project because I might learn about possible health inequities in Sierra Leone and in other low-income countries by reading the survey responses. Lastly, this practicum is meaningful to me because I’m from Sierra Leone and I’m from near where the survey was taking place so reading the responses reminded me of my former home. From an academic standpoint, this practicum is meaningful to me because it has reinforced my global health goal, which is to recognize challenges among other low-income countries, particularly in Africa, to improve health outcomes among those populations.