A Manual for Field Staff and Surveyors

How to Use Episurveyor

A Manual for Field Staff and Surveyors

Created By Alexandra Brown, GPEI

30 August 2012

Introduction

Who can use this guide

How to use this guide

Technological requirements

Mobile Phones

Opening Episurveyor on Your Mobile Phones

Inputting Information

Filling out a survey on your mobile phone

Instructions for Completing Form: Nigeria_LQAS_XMONTH

Sending Data

Transmitting the data you collected to the central server

Introduction

Who can use this guide

This step-by-step manual can be used by staff in the field for:

• Signing in to Episurveyor on mobile phone
• Accessing LQAS surveys on mobile phone
• Completing surveys on mobile phone
• Sending completed data from mobile phone in the field to central server at country office

How to use this guide

This manual should be used as an operational tool for the use of Episurveyor for LQAS data collection. This document focuses on the use of Episurveyor in the field and does not contain instructions on how to complete LQAS in the field.

This manual is arranged sequentially, from accessing a saved form on the mobile phone to completion of the form and uploading of data to the central server.

Technological requirements

1. Episurveyor-compatible mobile telephones preloaded with Episurveyor application and pertinent LQAS forms
2. Local SIM cards with enough credit to send surveys from the field

Mobile Phones

Phones provided to field staff should have Episurveyor already installed and the forms that are to be used loaded into the application. Surveyors should not need to load forms.

This manual is to be used with an Android operating system-based smart phone. As of March 19, 2012, WHO has been using the Samsung Mini Galaxy for mobile LQAS completion.

Below is the Samsung Mini Galaxy. Other Samsung models might be used in the future, but the basic functions of the Android system are similar, if not identical.

The phone's "HOME" button is used to get back to the main screen of your mobile telephone from any application. Home screens are customizable, but most should appear as a list of commonly-used applications and icons that link to settings, address book, and telephone.

The phone's "MENU" button is used to access menus for settings, etc. within applications that are in use. This button is often useful for logging-out of applications.

The phone's "BACK" button is used to go back one page or one screen from that which is currently in use. In Episurveyor, if you want to leave a survey, you can hit the "BACK" button.

Field staff should not be required to log-out of the program, but if necessary, click the menu button of your phone, and at the bottom of the screen, the choice to "log-out" should appear. Click that option to log-out of the program. To exit Episurveyor, click your phone's HOME button.

DO NOT PRESS THE HOME BUTTON WHILE FILLING OUT A SURVEY. YOU WILL LOSE ALL YOUR DATA AND HAVE TO BEGIN FROM THE START OF THE CLUSTER!!!!!!!

IF YOUR PHONE SCREEN GOES BLACK DURING A SURVEY, USE THE ON/OFF SWITCH ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PHONE TO REACH THE UNLOCK SCREEN AND UNLOCK THE PHONE. EPISURVEYOR SHOULD OPEN UP TO WHERE YOU LEFT OFF.

TO PAUSE A SURVEY WHILE MOVING HOUSEHOLDS, PRESS THE ON/OFF SWITCH TO LOCK YOUR PHONE. THEN PRESS AGAIN WHEN READY TO FILL OUT THE FORM.

These phones automatically lock if the screen shuts off. To unlock, slide the lock to the right with your finger.

Opening Episurveyor on Your Mobile Phones

On the phone's homescreen, click on the "Episurveyor" application to enter the program
If the application is not located on your homescreen, you should find it under the blue box on the bottom right Applications  Episurveyor /

Inputting Information

Filling out a survey on your mobile phone

Each form on Episurveyor has different questions, each of varying type. Episurveyor forms may have questions where you must type in names, dates, or number values, and other questions where you may have to choose one or more options from a drop down list. Below are the step-by-step instructions for filling out the following forms:

Nigeria_LQAS_March

Instructions for Completing Form: Nigeria_LQAS_XMONTH

On the Episurveyor home screen, click on "Enter New Data" /
Click on the "Nigeria_LQAS_Month Form" to begin
This is the beginning of the survey. Check the name to make sure you are in the correct form.
Swipe your finger across the screen, from right to left, in order to get to the next question /
Tap your finger inside the blue box to enter text.
Use the on screen keyboard to enter the name, then swipe your finger across the screen to get to the next question
Please enter your FULL name /
Tap on the circle that corresponds to your state
When you have correctly tapped on a circle, it will turn green /
A matching list of LGAs will appear
Tap on the circle that correctly responds to the question
then swipe your finger across the screen to get to the next question /
Enter your lot number
This number is provided in your LQAS packet.
If you have any questions, contact your LQAS supervisor /
Enter your ward name in the blue box
Like your lot number, this is provided in your LQAS packet /
Tap on the circle to the left of your cluster number
This is provided in your LQAS packet also. /
Enter the name of the settlement you are starting in here
This name has been decided on ahead of time and is in your LQAS packet
ONLY use the name in your LQAS packet, not any local/community names you find out on-site /
Pay attention to the wording.
Tap on the circle next to ‘yes’ only if settlement has LESS than 20 houses
Tap on the circle next to ‘no’ if there are MORE than20 houses
HOUSES, NOT HOUSEHOLDS! /
Read the instructions on the screen; be sure to follow these instructions when completing your forms.
Under 20 houses = skip 1 house
Over 20 houses = skip 2 houses
Swipe your finger across the screen to get to the next question /
Click on the "Capture Location" button in order to record your location in the form.
Be patient!
Try to get accuracy under 200m
Do not wait more than 60 seconds for an answer.
When your latitude and longitude appear under your button, it means you have registered your location /
Remember: this is the number of children you see who belong to the household – not visitors
If there are 10 children in the house, and 5 belong to the household, then you will put 5. Do not put 10. /
Tap on the circle to select the age group of the ‘selected child’
When the circle is green, swipe your finger across the screen to move to the next question
0-6 = children up to 6 months
6-12 = children 6 mos up to 12 months /
Tap on the circle that correctly responds to the sec of the ‘selected child’
then swipe your finger across the screen to get to the next question /
Ask the caregiver about the child’s OPV history
Enter the number of doses of OPV the child has had DURING SIAs, since birth. This should include all the times they have received vaccine.
If they say ‘never’, then enter 0 /
Finger markings are ONLY acceptable on the little (pinky) finger of the child’s LEFT hand
No other markings are acceptable (even markings on toes for children of non-compliant fathers/compliant mothers /
IF YOU ANSWERED NO, THE CHILD IS NOT FINGER MARKED FOR OPV
You will answer the question to the right
Ask the household caregiver if they were aware of the polio campaign before it occurred
Mark down their response /
IF YOU ANSWERED YES, THE CHILD IS FINGER MARKED FOR OPV
You will move on to the next question
Once the OPV question has been answered, you will move on to this information screen.
You have completed 1 house in the cluster
Continue until you complete all 10 houses for the cluster /
There are 3 GPS questions in total on this form:
Before house 1
After house 5
After house 10
Complete these questions all the same way /
After completing all 10 houses in the cluster, this screen will show up
Swipe your finger across to get to the final survey question /
You will have kept a tally of all houses you visited to find 10 eligible children
Enter that number here
Scroll down in the screen if you need to tap the blue box /
Comments can be very helpful to the program
Please enter your comments here, as many as are valuable for improving campaigns /
Sometimes, surveyors have to visit more than 1 settlement to find 10 eligible children
Enter ALL the settlements you visited (INCLUDING THE FIRST ONE YOU ALREADY LISTED) here
If you only visited 1, rewrite the name of that 1 /
You have completed the survey.
Press the "Save as Complete" button to save your data in the form /

Sending Data

Transmitting the data you collected to the central server

After you have completed your forms, you must upload the data to a main server so it can be analyzed.

When you are ready to submit the data you have gathered to the server, go to the Episurveyor home screen and click on "Send Completed Data" /
Check the data form from which you wish to upload data. If you want to upload multiple data forms, click on all those you wish to upload /
To send data to the server, click on "Send Selected Files." The data will be sent and you will be returned to the home screen. /

This completes the requirements for field staff using the Episurveyor application to record and submit data.