Applying participatory approaches in the evaluation of surveillance systems: A pilot study on African swine fever surveillance in Corsica

Abstract

The implementation of regular and relevant evaluations of surveillance systems is critical in improving their effectiveness and their relevance whilst limiting their cost. The complex nature of these systems and the variable contexts in which they are implemented call for the development of flexible evaluation tools. Within this scope, participatory tools have been developed and implemented for the African swine fever (ASF) surveillance system in Corsica (France). The objectives of this pilot study were, firstly, to assess the applicability of participatory approaches within a developed environment involving various stakeholders and, secondly, to define and test methods developed to assess evaluation attributes. Two evaluation attributes were targeted: the acceptability of the surveillance system and its the non-monetary benefits. Individual semi-structured interviews and focus groups were implemented with representatives from every level of the system. Diagramming and scoring tools were used to assess the different elements that compose the definition of acceptability. A contingent valuation method, associated with proportional piling, was used to assess the non-monetary benefits, i.e., the value of sanitary information. Sixteen stakeholders were involved in the process, through 3 focus groups and 8 individual semi-structured interviews. Stakeholders were selected according to their role in the system and to their availability. Results highlighted a moderate acceptability of the system for farmers and hunters and a high acceptability for other representatives (e.g., private veterinarians, local laboratories). Out of the 5 farmers involved in assessing the non-monetary benefits, 3 were interested in sanitary information on ASF. The data collected via participatory approaches enable relevant recommendations to be made, based on the Corsican context, to improve the current surveillance system.

The Added-Value of Using Participatory Approaches to Assess the Acceptability of Surveillance Systems: The Case of Bovine Tuberculosis in Belgium

“…Within the framework of the RISKSUR project ( http://www.fp7-risksur.eu/ ), which aims to develop decision supporting tools for the design of cost-effective risk-based surveillance systems, a participatory method was developed to assess the acceptability of animal health surveillance systems [ 25 ]. Within this method, acceptability assessment is based on the following criteria: (i) the acceptability of the objective(s) of the system, (ii) the satisfaction of the role and the representation of the stakeholders’ utility in surveillance, (iii) the satisfaction of the consequences of the flow of information (i.e.…”

“…Reading and coding of the transcripts was repeated several times until no new codes were identified. This coding allowed the identification of useful categories used to convert the data set into semi-quantitative data following the scoring criteria developed from a previous study [ 25 ]. Additional scoring criteria were developed to assess the satisfaction of the relations among stakeholders as presented in Table 1 .…”

“…This approach, based on visualisation tools and open discussions with all stakeholders, allows participants to play an active role in the definition and in the analysis of problems encountered during the mandatory participation to a surveillance programme, but also to find solutions to these problems [ 14 , 21 – 24 ]. The use of participatory methods and tools allows collecting information to be used to assess the acceptability of the system, but also to get information related to the general context in which surveillance is implemented [ 25 ]. Moreover, through an iterative process (i.e.…”

“…Moreover, through an iterative process (i.e. providing feedback to respondents), it allows stakeholders to propose a range of recommendations to improve the system [ 25 ]. The OASIS flash tool was proposed because it has been recognised efficient to evaluate animal health surveillance systems, and because this is the only ready-to-use tool available for the evaluation of animal health surveillance systems [ 26 ].…”

Surveillance strategies for Classical Swine Fever in wild boar – a comprehensive evaluation study to ensure powerful surveillance

“…To investigate the acceptability of the current surveillance system by hunters, participatory methods, developed by Calba et al 23. (AccEPT) were used.…”