Research Assistant Interns at The Center for International Health, Education and Biosecurity (CIHEB)

Job Summary

The Research Assistant Interns will conduct data collection during the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) study on COVID-19 vaccination, involving face-to-face interviews and group discussions. Visits to health facilities and meeting venues (for group discussions) will be done in person, in a safe manner that is compliant with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and AMREF ESRC guidelines on COVID-19 prevention within the following supported facilities in Kisii, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Busia, Machakos, Murang’a, Mombasa and Nairobi Counties.

We are recruiting Research Assistants (interns) in the counties as per below:

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Attend the project study orientation to understand the purpose and intent of the study, as well as the plan for implementation.
2. Work in close collaboration with hospital staff in the selected facilities to ensure that only eligible clients are interviewed.
3. Conduct quantitative survey interviews (through a structured questionnaire), on clients at the selected facilities to gather socio-demographic information, COVID-19 vaccination status, reasons for vaccination/ refusal/hesitancy for COVID-19 vaccination.
4. In collaboration with the hospital staff, identify suitable sites (preferably quiet places) within the facilities, from where interviews can be conducted.
5. Identify, from among clients interviewed for the survey, participants for focused group discussions to elicit more information on reasons for hesitancy towards being vaccinated.
6. Conduct Key informant interviews with pre-selected subject matter experts/trusted sources of information on COVID-19 vaccination.
7. Promptly submit collected data to the electronic databases
8. Uphold data quality procedures
9. Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned
10. Any other duty that maybe assigned from time to time by the project coordinator.

Experience and academic qualifications

1. Diploma/Degree in public health or social science discipline
2. Relevant experience working in a health institution and or participation in health research (Prior experience in qualitative research or public policy research, familiarity with quantitative methods is a plus).
3. Strong qualitative analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, analyze, and disseminate significant amounts of information with attention to detail and accuracy
4. Experience in electronic data collection with a bias to ODK will be an added advantage

Required Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

1. Willingness and ability to work in one of the listed counties (proficiency of the local language of the county of choice, is a MUST)
2. Communication skills both oral and written (proficiency in Swahili, English and local language spoken in the county of choice)
3. Networking and collaboration skills
4. Team player
5. Ability to work under minimum supervision
6. Attentive to details (Especially during Focus Group Discussions sessions)
7. Training in COVID-19 vaccination will be an added advantage