Students, tell us about your thoughts on travel and COVID-19!

The containment of an emerging virus, such as the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (causing the COVID-19 disease), is dependent on controlling transmission of the disease between countries. Travelers are a primary factor in the spread of infectious diseases across borders and have been instrumental in spreading COVID-19 around the world.  To try and control the spread of the disease, it is important to better understand people’s travel health knowledge and practices.  This will help government agencies better contain this disease outbreak and control the spread of other infectious diseases in the future.

UM students (both domestic and international) can play a major role in helping us better understand travel health for people currently enrolled in university.  We are inviting you to participate in a survey on your travel knowledge, activities and practices.  The survey also includes specific questions on your knowledge and practices for COVID-19, and on university communications on COVID-19.  This will help universities improve their communications for both this and future outbreaks. The survey may be accessed at the link provided below.  It should take 10 to 15 minutes to complete. You can do this survey in one sitting, or provided that you do not close your browser window, can return to complete your responses later. This research is being done in partnership Dr. Cindy Jardine and her study team at the University of the Fraser Valley. All anonymized survey data analysis will be conducted off-site. To see more details about what you consenting to, including information on privacy, long-term data management and data security, please see the attached Consent Disclosure Statement.

To thank you for your participation, at the end of the survey, you will be invited to enter your name into a draw for a MacBook Air (value of approximately $1,500).  Your contact information for the draw will not be used to link to your survey answers in any way. Your chance of winning depends on the number of survey participants. The draw will occur within one week of the survey closing.

We are also seeking participants for the second part of our study.  We would like to invite you to be part of a focus group to get more detailed information and context for the survey responses. If you are selected for a focus group you will receive a gift of $50 for your time (either cash or an electronic gift card depending on physical distancing measures in place at the time of the focus group).  The focus groups will take about one and a half hours. 

At the end of the survey, you will be asked to provide your name and contact information (telephone and/or email) ONLY IF you would like to enter your name into the draw and/or to be considered for a follow-up focus group. 

We will share results from this research in a summary report available on the University of Manitoba website.

This research is being conducted by Dr. Michelle Driedger, Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, at the University of Manitoba (email: michelle.driedger@umanitoba.ca). Please contact Dr. Driedger if you have any questions about the survey.

If you have any concerns regarding your rights or welfare as a participant in this research study, please contact the Ethics Office at bannatynereb@umanitoba.ca.

This research project has been reviewed and approved by the University of Manitoba Health Research Ethics Board (Protocol #H2020:223).

Notice Regarding Collection, Use, and Disclosure of Personal Information by the University

Your personal information and personal health information is being collected under the authority of The University of Manitoba Act. The information you provide will be used for the purpose of this approved research study. Your personal information and personal health information will not be used or disclosed for other purposes, unless permitted by The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and The Personal Health Information Act (PHIA). If you have any questions about the collection of your information, contact the Access & Privacy Office (tel. 204-474-9462), 233 Elizabeth Dafoe Library, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2.

Completion of this survey is your consent to be part of this research. Please access the survey HERE: https://questionnaire.simplesurvey.com/f/s.aspx?s=1bcabbff-4749-4d70-97d6-bd6889665c75&lang=EN

Thank you for taking the time to participate in this research!

S. Michelle Driedger, PhD

Professor and Graduate Program Director

Department of Community Health Sciences

Max Rady College of Medicine

Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

University of Manitoba

S113-750 Bannatyne Avenue

Winnipeg, MB  R3E 0W3

Tel: 204-789-3936

Fax: 204-789-3905