A project that will assess whether people respond better against Covid-19 when they are told about the protective measures in face-to-face conversations was launched in three wards of Calcutta on Monday.

The project will have three parts. The first and the last parts will be surveys where the same questions will be asked to respondents. The second part will involve interventions in two wards, as part of which trained personnel will visit houses once a week over six weeks and tell the residents about the protective measures and what to do when one falls ill.

“In one ward, we will disseminate a lot of information about the disease and facilities for treatment. In another ward, we will provide limited information. In the third ward, no intervention will be done. The first survey and the repeat survey will be done in all three wards,” said an official involved in the project.

The difference in response between first and repeat surveys in all three groups will tell whether face-to-face interactions help people prepare better in taking precautionary measures.

The questions have been framed in a way that they test people's knowledge about Covid and how they respond during an emergency.

The three wards chosen for the eight-week project are 82 (Chetla), 11 (Hatibagan) and 101 (covering parts of Patuli).

The project, funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), is being conducted by Liver Foundation, which focuses on liver diseases and other public health issues; Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC); and Covid Care Network, a voluntary organisation of medical professionals and people who have recovered from Covid-19.

“We launched the project on Monday. Over this week, our personnel will visit select households in three wards and conduct a survey. We have deputed 20 persons in each ward and are targeting 2,000 households in each ward. This is a pilot project and will cover only a select number of households,” said Subrata Roy Chowdhury, a deputy chief municipal health officer of the CMC.

About 800 houses were visited till Tuesday, said Partha Sarathi Mukherjee, the director of Liver Foundation.

In the ward where Covid-related information will be disseminated extensively, project personnel will visit the households once every week from the second week to the seventh week. “Over the six weeks, we will gradually pass on information about the disease and the necessary protective measures. The messages will get repeated by the seventh week. We are hoping that face-to-face conversations will drive home the point,” said the official.

In the eighth or the last week, the respondents will be asked the same questions they will be asked in the first week.

Mukherjee said the project could also develop a model for dealing with public health emergencies. Covid-19 has laid bare the deficiencies in the country’s health care and preparedness in facing an epidemic, he said.

“We have designed a model hoping that it will lead to better responses from people against Covid-19. The model has tools like door-to-door visits, individual interactions, screening and testing, and providing logistics support like taking someone to a testing centre or arranging hospitalisation,” said Mukherjee.

He said if it was found after eight weeks that the model implemented in the ward where full intervention will take place elicited better response, it can be inferred that the model can be successful in dealing with public health emergencies.