Online community engagement in response to COVID‐19 pandemic

Despite evidence of increasing health uptake and engagement, little is known about the feasibility of undertaking online community engagement and research, especially during a pandemic. 12 Salmons (2016) introduced an e‐research framework that facilitates a holistic approach to undertake community engagement and qualitative research online. 13 Furthermore, social media platforms have been found to be valid tools to engage with communities during times of crises. 13‐15 Consequently, the NEON team decided to adapt the intervention such that community engagement, delivery and evaluation occurred virtually, utilizing the software Zoom. Meetings could also be recorded with the participants’ permission and accessed later to reflect on specific points and/or for those who missed meetings. Since COVID‐19, there has been an increase in anxiety, depression and other mental health morbidity, which may have impacted on CF’s proactiveness to participate online. Other limitations and/or risks of virtual meetings include: (a) loss of body language and non‐verbal cues, particularly if individuals switch off their cameras and (b) risk worsening health inequities by reliance on digital methods as the highest risk, hardest to reach populations are likely those who experience greater digital poverty. 16 After conducting online parent/carer workshops to gather feedback around the COVID‐19 experience, the G2KCP project team is undertaking qualitative focus group discussions (FGD) and semi‐structured interviews online.