Update on COVID-19
A very flexible and resilient bunch, we here at LDA Research are going forward with all our market research work. However, we must proceed according to the measures recommended by experts and the Government. Please see below a summary of the situation.
The British Government published its Covid-19 action plan on March 3rd. Recommendations in the workplace are:
- To work from home whenever possible.
- To promote meetings by video conference.
- To avoid non-essential trips.
Impact on Market Research
We can and will continue with our activity as regards methodologies that do not require an in-person presence (TDIs, WATIs, virtual days, etc.), but F2F methodologies (1-on-1, focus groups) are on hold until further notice.
Note that with the school closures and the increased workload in hospitals, many physicians’ agendas are and will be much busier and with last-minute changes, so we strongly recommend being flexible with respect to fieldwork timings and understanding with the rescheduling of interviews.
Impact on Target Feasibility
We anticipate difficulties trying to interview the following targets:
- ICU and ER specialists
- Respiratory consultants
- IM and ID specialists
- GPs
- Nurses of all mentioned departments
All these different specialists are working under a lot of pressure doing longer shifts and having to be available for emergencies at any time.
Regarding the other specialists, we don’t anticipate major difficulties, but we have to take into account that all HCPs have been asked to be ready for an emergency situation where they may need to cover for the above-mentioned targets.
Therefore, we here at LDA Research anticipate the need to be very patient, flexible and understanding. All our HCPs are under a lot of pressure and every day they are receiving new information and procedures on how to proceed.
Recruitment timings will inevitably be longer, and we should be ready for re-scheduling interviews and having to extend fieldwork timings.
Regarding patient studies, we must consider that patient associations have been forced to interrupt their activity and re-organise their resources to work from home. And physicians will have limited ability to help us with patient recruitment as all their routine has been altered; they are not seeing patients with the same frequency (they are focusing their activity on urgent matters only), and because of their tiredness they might not want to do the necessary extra work to contact potential patient respondents. In general, the feeling is this it is not the time to bother people for non-essential matters, and they consider that interviews for MR are not included in this group.
At LDA Research, we are fully prepared to make sure your projects can be run in the most successful way. We have a team of PMs and moderators who are tech savvy and much experienced in virtual platforms. Here at LDA Research we are enabled to offer teleworking, so we will be able to continue as normal. In fact, it is already part of our business model (for those late-night calls), so please be reassured of our correct operation.
Please request specific advice for your individual project, regardless of its state (e.g. fieldwork or RFQ).
Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch with LDA Research, either regarding the overall situation in the UK or in relation to specific studies. We will continue, as always, to work professionally to meet your needs.
