Another successful data collectors' review day

On 15 March 2016, our data collectors from throughout the country attended the first data collectors’ review day for 2016. The day kicked off with a word of welcome and an update of the most recent developments within SHM by Sima Zaheri, manager of the Data & QC unit.

The next speaker was SHM researcher and HIV physician, Ferdinand Wit. Ferdinand talked about his work as part of the Ageing and Comorbidity in HIV study and, in particular, the history of HIV-related comorbidities and how these have changed over time.  

Ferdinand was followed by another SHM researcher, Ard van Sighem, who gave an overview of studies and collaborations in which the data analysis, reporting and research group is involved. Ard also explained the important role that the research group plays in producing the annual Monitoring Report, and gave an update of recent changes in the continuum of care and the recently-developed HIV modelling tool (read more about this tool here).

Daniela Bezemer (SHM researcher) discussed her work to identify sub-epidemics among specific groups in the Netherlands, such as men who have sex with men. Building on a presentation given in an earlier review day, Daniela explained how viral molecular sequencing data can be used to trace transmission networks and thereby show who infected whom.

After lunch it was the data collectors’ turn. Data monitors Pytsje Hoekstra and Stephanie Schnörr presented a stimulating and informative quiz developed by the helpdesk and protocols group. Using smartphones, participants could answer questions about recent protocol changes and other frequently asked helpdesk queries.  

Finally, Shula Grivell, coordinator of the protocols group, gave an update on developments regarding the new data entry system and discussed some of the future challenges associated with this project .

All in all it was a very interesting day that covered a diverse range of relevant topics, illustrating the various ways in which the collected data are used and also underlined how important our data collectors’ work is.