EARS Report – COVID-19 Logic

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Field Changes

2 options have been added to the existing Method drop‐down field for organizations that use the COVID-19 Impact field:
1. Estimate unique reach for item 5 – with COVID-19 impacts [default]
2. Duplicated reach for item 5 – with COVID-19 impacts

EARS Method

This allows users to run the EARS report as‐is, but optionally  run the report with the extra COVID‐19 rows and calculations for item 5. For states that opt in to use the COVID-19 Impact field, the default method selected is “Estimate unique reach for item 5 – with COVID-19 impacts.” The new method options only appear for organizations using the COVID-19 Impact field.

Logic Changes for COVID-19 Impacts in Item 5

For each intervention (current logic), PEARS splits the data into two rows where the 2nd is labeled with “ ‐ COVID‐19” after the intervention name, if there are items to report in the COVID‐19 row. These items should go in the COVID‐19 row:
  1. All Program Activities, PSEs, Social Marketing Campaigns, and Indirect Activities with a COVID‐19 Impact value of “New due to COVID-19” where total # of participants/reach > 0

  2. All Program Activities, PSEs, Social Marketing Campaigns, and Indirect Activities with a COVID‐19 Impact value of “Modified due to COVID-19”, with the following caveats:
    • Program Activities ‐ the start date of the first session in the series must be >=3/16/2020 in order to count in the COVID‐19 row. Otherwise count in the original row. This ensures the entire program was delivered after the initial COVID‐19 lockdowns
    • PSEs ‐ the approximate date you began implementing changes must exist and be >= 3/16/2020 in order to count in the COVID‐19 row. Otherwise count in the original row. Note that very few (if any) PSEs marked as “Modified due to COVID‐19” will be counted in the COVID‐19 row, but there is not another way in PEARS to determine whether or not the PSE was implemented in its entirety during COVID‐19.
    • Social Marketing Campaigns ‐ the campaign launch date must be >= 3/16/2020 to count in the COVID‐19 row. Otherwise count in the original row.
    • Indirect Activities ‐ the activity start date (optional field) must be >= 3/16/2020 to count in the COVID‐19 row. Otherwise count in the original row. This will err on the side of not counting as a COVID‐19 impacted activity per EARS FAQ guidance.

  3. To capture the O3,1 ‐ COVID‐19 HOME and O6,1 ‐ COVID‐19 WORK setting codes:
    • For Program Activities in this COVID‐19 row, if the delivery method is either “Webinar / online” or “Mix of online and face-to-face”, then automatically add one site to the O3 setting with an “other” value of “COVID‐19 HOME”. While not comprehensive, this will help towards capturing the setting as outlined in the EARS FAQ.
    • Unfortunately, we do not have a way to automate counting COVID‐19 WORK settings or COVID‐19 HOME settings for modules other than Program Activities. We recommend organizations add these codes manually to the EARS report where applicable. Another option in PEARS is to code at least one record in each intervention as follows:
      • If delivering virtual/remote activity to people in their home: Other
        neighborhood settings where people “live” or live nearby with a Setting other value of COVID‐19 HOME
      • If delivering virtual/remote activity to people in their place of
        employment: Other places people go to “work” with a Setting other value of COVID‐19 WORK

  4. Special logic for Indirect Activities:
    If a COVID‐19 row has only indirect activities (no Program Activities, PSEs, or Social Marketing Campaigns), then pull the setting codes from the sites of all indirect activities in the row. This is a special case. Prior to this year, Indirect Activities were not allowed to be on their own row in item 5. However, given the changes from the pandemic, guidance in the EARS FAQ states that COVID‐19 impacted indirect activities can be reported in their own row.

Logic Changes for Item 5 Rows Without the “ ‐ COVID‐19” Tag

  1. PEARS only includes activities with a COVID‐19 Impact value of “Cancelled / not completed due to COVID-19” if the # of participants / reach > 0. If this reach is > 0, count in the original row, not the COVID‐19 row. This allows records to exist coded as cancelled but not appear in EARS unless there is associated reach. We still want to capture partially completed activities in EARS so long as they meet the minimum session length guidelines.