The health and safety of our staff, respondents, and clients are paramount to us. That is why we are actively monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and are following CDC and/or WHO guidelines, as well as state, county, and city recommendations. We continue to conduct in-person testing at our facility as long as it is safe and reasonable to do so.
Some of the steps we have taken to ensure safety and comfort during our studies are:
- Had our facility verified by the Pima County Health Department for compliance with county established protective health and safety measures for restaurants and have been approved to use the Ready for You emblem.
- Altered testing procedures and seating to accommodate 6 feet of social distancing space.
- Test materials have been switched to single-use, environmentally sustainable when available, options as much as possible to minimize contact between people.
- Strict disinfection procedures will be followed between sessions. In addition to our usual stringent sanitation policies, all testing stations, materials, computers, and shared spaces will be properly disinfected using CDC recommended cleaners.
- Revised check-in/check-out policies and session seating times to ensure people cannot congregate in enclosed spaces.
- Instituted health and safety procedures for all respondents and visitors to our facility, including use of face coverings, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, waiting procedures, and self-reported health checks upon arrival at our facility.
- Develop a guidebook for employees detailing COVID-19 procedures that must be adhered to at all times. This includes procedures for possible contact exposure and health checks upon arrival.
- While we welcome our clients to our facility, during the pandemic, we encourage clients to consider following our tests remotely when possible rather than visiting in person for our studies.
- When practical for the goal of the research, we also offer alternative testing options to the traditional central location test (CLT). We are happy to discuss such methods and have developed and validated a remote location test (a remote CLT that is monitored in real time by ProSense Research Assistants), as well as procedures for drive-thru testing and in-car testing, as well as offer home use testing. For qualitative work, we are able to conduct remote interviews and focus groups.
- Since the COVID-19 situation can change rapidly, we continue to develop contingency plans so we can react as quickly as possible. We will work closely with you to adapt research and generate the most appropriate alternatives based on the conditions at hand.