Prof. Dr. Kele DING, PhD, MD
Health Education and Promotion
School of Health Sciences
Kent State University
USA
Prof. Dr. Kele Ding is at the School of Health Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA. His primary research areas are in substance abuse and mental health, with topics ranging from drug use trends and surveillance surveys, gateway drug theory, poly-drug use, mental disorders, and psychological health. Additionally, Dr. Ding has strong methodological skills and extensive research expertise in measurement and evaluation, survey research, and data analysis. In the past 10 years, he has designed, implemented, and evaluated interventions that promote physical activity in a disadvantaged community and that use Creative Arts Therapy and Earth Medicine to improve mental health among the homeless population. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic he co-led a cross-sectional survey study among 11 countries that examined the adult population’s physical activity levels and mental health status. As a university faculty, Dr. Ding teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses with a focus on research methods, application of theory, and advanced program evaluation. He has chaired or served on over 30 doctoral dissertation committees.
Coordination and Implementation of a Global Collaborative Research Project: The PACs Study
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a US research team led by professors Kele Ding (Kent State University), Jingzhen Yang (The Ohio State University) and Ming-Kai Chin (President and Founder of The Foundation for Global Community Health), joined by professors from 10 other countries, conducted a cross-sectional survey in 11 counties on the topics of COVID-19 experience, physical activities during lock-down, and selected mental health conditions. Data were collected online between June and August 2020. Over 15,000 surveys were completed and yielded over 13,000 usable surveys to be included in analysis. The study has resulted in over 15 peer-reviewed publications and numerous national and international presentations. From the perspectives of sustainable development and well-being promotion for all ages, this study has made a significant impact globally. To meet the theme of the 10th APCESS international conference: “Active & Sustainable Community Living: Global Partnerships through Physical Activity, Exercise, and Health Science”, this presentation will discuss how this global collaborative research study was organized, coordinated and implemented. Specifically, it will include the following aspects of the collaborative research study: the initiation and exploration of potential collaboration, establishing research teams, defining study topics and design, defining data collection procedures and sampling criteria, confirming data collection instrument and language translations, and communicating within and between teams during data collection. It will discuss the pros and cons, special challenges, and lessons learned. The goal of the presentation is to share the experiences and insights of organizing an international collaboration research study, and to provide a roadmap for future global partnerships to contribute to the sustainable development of the global community.