PhilCare CQWI, a research on community quarantine wellness index (CQWI) by College of Mass Communication (CMC) Professor Fernando dlC Paragas, won the 2021 Asia-Pacific Gold Stevie Award for Best Communications or PR Campaign of the Year (COVID-19-related information), and the Top Award in Communication Research at the 18th Philippine Quill Awards (PhilQuill).
The PhilCare CQWI is a 28-item index identified from 65 Likert statements that reliably measured overall CQ wellness during the early phase of the ongoing pandemic. The research found five key variables pivotal in one’s CQ wellness: self-reported knowledge, prevention practices, mobility mindset, stress points and coping mechanisms.
CQWI findings were based on a phone survey of 800 respondents from 156 cities and towns from May 11 to 14, 2020 and again from May 16 to 20, 2020.
The Stevie Awards is known as the world’s premier business awards. Created in 2002 to honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals worldwide. The name Stevie is derived from the Greek word for ‘crowned.’ The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards is one of the eight Stevie Awards programs.
PhilQuill is an award given by the International Association of Business Communicators-Philippines (IABC Philippines). It is the country’s most prestigious award in business communication and is given only to the country’s most reputable organizations and corporations. For almost 20 years, it has emphasized the use of excellent communication to achieve business goals and to make a difference in society.
Paragas conducted CQWI in collaboration with PhilCare and Comm&Sense. PhilCare is one of the country’s most preferred health maintenance organizations, while Comm&Sense is an award-winning PR agency that harness the power of data-driven communications.
CQWI is Paragas’s third collaboration with the two firms. Their first venture was the Wellness Index in 2014 and repeated in 2019. Sensing a gap between the delivery of vital healthcare services and the Filipinos’ view of their health situation, Paragas and his partners probed into the Filipinos’ behaviors and attitudes on health.
Paragas is Professor of Communication Research and is the current President of the Philippine Association for Communication and Media Research, Inc. He is also Convenor of the Higher Education Research and Policy Reform Program of the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies. Paragas is also a 2019 Gawad Tsanselor para sa Natatanging Guro.
Awarding ceremony for the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards is on Jul. 14. Meanwhile, PhilQuill streamed the ceremony live on Mar. 25 via the IABC Philippines YouTube channel.