Knowledge and Perception on Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Among the General Public in Nepal

Abstract

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has created havoc worldwide with its high transmission rate. The vaccine and drugs are still under trial; thus, the only option is to break the chain of transmission of disease by imparting the knowledge and designing awareness campaigns to educate people about the risks and preventive measures of COVID-19. This study was conducted to explore the knowledge and perception on health behaviors related to prevention along with addressing several myths and practices for COVID-19. An online cross-sectional survey was carried out in the initial days of disease outbreak in Nepal. A structured questionnaire was used for the data collection and recruitment of participants was done using snowball sampling technique. A total of 358 participants from all over the country were recruited for the study. Output measures were portrayed through descriptive statistical analysis with the use of frequencies (n) and percentages (%). Most of the participants (94.1%) knew about the high-risk age group, 38.5% were unaware that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted even from objects. Participants had better knowledge on modes of transmission of disease (77.1%) while 49.2% thought that regular surgical mask is highly effective for the preventive measure. Findings of this study suggests that people of Nepal are required to be educated about false beliefs and misconceptions. The findings and concerns raised in the study would be beneficial to design awareness-raising campaigns tailored specifically to the need for and understanding of the Nepalese community.
 Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 7, Issue-4: 183-190

Application of Social Marketing Mix Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The studies investigated awareness, knowledge, behaviour change, implementation of health messages, etc. Many previous studies have shown social marketing mix strategies were applied in creating public awareness for positive health behaviour change (Abdulla et al, 2020;Bae et al, 2021;Banstola & Dhungana, 2021;Chisadza et al, 2021;Hossen et al, 2020;Hussain et al, 2021;Karn et al, 2020;Mongilala et al, 2020;Onuora et al, 2021;Rai et al, 2021;Sharma et al, 2021;Siddique et al, 2020;Soon et al, 2021;Tam et al, 2021;Tolga Şentürka, 2021;Waheed et al, 2020;Wardani et al, 2020) and the strategies components were product, price, place, promotion, public, policy, partnership, and purse strings. The interventions have significantly influenced the behaviour regarding using face masks and sanitizers and maintaining social distancing.…”

“…Furthermore, a study by Karn et al(2020) in Nepal researched the knowledge and perception of coronavirus in different demographics, ethnicities, education, and area groups. The information was disseminated through news, online media, Viber, Facebook, and government websites (Karn et al, 2020).…”

“…Furthermore, a study by Karn et al(2020) in Nepal researched the knowledge and perception of coronavirus in different demographics, ethnicities, education, and area groups. The information was disseminated through news, online media, Viber, Facebook, and government websites (Karn et al, 2020). The study found that the general public obtained adequate knowledge regarding transmission modes and preventive measures for COVID-19 from the campaign in Nepal.…”

“…In social marketing, promotional activities run with non-profit motives (Kobayashi et al, 2013) and media play a significant role in communicating messages. In the this study, promotion was done through videos shared through the WhatsApp group (Waheed et al, 2020), voice, and SMS messages (Tam et al, 2021), Online news (Banstola & Dhungana, 2021), messages through mobile, and miking , hoarding boards, display, Posters and billboards (Hossen et al, 2020), online media, Viber, Facebook, and government websites (Karn et al, 2020) radio, television, print media Rai et al, 2021;Sharma et al, 2021), health education interventions are given through social media (Al-Dmour et al, 2020;Fadzil & Lourdunathan, 2020;Soon et al, 2021;Wardani et al, 2020), public mass media campaigns (Mubeen et al, 2020), and community outreach through phone calls and messages.…”

Perceived threats towards COVID-19 pandemic among Nepali migrant workers returned from India

“…A comparative study conducted in 2020 among the general population in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan found that the perception of COVID-19 was significantly higher among the participants from Saudi Arabia and the perception of susceptibility to COVID-19 among the Saudi Arabians was also scored highly compared to Egypt and Jordan (Shahin & Hussien, 2020). Several researchers have illustrated that most people whether from developing countries like Nepal or developed countries like the USA and UK are highly fearful of the outbreak (Karn et al, 2020). A study conducted on risk perception towards the COVID-19 and its associated factors among waiters in selected towns of Southwest Ethiopia had a more excellent risk perception of the COVID-19, and this risk perception was also related to age (Asefa et al, 2020).…”