COVID-19 and health behaviors of the vulnerable group in the disaster-prone area:a case study of volcano-prone Merapi, Indonesia

https://doi.org/10.22146/jcoemph.74503

Diah Setyawati Dewanti(1), Romi Bhakti Hartarto(2*)

(1) Department of Economics, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta
(2) Department of Economics, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


As the world’s fourth most populous country, Indonesia is predicted to suffer greatly from the pandemic. One of the most vulnerable groups in Indonesia is those living in the disaster-prone areas where access to health services is limited. This study aims to identify whether households in the disaster-prone area were already aware of and have implemented protective health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The location of the study was at Dongkelsari settlement houses in the Disaster-Prone Area III of Mount Merapi, the most active volcano in Indonesia. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the quantitative data collected from face-to-face interviews with 142 out of 161 households residing in that area. Our findings suggest that knowledge about disease and prevention is quite high in our sample. More than 90% of the sample were already aware of COVID-19 transmission and understood that washing hands and wearing facemasks can prevent the spread of COVID-19. This high level of awareness is inseparable from the active role of community leaders in Dongkelsari area. However, only less than half of the sample reported practicing safe physical distancing. In conclusion, our study relies on field observation, and this complements the existing evidence by capturing a clearer picture of the COVID-19 awareness among the underrepresented population living in the disaster-prone area of Merapi volcano.

 


Keywords


COVID-19, Health behavior, Indonesia, Merapi disaster prone area, Vulnerable group

Full Text:

PDF


References

1. Chen X & Chen H. Differences in preventive behaviors of COVID-19 between urban and rural residents: lessons learned from a cross-sectional study in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(12):4437.

2. Arisanti N, Pakasi TA. & Syarhan S. Rural health response and community preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic. Rev Prim Care Pract Educ. 2020;3(3):8–10.

3. Callaghan T, Lueck JA, Trujillo KL, & Ferdinand AO. Rural and urban differences in COVID-19 prevention behaviors. J Rural Heal. 2021;37(2):287–95.

4. Arriani A, Fajar S, & Pradityas H. Rapid Assessment: Community perception on COVID-19. In: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. 2020.

5. Boas TC, Christenson DP, & Glick DM. Recruiting large online samples in the United States and India: Facebook, Mechanical Turk, and Qualtrics. Polit Sci Res Methods. 2020;8(2):232–250.

6. Voight B, Constantine E, Siswowidjoyo S, & Torley R. Historical eruptions of Merapi Volcano, Central Java, Indonesia, 1768-1998. J Volcanol Geotherm Res. 2000;100:69–138.

7. Jenkins S, Komorowski JC, Baxter P, Spence R, Picquout A, Lavigne F, et al. The Merapi 2010 eruption: an interdisciplinary impact ssessment Methodology for Studying pyroclastic density current dynamics. J Volcanol Geotherm Res. 2013;261:316–29.

8. Dupas P. Health behavior in developing countries. Annu Rev Econom. 2011;3(1):425–449.

9. Bish A & Michie S. Demographic and attitudinal determinants of protective behaviors during a pandemic: a review. Br J Health Psychol. 2010;15(4):797–824.

10. Eastwood K, Durrheim DN, Butler M, & Jones A. Responses to pandemic (H1N1) 2009, Australia. Emerg Infect Dis. 2010;16(8):1211–1216.

11. Fetzer T, Witte M, Hensel L, Jachimowicz J, Haushofer J, Ivchenko A, et al. Global Behaviors and perceptions at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic [Preprint]. 2020. (Working Paper Series). Report No.: 27082. Available from: http://www.nber.org/papers/w27082

12. Roy D, Tripathy S, Kar SK, Sharma N, Verma SK, & Kaushal V. Study of knowledge, attitude, anxiety & perceived mental healthcare need in Indian population during COVID-19 pandemic. Asian J Psychiatr. 2020;51:102083.

13. Olapegba PO, Ayandele O, Kolawole SO, Oguntayo R, Gandi JC, Dangiwa AL, et al. A preliminary assessment of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) knowledge and perceptions in Nigeria. medRxiv. 2020. Available from: http://medrxiv.org/content/ early/2020/04/19/2020.04.11.20061408. abstract.

14. Nnama-Okechukwu CU, Chukwu NE, & Nkechukwu CN. COVID-19 in Nigeria: knowledge and compliance with preventive measures. Soc Work Public Health. 2020;35(7):590–602.

15. Zegarra-Valdivia J, Chino Vilca BN, & AmesGuerrero RJ. Knowledge, perception and attitudes in regard to COVID-19 pandemic in Peruvian population [Preprint]. 2020. Available from: psyarxiv.com/kr9ya

16. Chavarría E, Diba F, Marcus ME, Marthoenis, Reuter A, Rogge L & Vollmer S. Knowing versus doing: protective health behavior against COVID-19 in Aceh, Indonesia. J Dev Stud. 2021;57(8):1245–66.

17. NASW. Implications of coronavirus (COVID-19) to America’s vulnerable and marginalized populations. 2020. Available from: https://www. socialworker.org/Practice/Infectious-Diseases/ Coronavirus

18. Cui K. Tasks and competence of frontline social workers in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic: stories from Chengdu, China. International Association of Schools of Social Work [IASSW]; 2020.



DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/jcoemph.74503

Article Metrics

Abstract views : 1027 | views : 709

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of Community Empowerment for Health

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.