Community Rapid Assessment - Round 1 for Communication Response to COVID-19 Crisis

"The COVID-19 pandemic has put us in unprecedent[ed] times where correct penetration of the knowledge and monitoring the change in behavior and practices are the key to managing the situation."

Communication strategies need to be evidence based, especially in a rapidly changing pandemic scenario. There is need to "keep an ear to the ground" by continuously asking: Are we doing the right things? Are we making a difference? What are we learning? In order to understand attitudes towards COVID-19 safe practices and vaccine hesitancy, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) India commissioned a community rapid assessment, which was conducted by Ipsos Research, in five states of India. Its intent is to complement existing information with regular data from the communities, which will allow UNICEF to examine the changing behaviours, needs, and challenges during and post COVID-19 transition to recovery.

The assessment was conducted among 2,400 members of general population (male and female, aged 18 years and above) from April 9-23 2021 and with 2,600 platform members (self-help group (SHG) members, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) members, and frontline workers, or FLWs) from April 10-30 2021. Key findings:

• There is high trust in the information provided by the government and its efforts in scaling up of COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
• Mass media, especially TV, remains the top-trusted source of information. The content of messages needs to be dynamic. Government, friends, and family are also trusted and need to be engaged. Community platforms - FLWs such as accredited social health activists (ASHAs), Anganwadi workers, and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), as well as women's SHG members and PRI members or elected representatives in rural areas - are generally trusted.
• Individual risk perception is low: Only 15% of the general population in Andhra Pradesh and 17% in Odisha think that it is likely for them to get infected with COVID-19. There is also low awareness on steps to follow if there are COVID-19 symptoms.
• Respondents didn't describe any barriers to following protective behaviours. However, when the general population was asked about their perception of whether the community was following COVID-19 protective measures in the week preceding the survey: on wearing masks, 41.1% said a small number do, and 27.5% said no one does; on avoiding social gatherings and public events, 12.4% said a small number follow this practice, and 16.1% said no one does; and on maintaining a distance of at least 2 metres, 27.8% said a small number follow this practice, and 8.5% said no one does.
• Platform members fared much better than the general population when it comes to the safety measures they follow to protect themselves from COVID-19. (This is reassuring, since a substantive investment has been made with these groups.) On regular handwashing/hand sanitising several times a day, 95% of FLWs said yes (vs. 84% of the general population); on wearing a face mask in public when near others, 81% of SHG members said yes (vs. 67% of the general population); and on staying at least 2 metres away from others when out in public, 57% of PRI members said yes (vs. 38% of the general population).
• FLWs, PRI members, and members of SHGs who received trainings did better with adopting safety measures. In addition, they were found to have high confidence to explain COVID-19 protection measures and symptoms to those in their community, to lead the response, and to convince people in their community to take COVID-19 vaccine. Asked about their confidence in communicating COVID-19-related messages in the community, 84% of FLWs, 83% of PRI members, and 84% of SHG members said they were "extremely confident". Women PRI members aged 25-34 fared best.
• There is a positive intent to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it is available - 73.9% of the general population said yes - and to follow preventive measures even after taking it.

Based on the findings, UNICEF India and Ipsos recommend:

• Re-initiate some activities, such as conducting refresher training of platform members and engaging in further dialogue with the community - incorporating various modes of communication.
• Use the most trusted sources of information, such as government institutions, mass media, and community groups, for dissemination of correct information - both on the evolving pandemic situation and on the vaccine.
• Promote all three key aspects of COVID-19-appropriate behaviours as a package/unit, with more emphasis on social distancing and avoiding social gatherings. Communicate adoption of COVID-19 safety behaviours as an integral part of day-to-day life.
• Redefine communication messages with some credible examples (success stories), focusing on findings such as the gap in knowledge of protocols to be followed when having COVID-19 symptoms - a gap that was found even among FLWs, PRI members, and SHG members.

Click here for the 45-page PowerPoint presentation in PDF format.