Health Systems and Population Studies Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Front Public Health. 2024 Jan 5;11:1267446. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1267446. eCollection 2023.
The global COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted nations worldwide, and Bangladesh was no exception. In response, the government of Bangladesh implemented community awareness initiatives aimed at containing the spread of the virus, aligned with international guidelines and recommendations. Despite these efforts, a lack of comprehensive community awareness programs played an essential role during the pandemic, not the preventive measures. A qualitative study employing framing theory was conducted to gain a deeper insight into how the social context influenced risk communication and community response throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.
The study was conducted in four selected districts of Bangladesh from February to May 2022 using complementary data collection methods, including key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions with purposely selected participants. Data were analyzed thematically by following six steps of the thematic analysis process. Codes were developed based on the data and summarized into themes and sub-themes grounded on the codes.
The findings indicate that the government of Bangladesh, along with development partners and non-government organizations, made a significant effort to raise awareness about COVID-19 in the community. However, there were certain limitations to this effort. These include a lack of social science and public health approaches to understanding the pandemic; inadequate coordination among the authorities for COVID-19 prevention and control; technological and geographical barriers for disseminating messages; the living conditions and lack of facilities; socio-cultural norms in understanding the COVID-19 health messages, and the gendered understanding of the messages. The findings also revealed that the awareness activities remained a one-way approach to inform the people and faced challenges to actively engage and create ownership of the community in the pandemic response.
The study identified gaps in implementing risk communication and community engagement strategies in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing focus on public health and prioritizing community ownership is essential to designing a more effective community awareness campaign. This approach will help ensure that health messages are communicated effectively and tailored to different communities' needs.
全球 COVID-19 大流行深刻影响了世界各国，孟加拉国也不例外。为此，孟加拉国政府实施了旨在遏制病毒传播的社区意识倡议，这些倡议与国际准则和建议保持一致。尽管做出了这些努力，但在大流行期间，缺乏全面的社区意识计划发挥了重要作用，而不是预防措施。本研究采用框架理论，对影响孟加拉国 COVID-19 大流行期间风险沟通和社区反应的社会背景进行了深入研究。
本研究于 2022 年 2 月至 5 月在孟加拉国的四个选定地区进行，采用了互补的数据收集方法，包括与精心挑选的参与者进行的关键人物访谈、深入访谈和焦点小组讨论。研究人员按照主题分析过程的六个步骤对数据进行了主题分析。根据数据开发了代码，并根据代码总结为主题和子主题。
研究结果表明，孟加拉国政府与发展伙伴和非政府组织一起，努力在社区中提高对 COVID-19 的认识。然而，这项工作存在一定的局限性。这些局限性包括缺乏社会科学和公共卫生方法来理解大流行；当局在 COVID-19 预防和控制方面协调不足；传播信息的技术和地理障碍；生活条件和缺乏设施；在理解 COVID-19 健康信息方面的社会文化规范；以及对信息的性别理解。研究结果还表明，意识活动仍然是一种单向的方式来告知民众，并且在积极参与和让社区拥有权方面面临挑战。
本研究确定了孟加拉国在 COVID-19 大流行期间实施风险沟通和社区参与战略方面的差距。增加对公共卫生的关注和优先考虑社区所有权对于设计更有效的社区意识活动至关重要。这种方法将有助于确保健康信息得到有效传达，并根据不同社区的需求进行调整。
