Abstract
Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at the frontline of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic response, yet there is a paucity of literature on their knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) in relation to the pandemic. Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Mozambique are known locally as agentes polivalentes elementares (APEs). While technical guidance surrounding COVID-19 is available to support APEs, communicating this information has been challenging due to restrictions on travel, face-to-face group meetings and training, imposed from May to August 2020. A digital health platform, upSCALE, that already supports 1,213 APEs and 299 supervisors across three provinces, is being used to support APEs on effective COVID-19 management by delivering COVID-19 sensitive SMS messages, training modules and a COVID-19 KAP survey. The KAP survey, conducted from June 2020 to August 2020, consisted of 10 questions. Of 1,065 active upSCALE APEs, 28% completed the survey. Results indicate that only a small proportion of APEs listed the correct COVID-19 symptoms, transmission routes and appropriate prevention measures (n = (25%), n = (16%) and n = (39%), respectively) specifically included in national health education materials. Misconceptions were mainly related to transmission routes, high risk individuals and asymptomatic patients. 84% said they followed all government prevention guidelines. The results from the KAP survey were used to support the rapid development and deployment of targeted COVID-19 awareness and education materials for the APEs. A follow-up KAP survey is planned for November 2020. Adapting the existing upSCALE platform enabled a better understanding, in real time, of the KAP of APEs around COVID-19 management. Subsequently, supporting delivery of tailored messages and education, vital for ensuring a successful COVID-19 response.
Highlights
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a rapidly expanding pandemic caused by a novel human coronavirus: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) [1]
The KAP was a cross-sectional study that was sent to all 1,400 upSCALE registered Agentes polivalentes elementares (APE) and involved those who responded to an invitation via short message service (SMS) message, asking them to complete the questionnaire on the UPSCALE application
Of the 1,456 APEs registered with the upSCALE app, 1,065 had operational phones at the time of the KAP survey and 297 of these completed the questionnaire (28%) over a three month period
Summary
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a rapidly expanding pandemic caused by a novel human coronavirus: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) [1]. It was first reported in December 2019 among patients with viral pneumonia symptoms in Wuhan, China [2]. As of 12 October 2020, there have been 37,423,660 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,074,817 deaths, reported to WHO [3]. Mozambique reported its first imported COVID-19 case on March 22, 2020 and has seen an increase in cases since [6]. As of 12 October there have been a total of 10,001 confirmed cases and 71 related deaths in the country [3]
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