Effectiveness of Health Promotion on the Prevention of COVID-19 in the Blacksmith Industry in Aceh Province

Abstract

Covid-19 causes illnesses ranging from mild to severe symptoms. By May 15, 2020, in Aceh there had been 17 positive cases of Covid-19, with the death of one person and the recovery of 13 people. Blacksmith workers work without using PPE, do not wash their hands regularly and there is no health promotion from the local health center regarding ways to prevent Covid-19 in the workplace, so these workers are at risk of contracting Covid-19. This study aimed to determine the effect of health promotion on knowledge and attitudes about Covid-19 among blacksmith industry workers in Pangur Village. This was a pre-experimental study with a one group pretest-posttest without control group design. The sample consisted of workers in the blacksmith industry with a total of 25 respondents recruited through total sampling. Data were collected through a questionnaire which was prepared based on the Covid-19 guidelines and had been tested for validity and reliability. Univariate and bivariate data analyses were carried out and the dependent t test was used. The results demonstrated that 84% of the respondents were male, 68% were aged >30 years, and most had been working in the range of 6-10 years. According to the findings, there was an effect of health promotion on the knowledge and attitudes about Covid-19 among the blacksmith workers in Pangur Village (p-value = 0.0001). Blacksmith industry leaders are therefore advised to carry out health promotion programs for workers related to increasing knowledge about Covid-19 during the pandemic by using lecture methods and group discussions on how to prevent Covid-19 transmission on a regular and scheduled basis.
 Keywords: Covid-19, knowledge, attitudes, health promotion