Understanding Health Information Behaviors of Migrant Domestic Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review and Research Questions
2.1. Information Acquisition in Times of Health Crises
2.2. Information Processing: Internal and External Authentication
2.3. Responding to Health Information
3. Method
3.1. Sampling Procedure and Participants
3.2. Procedure
3.3. Data Analysis
4. Results
4.1. Information Acquisition: Information Seeking and Scanning
4.1.1. Information Seeking
“I found a lot of news on television, but sometimes I do not understand it (the news). So, I asked my grandmother (the elderly whom she took care of), ‘Grandma, what does it say?’ Then, she would explain it to me”.
“I know [about coronavirus] from my employers. In the beginning, I only heard that there was a new virus in Wuhan. I was not very responsive at that time because I thought it was just another virus and would not spread anywhere…. But then it spread to many countries and I realized how extraordinary the impact was. When it began to spread in Hong Kong, I didn’t know what to do…. I also worried about whether it would spread to Indonesia. I then found the information about COVID-19 on television. I want to know the latest updates, like the places with infected people or how many people have been infected. I want to know how to avoid the virus”.
4.1.2. Information Scanning
“I don’t really follow the news about the pandemic anymore. I mean, unlike in the beginning when I searched for information, now I just read it if I see it on social media. I have got used to it [the pandemic]. But I still try to follow the news about government policies…. They keep changing”.
4.2. Internal and External Authentications
4.2.1. Internal Authentication: Verifying Source and Messages
4.2.2. External Authentication: Media Outlets and Discussion
“Usually, many friends in the organizations said this and that. We needed to check the information first, whether it was a hoax or not…. I usually watch the news on television in Hong Kong to check, so, I knew if it indeed really happened”.
“Now, video and text on social media can be edited. It’s hard to discern the hoaxes from real news. So, I try to find the truth from those who understand the issue better, like people I trust. I will ask, ‘I hear from others like this, is it correct?’ If they say it’s correct, then okay, it’s right”.
“When I saw the news, I usually asked the group of the migrant union [on WhatsApp] if the news was correct or if it was only a hoax. My friends in the organization checked it together. If the news was a hoax, they would say, ‘Don’t share the news’”.
“If there are friends who share something on Facebook, the first thing I will see is the comments. I pay attention to the comment…. If it’s a hoax or inaccurate, there must be many people who comment on the post to correct the information”.
4.3. Adoptions of Adaptive and Maladaptive Strategies
4.3.1. Adaptive Coping
4.3.2. Maladaptive Coping
“Hong Kong people believe it (the virus) 100%, but there is a business purpose behind this. I told my employer, ‘The virus is not a virus. It’s a business trick for a country to strengthen its economy and ruin other countries’ economy.’ So, we don’t need to respond exaggeratedly. It’s not a virus. It’s because the news sensationalizes it. Also, before the pandemic, alcohol, hand sanitizers, and masks did not sell well in the market. So it’s (the pandemic) business-related”.
4.4. Motivations and Barriers to Sharing Health Information
4.4.1. Motivations to Disseminate Health Information
4.4.2. Barriers to Disseminate Health Information
5. Discussion
5.1. Changing Pattern of Information Acquisition
5.2. Reliance on Informal Networks for Information Acquisition
5.3. Authenticating Information Internally and Externally
5.4. Health Misinformation and the Adoption of Maladaptive Actions
5.5. Benefits and Barriers of Information Sharing
5.6. Limitations, Future Research Directions, and Contributions
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Information Acquisition | |
1. | How did you first get the news about COVID-19? What was your reaction at that time? |
2. | How do you get news related to the COVID-19 pandemic? |
3. | What information do you try to find or get from these sources? |
4. | Why do you choose your information sources? Do you think they are trustworthy? |
Information Authentication | |
5. | Do you usually verify the information you receive? Why? |
6. | How do you evaluate the information you obtain? |
Adoption of Coping Behaviors | |
7. | What did you do to protect yourself during the pandemic? |
8. | Why did you decide to take that action? |
Information Sharing | |
9. | Do you usually share information about COVID-19? To whom and how? |
10. | What information do you usually share? |
11. | Why do you want or not want to share news about COVID-19? |
12. | Are there any challenges or barriers to sharing information about COVID-19? |
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Share and Cite
Oktavianus, J.; Sun, Y.; Lu, F. Understanding Health Information Behaviors of Migrant Domestic Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 12549. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912549
Oktavianus J, Sun Y, Lu F. Understanding Health Information Behaviors of Migrant Domestic Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(19):12549. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912549
Chicago/Turabian StyleOktavianus, Jeffry, Yanqing Sun, and Fangcao Lu. 2022. "Understanding Health Information Behaviors of Migrant Domestic Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 19: 12549. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912549