A study of knowledge, attitudes, practices and health information-seeking related to Malaria-dengue prevention in India

• Main Authors: Lwin, May Oo, Vijaykumar, Santosh, Lim, Gentatsu, Foo, Schubert, Theng, Yin-Leng
• Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Communication
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/94825; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/19470; http://www.amhcr.org/AMHCR.htm
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Malaria and Dengue (M&D) affect more than 1.5 million people in India annually. Our study informs M&D prevention efforts by understanding knowledge, attitudes and practices related to preventive behaviours and health information-seeking patterns among a cross-section of Mumbai's middle-of-pyramid population. Our survey reveals low knowledge of M&D vectors and substantial discrepancies between perceived effectives and actual performance of preventive behaviours. We found that television and mobile phones offer opportunities for enhancing awareness and influencing beliefs and intentions. Implications for theory-based communication interventions using mobile social media are discussed.