Health New Media Res > Volume 6(1); 2022 > Article
Santas, Inobemhe, and Udeh: Knowledge, perception and response to new media messages on COVID-19 among residents of a rural community in Nigeria

Abstract

This study assesses the perception of rural folks in relation to COVID-19 media messages in a Nigerian rural community. By utilizing the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Risk Perception Theory (RPT), in-depth interviews and observation methods were used to determine rural folks’ perception of COVID-19 media messages and their influence on the attitude of the rural people towards the virus. A thematic analysis of respondents’ views revealed that most of the participants were exposed to public media enlightenment messages on COVID-19. The dominant channels of communication utilized by the rural people to receive media messages on COVID-19 were radio and television, mobile phones (text messages), Facebook, and interpersonal communication through family members. However, the new media tools stood out. Findings further show that participants were able to understand media messages designed to educate the rural folks about COVID-19. However, the study found that the rural folks’ perception of COVID-19 new media messages was negative, and this impacted negatively on their attitude to adopt the safety measures set by the government to control the spread of the disease. The study recommends public education and integration of traditional channels of communication in creating awareness of COVID-19 among rural folks in Nigeria.

Introduction

COVID-19 being the first pandemic in the era of digital technological advancement came with a barrage of information which experts termed “information overload” (Fadhilah et al., 2020; Radore & Farooq, 2020) - basically due to the quest by the people to seek and get timely information with respect to the disease (Inobemhe et al., 2021). As further expressed by Fadilah et al. (2020), the pandemic set people in a position where they sought health-related information on preventive and curative measures necessary to navigate them through the period. Consequently, governments in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries made attempts to manage the pandemic through prevention with the use of health communication in the form of awareness campaigns across various platforms (Antwi-Boasiako & Nyarkoh, 2021; Sitto et al., 2022).
It was on March 11, 2020, that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic while urging countries the world over to take action in order to contain the spread of the virus (Cucinotta & Vanelli, 2020). Also, it was one of such calls that necessitated local campaigns to ensure people get the required information from the appropriate authorities. In other words, by way of a response to the call by the WHO for countries to take action, health communication became necessary. The importance of communication and information in a pandemic era cannot be overemphasized. Empowering the people with the right information is, in fact, the most significant factor in curtailing the spread of coronavirus disease (Reddy & Gupta, 2020). Since individuals are key to slowing down the spread of diseases - by using protective behaviors also known as non-pharmaceutical interventions which include hand washing and social distancing (Miller, Gee & Katz, 2021). It is imperative to note that knowledge can only be acquired through education, information, and communication - and according to Miller et al. (2021), anytime humans arrive at an effective health-related decision, knowledge is the main factor.
According to Obiwulu and David (2020) nations or territories that are on the path of winning or who eventually won the fights against the pandemic are so positioned because they are able to weaponize vital information targeted at members of the society. Further, Obiwulu and Davis (2020) assert that in the midst of an infodemic, effective communication became the only way to ensure that the people are adequately informed - chiefly because access to the wrong information in times such as the pandemic era could be dangerous to the people. In response to the needs of the era, COVID-19-related issues dominated social media discussions or conversations. In other words, the media space was sensitive to COVID-19-related communication throughout the period of the outbreak, thereby allowing a permeated media - both traditional and new media forms.
In Nigeria, efforts at providing adequate and effective information were led by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), its parent organ - Nigeria’s Ministry of Health, and in collaboration with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (Inobemhe et al., 2021). In the study, the authors further noted that the government of Nigeria through its agencies enlisted the support of mainstream media whilst also taking advantage of new media platforms to disseminate the necessary information to the people. Across other sectors, the Nigerian government also made attempts to provide a response along economic, social, and health lines to help cushion the effect of the pandemic in Africa’s most populous nation (Dixit, Ogundeji & Onwujekwe, 2020). In other words, there was some level of preparedness by the authorities to ensure the impact of the pandemic on the population is not total (including arming them with the right information) and to help them navigate through the period.
Though several research endeavors have delved into the management of COVID-19 in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular, there seem to be few of them that focused on the use of new media technologies as mediums of communication and information sharing among rural communities in the country. In a study conducted by Alawari (2021), it was revealed that several media proved useful as tools for communicating COVID-19-related messages - and social media happened to be the most significant. The study further revealed that the spread of fake news on the disease created confusion and an information gap that needed to be filled with accurate information from the authorities. Findings from another study revealed that radio was the most popular medium of mass communication used in reaching hard-to-reach areas in Borno state, Nigeria - an area that has faced insecurity challenges for a period of time (REACH, 2020). Owing to such exposure, the study revealed that people in such areas adopted recommended behavior to protect themselves from infection.
Several factors and issues were identified that had a negative impact on the fights against the pandemic in rural Africa. Such factors include poor living conditions, low health literacy, compromised access to accurate information, cultural and religious influence, and political instability in some parts of the continent (Okereke et al., 2020). Therefore, rural communities in most parts of the continent were detached from COVID-19-related information by virtue of their exposure to widespread reports that held no truth and upheld related misconceptions on the origin as well as the spread of the virus. Though there were reports of widespread misconceptions about the virus across social media platforms (Ali et al., 2021; Stewart et al., 2022), very little or none directly analyzed such exposure among rural dwellers. Therefore, this study hopes to bridge the research gap with respect to the exposure of rural dwellers in a community in Nigeria to COVID-19-related messages through new media platforms.
However, it is imperative to re-emphasize that in the face of the infodemic during the COVID-19 era, it became difficult for the population to separate truth from falsehood owing to the overabundance of information, especially across social media platforms (Reddy & Gupta, 2020). During the same period, however, traditional media organizations in Nigeria did not relent in providing the people with adequate information on preventive and curated measures - all geared towards ensuring a coordinated fight against the pandemic - and new media platforms were utilized to reach the population (Inobemhe et al., 2021). In the light of the foregoing, this study sought to answer the following research questions that point to new media:
• What are the new media platforms through which residents of a rural settlement in Nigeria got exposed to COVID-19 media messages?
• To what extent were the rural dwellers exposed to COVID-19 messages on new media platforms?
• What are the perceptions of the rural dwellers in relation to COVID-19 messages they received via the platforms?
• What is the influence of COVID-19 messages on the attitude of the rural dwellers towards the virus?
The above research questions provided the guide to exploring suitable research methodology for this study.

Literature Review

Researchers have delved into different sub-areas with respect to COVID-19 - while those in sciences made attempts to unravel the causes of the virus and the possible cure, communication scholars attempted to understand ways through which communication can aid in the fight. For the sake of this study, a thematic review of such literature is conducted.
The coronavirus disease led to a global pandemic and in no small measure impacted countries in the world, and Africa was not left out. Technology was required as part of efforts to stem the tide (Bakibinga-Gaswaga et al., 2020). Digital technological innovations are useful in the overall health management, of which the fight against diseases such as a pandemic is one aspect (WHO, 2019). Indeed, evidence abounds on the use of digital media in the fight against coronavirus disease. A study conducted by Wong et al. (2020) revealed that in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, social media and online communication proved useful. Regardless of the successes recorded in the use of digital media in some parts of Africa and the world, some other areas in the continent did not feel the impact. According to Sitto et al. (2021), the inequality occasioned by the lack of adequate access to digital technologies in some parts of Africa is responsible for the problems recorded with respect to access.
It is instructive to note that before the introduction of new media in the mix of platforms used for communication and information-sharing, African governments expended so much funds on the establishment and maintenance of state-funded media structures such as TV, radio, newspaper, and so on (Asubiaro et al., 2021). Public health communication took a new dimension with the advent of ICTs/new media technologies such as the internet, mobile devices, and many more (de Tolly & Benjamin, 2012). It is imperative to state here that social media is part and parcel of the much-talked new vista for public communication. According to Fraustino, Liu, and Jin (2017), social media is now widely accepted as a communication medium due to its features which include providing a viable space for social discourse. In other words, their acceptance stems from the capacity to enable people to have a conversation in unrestricted environments or spaces.
In a study conducted by Asubiaro et al. (2021), it was revealed that, across Africa, social media was widely used as a medium of communicating health information to the people during the COVID-19 outbreak. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Flickr are said to be the most popular ones utilized across 20 African countries that were featured in the study. Similarly, mobile or smartphone technology was found to be useful in the midst of the pandemic as several solutions developed aided the fight across various areas ranging from telemedicine to precautionary measures (Iyengar et al., 2020). In a related study, the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions which include the adoption of new media technologies helped in containing COVID-19 as activities such as contact tracing and physical isolation were made easier by virtue of their usage (Oliver et al., 2020).
Asubiaro et al. (2021) revealed in their study that new media was useful in awareness creation, providing updates and news, civic education, leading and amplifying campaigns against misinformation, and providing technical information. Specifically, news and updates on the pandemic came in the forms of government preparedness, donations from various quarters, statistics on infections, and information on border control and travel advisory. Most significantly, digital media was said to have been deployed in the wake of the outbreak (largely due to the spread of barefaced misinformation and overabundance of it) to debunk all forms of fake news with respect to the disease (Jiang & Ryan, 2020). In a nutshell, it is important to state that new media technologies played major roles in ensuring that information on the COVID-19 pandemic was made available to the people - from preventive measures to curative measures and even debunking fake news and conspiracy theories among the people (Budd et al., 2020).

COVID-19 and Nigerian Government Efforts at Mitigating its Spread

There is no denying that COVID-19 took the world by surprise as there appeared to be inadequate preparation for a pandemic of such magnitude. However, the prediction for most African countries with respect to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic was that the continent will be the worst hit with devastating impacts including dead bodies on the streets (Okereke & Nielsen, 2020). However, based on critical observation of the period, the foregoing prediction was not quite the case.
Though governments in the African continent made efforts to halt the spread, a study conducted in Kenya revealed that the reasons the prediction did not come to fruition can be related to the fact that Africans have always been exposed to pathogens in the family of COVID-19 virus numbering over 40000 and therefore may have developed immunity. Other factors that might have helped are the acquired immunity against malaria over the years and the unsterile environment in the continent, which according to the study, provides some form of natural immunity (Adetiba, 2020). Though the foregoing may be subjected to further scientific investigations and counterarguments, it is important to state that they may have aided the fight against the deadly virus with some form of input from the government efforts.
Once the index case was reported in Nigeria in the early part of 2020, the NCDC swung into action by setting up a multisectoral National Coronavirus Preparedness Group (NCPG) - an organization poised to coordinate an effective and cohesive public response to the COVID-19 virus pandemic in the country (Dan-Nwafor et al., 2020). Within the same period of the announcement of an outbreak in the country, the relevant authority with the use of social media and traditional media platforms published the first public health advisory on COVID-19 (WHO, 2021). As part of concerted measures or efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic through communication intervention which was also to ensure that the pandemic is tamed, the NCDC reportedly set up an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) which, among other things, provided risk communication (Dan-Nwafor et al., 2020; Oyebanji et al., 2021).
Relatedly, Rhima (2020) found that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, rural dwellers required information on the virus with respect to preventive and curative measures as well as other general information. The study further revealed that most of the respondents who took the survey preferred to get information regarding the virus from friends/family members, town criers, medical workers, and traditional healers, among others. With respect to the purpose or use of the information obtained, the study found that it was mainly to educate relatives, kinsmen, and friends on the virus, learn about precautionary measures needed to prevent its spread and get informed about the fatalities from the infections and many others.

New Media and the Practice of Communicating Public Health Epidemics

Mass media anywhere in the world is reputed for being major stakeholders across various areas including public health - as they are saddled with the responsibility of providing adequate and timely information to their audience. The foregoing is so because information is an important weapon for navigating people out of a health crisis. According to Pousadela (2020), a free flow of information during a pandemic is an important factor that determines the success of the fight. Sunday, Inobemhe, and Santas (2021) lend credence that in a pandemic, the more access people have to information, the more likely their chances of pulling through the troubled times.
The media play different roles in society from education to entertainment and enlightenment (Moemeka, 2016). The media is the fourth estate of the realm and even in the pandemic era, it provides the required health education throughout the period (Gever & Ezeah, 2020). The stated role of health education is one of the practices of the media in communicating public health during epidemics or pandemics. Further, Gever and Ezeah (2020) observed that the task of educating the public about their health requires the media to first engage in monitoring the environment to identify health issues that threaten human life, and then get equipped to provide information with a view to ensuring the requisite enlightenment is provided. On a general note, the media is seen as a veritable tool for the promotion of public health across different societies of the world (Adler et al., 2020).
In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa and the world, new media technologies (as made manifest in mobile phones, social media, and associated internet-enabled devices) proved useful (Obi-Ani, Anikwenze & Isiani, 2020; Pandya & Lodha, 2021). Besides being used as tools to provide information, social media provided alternatives to ensure the continuation of education and provision of care during the COVID-19 pandemic era (Abbas et al., 2021). Evidence also abounds on how the Nigerian government through relevant organs or agencies took advantage of new media in the provision of the necessary information and in risk communication during the COVID-19 pandemic era in the country (Inobemhe et al., 2021). Therefore, there is no doubt that in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world, new media technologies proved useful in health communication during the period under review.
Though traditional communication systems were seen to be important in combating covid 19-related infodemic among rural communities in Nigeria (Lucas et al., 2021), the importance of new media technologies cannot be ignored when it comes to the matter of impact and effectiveness. In fact, a study conducted by Ekezie and Bosah (2021) revealed that through social media platforms such as Twitter, Nigerians from all parts gained unprecedented access to health-related messages regardless of the accuracy or otherwise of the shared information. The foregoing revelation shows that there was wide use and reliance on new media with respect to communication and COVID-19-related information.

Health Service Delivery and COVID-19 Outbreak in Nigeria

As a global health concern, COVID-19 affected human existence in diverse ways - and required coordinated health services response (Okorie, 2021). The coronavirus pandemic had a great impact on healthcare delivery systems in the country as certain health facilities were temporarily shut down in response to the virus and special facilities were created to treat cases, which also include isolation centers (Afolalu et al., 2021). Similarly, Obaseki (2021) avers that just like other nations of the world (even advanced ones to be precise), Nigeria’s health system was shaken by the impact of the COVID-19 though the nation made efforts to push back the impact. Obviously, there is a need to emphasize that the country’s health system needs strengthening across several areas of importance.
Besides other issues relating to care, the Nigerian health sector or system’s comprehensive response structures to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country revolved around travel lockdowns to curtail the spread of the virus and ease the lockdown measures (Dan-Nwafor et al., 2020; Obi-Ani et al., 2021). The study conducted by Dan-Nwafor et al. (2020) found that lockdown was one of the most significant measures by the Nigerian health system to fight the pandemic - first, it was “to slow down the spread of the virus across the country, and second, to buy time for the health system to increase preparedness” (p. 5). The study further revealed that on a whole, isolation centers were also introduced while contact tracing was activated to arrest the spread of the virus among the population - and it worked to a reasonable extent.

New Media and Public Enlightenment

Over the years, new media has become a viable tool for communication globally. The internet has transformed social communication among people and nations in the recent past. The impact of new media has permeated the spheres of global business, politics, tourism, healthcare delivery, and social interactions. The advancement in technology has made possible the availability of channels of communication that makes public health awareness and promotion achievable (Ebrahim et al., 2020). For instance, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp have become increasingly important sources of health information in contemporary times. Most health organizations and institutions are utilizing them to disseminate health information. For example, in the wake of the emergence of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) extensively used its website and other social media platforms to update the general public on the COVID-19 virus (Obi-Ani et al., 2020).
The media are vital instruments of communication in society. This is especially important when it comes to any public health emergency or situation that would require mass education of citizens as it relates to stemming the tide of deadly viruses that may claim the lives of several people. It is based on this strength that new media wields its relevance as the fastest means of the information-sharing platform across large segments of the population. This unique feature of the new media, therefore, provides health professionals the latitude to engage the people in mass health education. There are also cases where the new media platforms provided alternatives for traditional media organizations in Nigeria to reach their target audience (Igyuve et al., 2020).
Whenever the general population is the target of health education, the media is a significant stakeholder. Moemeka (2012) observed that while it is true that effective health education can be carried out using the interpersonal method of communication, it is generally held that where a large population is a target, it is better to use modern channels of communication. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mass media became the major source of information among most rural dwellers in Nigeria. As always, the case in the wake of the outbreak of most killer diseases, the focal point for most people to get authentic information is the media of communication. The media serve the role of being a source of information, as well as an advocate for correct health behaviors during times of health emergencies (Asemah, Nkwam-Uwaoma & Santas, 2017). In the same vein, new media (which happens to be modern media forms) played a significant role in information dissemination during the outbreak.
In order to educate the people on COVID-19 and control its spread in the country, the Nigerian government adopted several communication strategies to reach out to its citizens. An aggressive media campaign was carried out across platforms/channels - radio and television, social media platforms, newspapers, and magazines among others. The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control in partnership with UNICEF embarked on an extensive public health campaign utilizing the new media-enabled Short Message Service (SMS) mechanism to send messages to people’s phones as part of awareness creation and campaigns. Zhuang, Xiang, Han, Yang, and Zhang (2016) lend credence to the assertion that health care intervention through short message service (SMS) based on cell phone text messages is beneficial in public health emergencies and other public health-related uses and administrative processes.
The aforementioned function of the media is imperative given the fact that a greater percentage of the Nigerian population resides in the rural communities where adequate and sufficient information about health issues is not readily available to the people (Olaoluwa & Rasheed, 2021). This is coupled with the notion that most rural dwellers in the country are not literate enough to understand the dynamics of managing emerging health epidemics and their related consequences when they eventually arise. Hence the role of the media to provide authentic information is critical in the lives of rural people. Barrante et al. (2009) posit that timely production and dissemination of proper information during a health crisis generate trust and credibility with the public to comply with measures that may be put in place by health professionals to mitigate the spread of disease.
In Nigeria, the government has recognized the important function of the media in providing health information to the citizens, especially during crisis situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic. Health public enlightenment programs have become a regular feature on both radio and television stations across the entire country. Radio and television broadcast has been deployed to educate the people on the COVID-19 virus, its mode of transmission, and the various measures of its containment. Therefore, the media has become an important tool of information dissemination with respect to public enlightenment - and the use of new media also widens its reach and audience base.
Health communication is crucial for the survival of the citizens of any given society. This is important because public safety is largely dependent on the information citizens are able to get from various sources of information at their disposal. It is against this backdrop that the media in collaboration with other institutions should establish viable communication strategies and mechanisms to engage the public in times of health crisis. This becomes imperative in rural communities because most people living in rural areas are not literate like those residing in the cities. Therefore, to reach these rural people, health experts and opinion leaders ought to create media messages that are appealing to the rural folks so as to (as much as possible) elicit positive behavior change from them (Asemah, 2021).
It is noteworthy that during a health crisis there is a synergy between health professionals and the media. This symbiotic relationship ensures that health professionals provide health direction to the people through the media of communication. This is crucial because necessary information provided through education on preventive and curative measures on killer diseases is significant in fighting their spread. Buttressing this argument, Ochuba (2013) notes that a nation without a sound health public enlightenment program (that may be of benefit to the public and educate its citizens) will definitely jeopardize the future leaders, who should help propel development for the future generation.
Previous studies conducted by scholars indicate that rural communities encountered several problems in accessing information on health-related issues which impacts negatively on behavior change communication on the side of most communities in Nigeria - and revealed that the issues that confront these rural communities range from poverty, hunger and lack of social amenities (see Santas & Asemah, 2013; Ekpenyong, 2021; Njanubok & Mbazie, 2021).

Theoretical Framework

Health Belief Model & Risk Perception Theory

This study draws from the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Risk Perception model. The Health Belief Model was developed in the early 1950s by Hochbaum, Rosenstock, Kegels & Levental while working as social psychologists in the US public health services (Rosenstock, 1974). These scholars wanted to find out why people would not want to accept disease preventive measures or early response to disease in terms of treatment.
In their study, Okwudiri et al. (2021) point to the fact that HBM is used to describe and foretell individual changes in health behaviors and is one of the popular models that is used to explain or understand how people respond to health behavior. The underlying tenet of the model is hinged on the premise that an individual propensity to adopt a new form of health habit or lifestyle in a crisis is to a large extent informed by the perception of that individual in relation to the health problem at hand. In other words, when a person perceives that COVID-19 poses a serious threat to his or her life, he or she would adopt a different lifestyle. However, if the individual sees that COVID-19 does not portend any threat to his life, then his or her response to the disease would be different.
According to Glanz (2010), the “HBM basically underscores the risk associated with a health concern and people’s perception of the benefit they would derive by taking appropriate step of action to change their behavior” (p.8). Further, Northouse and Northouse (1985) opined three elements are vital to HBM: an individual’s perception of susceptibility to and severity of a disease, an individual’s perception of the benefits and barriers to taking a preventive health action to prevent the disease, and the cues available to an individual that would stimulate him or her to engage in preventive health activity. It is foregoing that makes the model a force to reckon with in the area of health studies.
The model is based on the notion that people will act concerning their health if they feel that a health condition can be prevented and if they are positive that by taking a recommended action, negative health implications can be avoided. This theory finds relevance to this study because rural folks seek health information when they know that they are sick or might be infected by a particular disease that may be of a pandemic proportion (perceived susceptibility) and that the mild symptoms can increase its severity (perceived severity) that would make them seek quick medical attention. An individual that does not see bodily changes (cues to action) that took place during illness as threatening, may tend to delay seeking health information during the manifestations of fewer symptoms. However, in a circumstance where a person sees the benefit of seeking quick health information rather than perceived barriers to taking such actions, they may tend to quickly seek professional health information to help them deal with their health concerns (Ovie & Asemah, 2021).
Risk Perception Theory is the second theoretical framework that our study is based on. The primary concern of this theory stems from the assumption that people’s perception regarding a health risk in relation to public health disease or pandemic can be shaped by the way the media covers or presents such matters to the public. Since the public relies so much on information shared on various media channels, there is a tendency for the public to be influenced by the information they receive on various media. This is especially true in relation to the use of new media by the public as sources of health information. Lending credence to this assertion, Ahmad and Murad (2020) found in their study that due to constant exposure to different COVID-19 information on social media platforms, the majority of respondents developed a lot of anxiety about the COVID-19 virus (Paek & Hove, 2017).
The above postulation is substantiated by the notion that individuals are free moral agents and capable of making good decisions. This is because before people make rational choices, they must count both the benefit and the cost they would likely incur from such a costly decision. The major thrust of risk perception theory is to facilitate the reduction of the outbreak of diseases as well as the threat of its magnitude to the media audience.
For example, Renner and Reuter (2012) found in their study that peoples’ responses to the A/H1N1 virus and ‘swine Flu” outbreak in 2009 in Germany revealed that the success of public health intervention campaigns was to a large extent dependent on individual risk perception. The study further discovered that even though the government launched a public campaign about the virus, only a fraction of the people agreed to be vaccinated against the virus even though vaccination is the only effective means of preventing people from being infected. This implies that people do not only need to be aware of an existing potential risk of a virus, but they also need to feel personally at risk that they may possibly contract the virus otherwise their response to comply with public health information may not be effective. For rural dwellers to feel at risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus, the media should be able to disseminate information on the potential risks of the virus to their health so as to elicit compliance from the people to all the measures put in place by the government to stem the spread of the virus.

Materials and Methods

Study Design

The study employed a qualitative research design following the phenomenological approach described by Stake (2013) and Braun and Clarke (2013). In-depth-interviews were conducted among 10 purposefully selected participants. An in-depth interview entails a researcher having face to face conversation with an interviewee to generate data. Thus, the general open-ended questions asked during the interview allowed the participants to provide answers in their own words. The reason for using in-depth interviews was because it provides the opportunity to probe deeply into the subject of the study. This method allows participants ample freedom to describe their feelings in their own words and possibly in their local language, given the fact that most rural people in Nigeria are not literate and proficient in the English language like the urban citizens. In addition, the observation method was used to complement the in-depth interviews.
In order to analyze the data collected from the interview sessions, the study adopted the six thematic data analysis steps identified by Braun and Clarke (2013) which state that the process requires researchers to transcribe the recorded interviews. Having obtained the consent of the respondents to voluntarily participate in the interview session, the participants were told that their identity would be kept secret to encourage them to freely discuss the subject matter under investigation. For instance, to conceal the identity of the respondents, participants were coded as participants 1, 2 3…10.

Study Location

Angwan Garmai is a small rural settlement in Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Sub-Saharan Africa in Nigeria. The rural area has a population of three hundred people. The rural settlement shares a boundary with Keffi LGA. The major preoccupation of the people is farming. The selection of this community by the researchers was because the location is a typical farming village in Nigeria where access to social amenities is often not readily available.

Participant Selection and Data Collection

Purposive sampling was used to select 10 participants from a rural settlement to participate in the study. Clearance was sought from the leader of the village to enable the researchers to conduct the study as well as appoint a person that would coordinate participants for the study. Permission was graciously granted, and an individual was appointed to mobilize participants to attend the interview session. The meeting for the interview session with the participants was conducted separately and individually based on their convenience. The interviews took a period of two weeks to be conducted.
The venue of the interview session was the village square. A village square is a designated area in a typical African rural setting where members of a community converge for relaxation and meetings. The nature of the interview was that when a question was given to a participant, he or she was given time to think about the question asked. Out of the 10 participants that participated in the study 7 were males while 3 were females. In terms of age, the participants were between the ages of 25-39 years. Out of the 10 participants, only 4 could read and write in English. So, we had to use the predominant language spoken by the people which is Hausa Language (a popular language spoken by most residents of North-Central Nigeria) to conduct the interview.
The interviews adopted the semi-structured format which ensures consistency thereby giving participants the latitude to discuss their understanding of the concept of investigation in a more in-depth manner. During the interview session, each respondent was given about 25-30 minutes to respond to the questions. While listening to participants’ answers, the researchers were recording the conversation as well as taking notes of key information in response to the questions that were asked. It is also worth mentioning here that, during the interview session, the researcher’s paid keen attention to the expression of nonverbal communication cues from the participants to gauge their approval, disapproval, or acceptance of the subject of discourse. After each participant exhausted his or her time, the main point of their submission was summarized and documented appropriately (Kontagora, Watts, & Allsop, 2018). The participants were asked to identify the new media platforms through which they were exposed to COVID-19-related information, the extent to which they were exposed to media messages on COVID-19, their perception of COVID-19 messages, and the influence of COVID-19 messages on their attitude towards the virus.

Data Analysis

We analyzed the recorded data and notes collected from the interview session to ensure the information was accurate and reflected the views of the participants. A thorough analysis of the information gathered from the in-depth interviews was presented thematically by identifying themes elicited from the interview sessions with the participants. This was done in line with the analysis of the qualitative data technique put forward by Braun & Clarke (2013). The researchers ensure that these steps were adequately followed during and after the interview. The findings of the study were discussed in tandem with the objectives of the study in relation to the theory and literature reviewed in the study. This method aligns with previous studies (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Parajuli & Doneys, 2017). So, the themes centered on gauging the perception of the rural people and their attitude towards COVID-19 media messages.

Findings

The findings have been categorized into five sub-sections. First, the new media platforms through which rural dwellers were exposed to COVID-19 media messages. Second, is the level of exposure to new media messages among rural dwellers in Nigeria. Third, is the level of understanding of COVID-19 preventive measures among rural folks. Fourth, perceptions of rural dwellers on COVID-19 media messages. Fifth, the influence of COVID-19 media messages on the attitude of the rural dwellers towards the virus.

New media platforms through which rural dwellers were exposed to COVID-19 media messages

The entire study participants recognized the fact that their knowledge of COVID-19 came from their exposure to media. The participants got information on COVID-19 largely from Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, websites, cell phones, and text messages from NCDC. Out of the 10 participants, seven of them opined that they got information on COVID-19 via text messages on their mobile devices, while the remainder asserts that they got to know about the virus through information on Facebook. For instance, one of the participants stated that:
  • It was my elder brother who came home one faithful day and broke the news that there was a new disease in town. I did not know such a disease exist in Nigeria. My brother said that he got to know about it through information shared on Facebook that his co-worker in his workplace received (Participant_2 Male, Age: 25)

The response of the above participant indicates that his knowledge about COVID-19 came because of his brother’s exposure to the information shared on Facebook through a co-worker in his workplace. The consensus among the participants is that they receive most of their information on COVID-19 through several social media platforms. The participants reveal that Facebook and WhatsApp health public enlightenment campaign messages happened to be the dominant channels of communication that they rarely used to receive information on COVID-19 in the rural community. These findings align with an earlier study conducted by Obi-Ani et al. (2020), which alluded to the fact that health organizations and institutions utilized new media technologies to create awareness and educate the public on the novel COVID-19 virus.

Level of exposure to new media messages on COVID-19 among rural dwellers in Nigeria

The findings from the participants showed that their level of exposure to COVID-19 media messages was quite high. One of the participants was of the view that:
  • There was no day that I don’t get text messages on my mobile phone or information on social media concerning COVID-19. In fact, most of the information always made emphases on COVID-19 and how to control it spread across the country (Participant_ 1, Male, Age: 30).

Another participant corroborated the above statement by saying:
  • Almost on a daily basis I usually receive several text messages on my mobile phones intimating me on the measures to take in order to stay safe from contracting the virus. And these messages often come from the Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control (NCDC). At a point the messages were too much that I got tired with the whole thing (participant_6, Female, Age: 23).

The assertion by the participant above presupposes that he was inundated with so many text messages on COVID-19 from the NCDC (the body charged with the responsibility to control the spread of the virus in Nigeria). This implies that the participants frequently received COVID-19 messages. Other respondents equally attested to the fact that they frequently receive text messages on their mobile devices about the novel virus.

Level of understanding of COVID-19 preventive measures among rural folks

There was a general understanding of how COVID-19 can be transmitted and the safety measures that could be deployed in managing the virus among the rural dwellers. This suggests that the rural folks understood the messages they receive via the various new media platforms. When one of the participants was asked how COVID-19 could be contracted, the response was that:
  • We were told that COVID-19 can be transmitted through having close contact with an infected person, through the air in drops of liquid that come from the nose and mouth of someone who is infected, or touching the same surface that an infected person touched (participant_10 Female, Aged: 19).

In addition, to demonstrate that the respondents were familiar with the safety measures or protocols put in place to mitigate the spread of the virus to reduce the rate of citizens getting infected with the virus, a participant said the following measures could be used to mitigate the spread of the disease.
  • …washing of hands with a sanitizer, wearing of face mask, locating COVID-19 testing center, drinking of ginger and vitamin C, taking zinc tablets, keeping social distancing, and a host of other measures (participant_ 4, Female, Age: 27).

However, there was a general lack of knowledge about the origin of COVID-19 among the rural folks. Some participants believed that COVID-19 was a punishment from God for the sins of humanity while some others believed COVID-19 was created by the West to reduce the population of Africa. Several misconceptions trailed the outbreak of the disease among the rural people. For instance, a participant held the view that:
  • COVID-19 was manufactured by world leaders in order to engage in corruption and loot government money as well as control the lives of the people. According to the participant, they kept us indoors for weeks without giving us food. They want to control and determine how we are going to live our lives (participant_8, Male, Age: 21).

Generally, most of the participants do not have clear-cut knowledge of the origin of COVID-19. Many of the participants held divergent views regarding the source from which the virus originated from. The rural folks seem to be misinformed through some rumor or fake news peddling around on the circumstances that surrounded the emergence of the novel virus.

Perception of rural dwellers on COVID-19 media messages

Participants generally have a negative perception concerning media messages on the coronavirus disease. When asked why they have a negative perception of COVID-19 media messages, several answers were put forward by the respondents. One of the participants affirmed that:
  • Since they said this virus came to Nigeria, I have not seen any person in this village that is practically infected with the virus. However, I have been receiving lots of text messages on my mobile phones and Facebook account that so many people are infected with the disease but they refuse to show us the faces of people that were infected with the virus on social media. All they do is to roll out statistics of people that were infected with the virus but never show us those infected with COVID-19. However, when we watch news reports from other countries, they will show us the names of people who contacted the virus together with their faces and even their house address and how they contacted the virus. But in Nigeria, it was not so. This made me to doubt whether this virus thing was true (participant_ 1, Male, Age: 30).

Another participant shared the same notion with the participant above by saying:
  • Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, I have been eager to see the people that were reported to be infected with the virus but to my surprise I couldn’t see anyone. Even though some State’s governors came out to say that they contracted the disease, but I personally think it was not true. Most of them decided to say they had the virus because they wanted to get money from the federal government. We also saw the fake figures of infected people provided by most states governors in order to access COVID-19 funds from the government. Only Kogi State governor refused to admit that people in his State were infected with the disease despite huge pressure mounted by NCDC (participant_ 5, Male, Age: 20).

The above perception seems to be the consensus among most rural dwellers in relation to COVID-19. Many participants believe that COVID-19 was a scam to siphon government funds. To buttress this position, a participant said that “we in this village did not receive any palliative items the government claimed it gave as relief materials as a result of the pandemic.” This argument is the general perception of the participants about how the government handled the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Nigerian rural communities.

Influence of new media messages on COVID-19 on the attitude of the rural dwellers towards the virus

The findings indicated that most of the participants were not influenced by new media messages on COVID-19. Many of them attested to the fact that they did not comply with the non-pharmaceutical guidelines issued by the NCDC to control the spread of the disease. A respondent remarked that:
  • If you care to notice the attitude of people in this village since you came for this exercise you will discover that none of them was wearing face mask, people are still shaking each other, there was no physical distancing among the villagers. Life in the village is going on as normal (participant _3, Male, Age: 26).

The above submission represents the responses of the majority of the other participants. Most of the participants were of the view that there was no compliance with safety measures because no member of the community contracted the disease. One of the participants recounted that:
  • We have a common saying in our language that seeing is believing. Why should I believe that a virus exist when I have not seen persons that are infected with the disease. That is why people in this village are not using hand sanitizer or wearing any face mask (participant_8, Male, Age: 21).

Probing further to know whether the participants did not comply with government directives for people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 revealed that none of the participants or their family members got vaccinated. A participant affirmed that:
  • I refuse to go for vaccination because I heard that once you are vaccinated you will die. We have been receiving stories from social media that people who submitted themselves for vaccination eventually die or something terrible happened to them. I don’t want to experience this situation (participant_7, Male, Age: 18).

From the data gathered from the in-depth interview session, all the respondents expressed feelings of fear and disbelief at the thought of going for vaccination. The attitude of the villagers to COVID-19 was negative hence most of them could not comply with the safety measures prescribed by health professionals and the government to control the disease.

Discussion

This study tried to find out the knowledge, perception, and response to new media messages on COVID-19 among residents of a rural community in Nigeria. The study established that rural folk utilized different types of new media platforms to receive messages on COVID-19. For example, respondents affirmed that the predominant media they used are mobile phone devices, Facebook, and WhatsApp among several others. These findings are in accordance with previous studies such as the ones by Fast et al. (2014) and Rehman et al. (2021) that to facilitate a more robust public education and enlightenment on a larger scale in contemporary times, new forms of communication are being integrated by health institutions and organizations to ensure public engagement in crisis situations. Indeed, the use of new media technologies has increasingly become relevant in public health communication today. This has proven useful in view of the changing dynamics of the media landscape during the national lockdown imposed by countries around the world during and after the first wave of the pandemic.
Findings from the current study revealed that respondents were able to get updates on a regular basis through their mobile devices from the NCDC. For example, short messages with contents like “ensure you wear your facemask”, “clean your hands with a hand sanitizer”, and “avoid crowded gatherings and places” were circulated on various new media platforms to educate people on the novel virus. This made information sharing and communication faster - an advantage that new media platforms have over traditional media. Furthermore, the interactive nature of the new media in terms of sending quick feedback provided the opportunity for the public to engage with relevant professional bodies to ask pertinent questions on COVID-19 and get feedback almost immediately.
However, the study equally found that due to the infodemic occasioned by the pandemic, a lot of misleading and fake news was peddled on new media platforms which resulted in a situation where several conspiracy theories were manufactured concerning COVID-19. To a large extent, such exposure influenced the health behavior of the rural dwellers.
The findings in this study indicate that rural communities in Nigeria were well exposed to COVID-19 media messages. This aligns with the findings of Obasanmi and Egielewa (2021) that most respondents who participated in a survey they conducted claimed they have knowledge of the pandemic. Again, this could be attributed to the aggressive public media campaign executed by the government and the NCDC to create awareness of the pandemic across the country. It is interesting to know that respondents were able to find COVID-19 messages on the various new media platforms and equally understood the information passed by the NCDC regarding the preventive measures adopted to curtail the spread of the disease.
However, most rural folks in Nigeria lack adequate understanding concerning the origin of the COVID-19 disease. There were divergent views among rural people as to the origin of the virus. Some people believe that COVID-19 was manufactured by the West to reduce the population of Africa. While some other people said COVID-19 was a disease that was created to serve as a conduit to loot government resources by world leaders. This goes to show that there were misconceptions about the virus and its origin and spread to different countries of the world. Little wonder these misconceptions generally held by the villagers led to misinformation about COVID-19 among the rural folks. This corroborates the findings of Santos (2021) who observed that across different countries of the world there were conspiracy theories and outright misinformation in relation to the origin and spread of COVID-19.
Furthermore, the misinformation the rural folks had about COVID-19 made them develop a negative perception of the disease. The negative perception held by the people could easily be explained because the people did not have adequate knowledge about the virus. The foregoing contradicts the findings from similar research conducted by Reyes et al. (2021) which acknowledges that the lack of education or knowledge was not solely responsible for the high degree of misconceptions as persons with higher knowledge in science are more likely to have divergent/polarized beliefs. Even though they were well exposed to public media campaigns on the COVID-19 virus, the majority of the participants did not comply with the government directive to go for vaccination. The respondents doubted the authenticity of the virus because of the skewed media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the rural people, media reports lack evidence of people that claimed to have been infected with the virus.
To worsen the situation, several statistics of people who were infected with the virus were reported without any visual evidence to show the particulars of COVID-19 patients. This development made people doubt the reality of the virus. Thus, they fail to adopt the safety measures put in place to mitigate the virus. The finding of this study is in line with the Health Belief Model which espouses that peoples’ willingness to change their health behaviors is primarily dependent on their health perceptions (Olaigbe & Abiodun, 2020).
The study found that the COVID-19 media public campaign did not influence the attitude of the rural folks positively. This is evidenced by the fact that the majority of the respondents refused to adhere to government instructions to go for vaccination. Also, the researchers attested to the views expressed by the rural folks during the interview session. The researchers found through observations that people of the community were going about their normal activities without wearing a face mask and observing social distancing. In fact, clusters of people were seen in groups sitting together and engaging in close contact with each other. It was also discovered that none of the participants were vaccinated against the virus. Further findings showed that there was a poor adoption and understanding of information on COVID-19 among the rural people which manifested in the people’s inability to use hand sanitizer, face masks, and observe social distancing in the community. This discovery is consistent with the study conducted by Renner & Reuter (2012) who found in their study that peoples’ response to the A/H1N1 virus and ‘swine Flu” outbreak was not successful because they did not feel any potential risk with the outbreak of the virus. This again reinforced the Risk Perception Theory that for people to comply with public health campaigns, they must feel the risk of getting infected with a disease - otherwise, their attitude towards an outbreak may not be positive. This finding was clearly demonstrated in the current study. The rural folks did not feel that they are potentially at risk to get infected with the virus hence this impacted negatively on their attitude.
Rural folks’ perceptions and responses to COVID-19 media messages are negative. This revelation has huge implications for the Nigerian government and the NCDC. First, the government should strive to really concentrate and intensify health education in Nigerian rural communities. To this end, health experts and caregivers can be deployed to help provide adequate education to rural folks concerning the outbreak of any health emergencies. Second, there should be an integration of African traditional communication systems (such as folk songs, town criers, traditional wears, and artifacts) in addressing any health challenges in Nigerian rural communities. Based on the findings of this study, traditional media channels and new media technologies are not enough to elicit the desired behavior change among rural people. NCDC, government, and communication experts should ensure that they integrate the local systems of communication which the rural people are familiar with to communicate as well as carry out health education in Nigerian rural areas.

Conclusion

Our findings show that rural folks in Nigeria were well exposed to COVID-19 media messages targeted at mobilizing them to respond to government and NCDC prescribed protocols for controlling the spread of COVID-19 in Nigerian rural areas. The study was able to establish that most of the rural dwellers utilized new media technologies to receive information on the novel coronavirus disease.
It was equally discovered in the study that despite rural folks’ reasonable amount of exposure to health education campaigns on COVID-19, their exposure did not translate or elicit positive perception and behavior change towards the virus. This was because most of the rural folks did not have adequate knowledge of the origin of the virus. This, therefore, led to the acceptance of cases of misinformation and fake news surrounding the causes, cure, and management of COVID-19. This study, therefore, recommends that government and healthcare educators should integrate African traditional communication systems alongside the traditional channels of communication to educate rural dwellers on future health epidemics.

Limitation of the Study

This study was limited, given the fact that its area of focus is very small in scope. It was focused on a particular small rural settlement in Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Further research should investigate larger communities in Nigeria. This study equally recommends that a comparative study between African traditional communications systems and traditional means of communication should be done by future research to establish the relevance of the two systems of communication in public health intervention campaigns in Nigerian rural communities.

References

Abbas, J., Wang, D., Su, Z., & Ziapour, A. (2021). The role of social media in the advent of COVID-19 pandemic: Crisis management, mental health challenges and implications. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 14, 1917-1932. https://doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S284313
crossref pmid pmc
Adetiba, M. (2020). COVID-19: Why is Africa not picking bodies on the streets? Retrieved from https://www.vangaurdngr.com/2020/08/COVID-19-why-is-africa-not-picking-bodies-on-the-streets/
Adler, J.R., Anwar, A., Malik, M., Raees, V., & Anwar, A. (2020). Role of mass media and public health communications in the COVID-19 pandemic. Cureus, 12(9), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.10453
crossref pmid pmc
Afolalu, O.O., Atekoja, O.E., Oyewumi, Z.O., Adeyeye, S.O., Jolayemi, K.I., & Akingbade, O. (2021). Perceived impact of coronavirus pandemic on uptake of healthcare services in South West Nigeria. Pan African Medical Journal, 40(26), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2021.40.26.28279
crossref pmid pmc
Ahmad, A.R., & Murad, H.R. (2020). The impact of social media on panic during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iraqi Kurdistan: Online questionnaire study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(5). e19556https://doi.org/10.2196/19556
crossref pmid pmc
Alawari, C. (2020). Mapping fake news and health communication gaps in COVID-19 communication in Nigeria. Research project submitted to Department of Mass Communication, Igbinedion University Okada. Retrieved from https://iuokada.edu.ng/iptto/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/
Ali, R., Jawee, S., Baig, M., Malik, A.A., Syed, F., & Rehman, R. (2021). General public perception of social media, impact of COVID-19 pandemic, and related misconceptions. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2021.229
crossref
Antwi-Boasiako, J., & Nyarkoh, E. (2021). Government communication during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana. International Journal of Public Administration, 44(13), 1175-1188. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2021.1956950
crossref
Arslanca, T., Fidan, C., Daggez, M., & Dursun, P. (2021). Knowledge, preventive behaviors and risk perception of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross sectional study in Turkish health care workers. PLoS ONE, 16(4). e0250017https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250017
crossref pmid pmc
Asemah, E.S. (2021). Communication, pandemic and civil unrest in Nigeria. Franklead Publishing Company.
Asemah, E.S., Nkwam-Uwaoma, A.O., & Santas, T. (2017). Community media for rural development communication. University of Jos press.
Asubiaro, T., Badmus, O., Ikenyei, U., Popoola, B., & Igwe, E. (2021). Exploring sub-Saharan Africa’s communication of COVID-19-related health information on social media. Libri, 71(2), 123-139. doi: 10.1515/libri-2020-0097
crossref
Bakibinga-Gaswaga, E., Bakibinga, S., Bakibinga, D.B., & Bakibinga, P. (2020). Digital technologies in the COVID-19 responses in sub-Saharan Africa: Policies, problems and promises. Pan Africa Medical Journal, 35(2), 38. https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2020.35.2.23456
crossref
Barrantes, S.A., Rodrlguez, M., & Perez, R. (2009). Information management and communication in emergencies and disasters: Manual for disaster response teams. Washington, D.C:PAHO.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
crossref
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. Sage.
Budd, J., Miller, B.S., Manning, E.M., Lampos, V., Zhuang, M., Edelstein, M., Rees, G., Emery, V.C., Stevens, M.M., Keegan, N., Short, M.J., Pillay, D., Manley, E., Cox, I.J., Heymann, D., Johnson, A.M., & McKendry, R.A. (2020). Digital technologies in the public-health response to COVID-19. Nature Medicine, 26, 1183-1192. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1011-4
crossref pmid
Cucinotta, D., & Vanelli, M. (2020). WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. Acta Biomed, 91(1), 157-160. https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v91i1.9397
crossref pmid pmc
Dan-Nwafor, C., Ochu, C.L., Elimian, K., Oladejo, J., Ilori, E., & Umeokonkwo, C. … Ihekweazu, C. (2020). Nigeria’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic: January to May 2020. Journal of Global Health, 10(2), 020399. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.10.020399
crossref pmid pmc
de Tolly, K., & Benjamin, P. (2012). Mobile phones: Opening new channels for health communication. In R. Obregon & S. Waisbord (Eds.), The handbook of global health communication (pp. 311https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118241868.ch15
Dixit, S., Ogundeji, Y.K., & Onwujekwe, O. (2020, Jul. 2). How well has Nigeria responded to COVID-19. Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/07/02/how-well-has-nigeria-responded-to-COVID-19/
Ebrahim, A. H., Saif, Z. Q., Buheji, M., AlBasri, N., Al-Husaini, F. A., & Jahrami, H. (2020). COVID-19 information-seeking behavior and anxiety symptoms among parents. OSP Journal of Health Care and Medicine, 1(1), 1-105. Retrieved from https://www.ospublishers.com/pdf/HCM-1-105.pdf
Ekezie, W., & Bosah, G. (2021). Demographic representation of COVID-19 social media and information engagement in Nigeria. Population Medicine, 3(18). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.18332/popmed/137087
crossref
Ekpenyong, M. (2021). Traditional media channels, culture and preventive messages on COVID-19 pandemic for rural dwellers. Nasarawa Journal of Multimedia and Communication Studies, 4(1), 122-134.
Fadhilah, N.M., Fauziah, S., Riana, D., Eko, A., Yulianto, A., & Sulthon, B.M. (2020). Influence of overload information about COVID-19 pandemic on internet for psychological illnesses and behavioral intentions to continue searching for information. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1641, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1641/1/012018
crossref
Fast, I., Sørensen, K., Brand, H., & Suggs, L.S. (2014). Social media for public health: An exploratory policy analysis. European Journal of Public Health, 1-5. Retrieved from http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/
crossref
Fraustino, J.D., Liu, B.F., & Jin, Y. (2017). Social media use during disasters: A research synthesis and road map. In L. Austin & Y. Jin (Eds.), Social media use during disasters: A research synthesis and road map. Social media and crisis communication (1st ed). (pp. 283. Routledge.
Gever, V.C., & Ezeah, G. (2020). The media and health education: Did Nigerian media provide sufficient warning messages on coronavirus disease? Health education research, 35(5), 460-470. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyaa020
crossref pmid pmc
Glanz, K. (2010). Behavioral and social sciences research. Retrieved from htt://www.esourcersearch.org
Igyuve, A., Inobemhe, K., Udeh, N.T.S., & Ugber, F. (2020). A discourse on the use of new media technologies in Nigerian television newsroom. International Journal of Social Sciences and Management Review, 3(6), 248-265. https://doi.org/10.37602/IJSSMR.2020.3529
crossref
Inobemhe, K., Santas, T., Aruna, M., & Umoru, S. (2021). A discourse on Nigeria’s public health concerns and social media health communication campaigns in the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria. CRUTECH Journal of Communication, 3(1), 1-15.
Iyengar, K., Upadhyaya, G.K., Vaishya, R., & Jain, V. (2020). COVID-19 and applications of smartphone technology in the current pandemic. Diabetes Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews, 14(5), 733-737. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2020.05.033
crossref
Jiang, N., & Ryan, J. (2020). How does digital technology help in the fight against COVID-19? Let’s Talk Development. Retrieved from https://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/how-does-digital-technology-help-fight-against-COVID-19
Kontagora, H. L., Watts, M., & Allsop, T. (2018). The management of Nigerian primary school teachers. International Journal of Educational Development, 59, 128-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2017.10.011
crossref
Lucas, J.M., Targema, T.S., Jibril, A., Sambo, E.O., & Istifanus, B.A. (2020). Combating COVID-19 infodemic in Nigerian rural communities: The imperatives of traditional communication systems. ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement, 4(2), 360-385. https://doi.org/10.7454/ajce.v4i2.1102
crossref
Miller, L.M.S., Gee, P.M., & Katz, R.A. (2021). The importance of understanding COVID-19: The role of knowledge in promoting adherence to protective behaviors. Front. Public Health, 9(581497), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.581497
crossref pmid pmc
Moemeka, A.A. (2012). Development communication in action: Building understanding and creating participation. University Press of America.
Moemeka, A.A. (2016). Reporter’s handbook: An introduction to mass communication and effective journalism (3rd Edition). TextLinks Prints.
Njanubok, S.A., & Mbazie, S.C. (2021). Awareness and response of Rivers State residents to COVID-19 enlightenment. Journal of Multimedia and Communication Studies, 4(1), 189-201.
Northouse, P., & Northouse, L. (1985). Health Communication: A hand book for health professionals. Prentice-Hill.
Obasanmi, O.J., & Egielewa, E.P. (2021). Media roles and perceptions of rural dwellers on COVID-19: A case study of selected communities in Edo State, Nigeria. Innovations, 64, 94-104.
Obaseki, D. (2021, Aug. 27). Looking beyond COVID-19: Developing Nigeria’s healthcare system. Vanguard. Retrieved from https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/08/looking-beyond-COVID-19-developing-nigerias-healthcare-system/amp
Obi-Ani, N.A., Anikwenze, C., & Isiani, M.C. (2020). Social media and the COVID-19 pandemic: Observations from Nigeria. Cogent Arts and Humanities, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2020.1799483
crossref
Obi-Ani, N.A., Ezeaku, D.O., Ikem, O., Isiani, C., Obi-Ani, P., & Chisolum, O.J. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic and the Nigerian primary healthcare system: The leadership question. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 8(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2020.1859075
crossref
Obiwulu, O., & Davis, D. (2020). Why effective communication is fundamental to the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria. Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa. Retrieved from https://cseaafrica.org/why-effective-communication-is-fundamental-to-the-fight-against-COVID-19-in-nigeria/
Ochuba, V.O. (2013). Improving the quality of education in Nigeria through effectiveness inspection of schools. Retrieved from hhtp://www.questia.com/library/journal/IGI
Okereke, C., & Nielsen, K. (2020, May 7). The problem with predicting coronavirus apocalypse in Africa. Aljazeera. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/opinion/2020/5/7/the-problem-with-predicting-coronavirus-apocalypse-in-africa
Okereke, M., Ukor, N.A., Ngaruiya, L.M., Mwansa, C., Alhaj, S.M., Ogunkola, I.O., Jaber, H.M., Isa, M.A., Ekpenyong, A., & Lucero-Prisno, D.E. (2021). COVID-19 misinformation and infodemic in rural Africa. American Journal of Medical Hygiene, 104(2), 453-456. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-1488
crossref pmid pmc
Okorie, N. (2021). Assessing the media for effective education towards attitudinal change during COVID-19 outbreak in Lagos, Nigeria. Ethno. Med., 15(1-2), 85-92. https://doi.org/10.31901/24566772.2021/15.1-2.626
crossref
Okwudiri, E., Cole, O.Z., Friday, V.L., Egbeyon, P., & Chkwuebuka, O.S. (2021). Influence of NCDC COVID-19 SMS campaign on the knowledge and behavior of undergraduates in Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Edo State, Nigeria. In E.S. Asemah & M. Osemeke & I.F. Ohiokha & M.I. Oaikha & K. Ola & E. Okwudiri (Eds.), Pandemic in the 21st century: Multidimensional approaches, communication, economic, finance, administration and governance in a pandemic (pp. 5-15). Rhyce Kerex Publishers.
Olaigbe, T. A., & Abiodun, S.B. (2020). A survey of health-seeking behavior of residents in two local government areas in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria during COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Tropical Disease & Health, 41(15), 33-45. https://doi.org/10.9734/ijtdh/v41i1530356
crossref
Olaoluwa, R.B., & Rasheed, S.T. (2021). Effectiveness of radio health programmes for public enlightenment during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown among residents of Ijebu-North East local government area of Ogun State. Nasarawa Journal of Multimedia and Communication Studies, 4(1), 155-168.
Oliver, N., Lepri, B., Sterly, H., Lambiotte, R., Deletaille, S., de Nadai, M., Letouze, E., Salah, A.A., Benjamins, R., Cattuto, C., Colizza, V., de Cordes, N., Fraiberger, S.P., Koebe, T., Lehmann, S., Murillo, J., Pentland, A., Pham, P.N., Pivetta, F., ..., & Vinck, P. (2020). Mobile phone data for informing public health actions across the COVID-19 pandemic life cycle. Science Advances, 6(23). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc0764
crossref
Ovie, F.O., & Asemah, E.S. (2021). Knowledge, perception and response to COVID-19 media messages among the staff of Delta State Polytechnic, Otefe-Oghara. In E.S.. Asemah (Ed.), Communication, pandemic and civil unrest in Nigeria (pp. 101-117). Franklead printing and publishing company.
Oyebanji, O., Abba, F.I., Akande, O.W., Aniaku, E.C., Abubakar, A., Oladejo, J., Aderinola, O., Benyeogor, E., Owoeye, F., Bemo, V.N., & Ihekweazu, C. (2021). Building local capacity for emergency coordination: Establishment of subnational public health emergency operations centers in Nigeria. BMJ Global Health, 6, e007203https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007203
crossref pmid pmc
Paek, H.J., & Hove, T. (2017). Risk perception and characteristics. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349546167
Pandya, A., & Lodha, P. (2021). Social connectedness, excessive screen time during COVID-19 and mental health: A review of current evidence. Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 3, 684137. https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2021.684137
crossref
Parajuli, R., & Doneys, P. (2017). Exploring the role of telemedicine in improving access to healthcare services by women and girls in rural Nepal. Telematics and Informatics, 34(7), 1166-1176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2017.05.006
crossref
Pousadela, I. (2020). Access to information during a pandemic - a matter of life or death. Just Security. Retrieved from https://www.justsecurity.org/72557/access-to-information-during-a-pandemic-a-matter-of-life-or-death/
Rathore, F.A., & Farooq, F. (2020). Information overload and infodemic in the COVID-19 pandemic. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 70(Suppl. 3), 162-165. https://doi.org/10.5455/JPMA.38
crossref pmid
REACH. (2020). COVID-19 communication and information flow in hard-to-reach areas in Borno state, Nigeria. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/COVID-19-communication-and-information-flow-hard-reach-areas-borno-state-nigeria-june
Reddy, V.B., & Gupta, A. (2020). Importance of effective communication during COVID-19 infodemic. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 9(8), 3793-3796. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_719_20
crossref pmid pmc
Rehman, A.U., Zakar, R., Zakar, M.Z., Hani, U., Wrona, K.J., & Fischer, F. (2021). Role of the media in health-related awareness campaigns on perception of COVID-19: A pre-post study in the general population in Pakistan. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 779090. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.779090
crossref pmid pmc
Renner, B., & Reuter, T. (2012). Predicting vaccination using numerical and affective risk perceptions: The case of A/H1N1 influenza. Vaccine, 30(49), 7019-7026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.09.064
crossref pmid
Reyes, L.M., Ortiz, L., Abedi, M., Luciano, Y., Ramos, W., & Reyes, P.J.J. (2021). Misinformation on COVID-19 origin and its relationship with perception and knowledge about social distancing: A cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE, 16(3). e0248160https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248160
crossref pmid pmc
Rhima, T.E. (2020). COVID-19 information seeking strategies of rural dwellers in Delta North, Nigeria. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), 4421https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/4421
Santas, T., & Asemah, E.S. (2013). Public perception of the role of rural broadcasting in rural development in Nigeria. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 15(7), 165-180.
Santos, F.O.D. (2021). Myths and misconceptions on COVID-19: ‘Congo check’ and ‘Talato’ verification experiences. Frontiers in Communication, 6, 627214. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.627214
crossref
Sitto, K., Lubinga, E., Chiumbu, S., Sobane, K., & Mpofu, N. (2022). Evaluating South African and Namibian governments’ use of digital media during COVID-19. World Medical & Health Policy, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.507
crossref pmid
Stake, R. E. (2013). Multiple case study analysis. Guilford Press.
Stewart, R., Madonsela, A., Tshabalala, N., Etale, L., & Theunissen, N. (2022). The importance of social media users responses in tackling digital COVID-19 misinformation in Africa. Digital Health, 8, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221085070
crossref pmid pmc
Sunday, J.D., Inobemhe, K., & Santas, T. (2021). Public health and its political face: Issues and challenges before the media in the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria. In In : V.A. Kolawole & M.A. Mawoli (Eds.), COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria: Trends and issues from management and social sciences perspectives In: Proceedings of the first Annual Conference of the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences; Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State - Nigeria.
Uyoga, S., Adetifa, I.M.O, Karanja, H.K., Nyagwange, J., Tuju, J., Wanjiku, P., Aman, R., Mwangangi, M., Amoth, P., Kasera, K., Rombo, C., Yegon, C., Kithi, K., Odhiambo, E., Rotich, T., Orgut, I., Kihara, S., Otiende, M., ..., & Warimwe, G.M. (2021). Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in Kenyan blood donors. Science, 371(6524), 79-82. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe1916
crossref pmid pmc
WHO. (2019). Recommendations on digital interventions for health system strengthening. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789241550505
WHO. (2021). Nigeria leverages lessons learnt from Ebola response in fight against COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved from https://www.afro.who.int/news/nigeria-leverages-lessons-learnt-ebola-response-fight-against-COVID-19-pandemic
Wong, A., Serene, H., Olusanya, O., Antonini, M.V., & Lyness, D. (2021). The use of social media and online communications in times of pandemic COVID-19. Journal of the Intensive Care Society, 22(3), 255-260. https://doi.org/10.1177/1751143720966280
crossref pmid pmc
Zhuang, R., Xiang, Y., Han, T., Yang, G.A., & Zhang, Y. (2016). Cell phone-based health education messaging improves health literacy. African Health Sciences, 16(1), 311-318. https://doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v16i1.41
crossref pmid pmc
TOOLS
METRICS Graph View
  • 0 Crossref
  •  0 Scopus
  • 1,228 View
  • 27 Download
Related articles


Editorial Office
1 Hallymdaehak-gil, Chuncheon 24252, Republic of Korea
Tel: +82-33-248-3255    E-mail: editor@hnmr.org                

Copyright © 2024 by Health & New Media Research Institute.

Developed in M2PI