Access to Digital Information and Protective Awareness and Practices towards COVID-19 in Urban Marginalized Communities

Siwarat Pattanasri; Thi Phuoc Lai Nguyen; Thanh Bien Vu; Ekbordin Winijkul; Mokbul Morshed Ahmad

doi:10.3390/healthcare10061097

Access to Digital Information and Protective Awareness and Practices towards COVID-19 in Urban Marginalized Communities

Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Jun 13;10(6):1097. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10061097.

Authors

Siwarat Pattanasri¹, Thi Phuoc Lai Nguyen², Thanh Bien Vu³, Ekbordin Winijkul⁴, Mokbul Morshed Ahmad²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning (DPT), National and Regional Planning Bureau, Bangkok 10310, Thailand.
² Department of Development and Sustainability, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand.
³ Department of Land Management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Hanoi 131000, Vietnam.
⁴ Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Changes, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand.

Abstract

Due to digital inequality, poor living, and health care conditions, marginalized people are the most vulnerable group to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined how digital information influences knowledge, practices, threat appraisals, and motivation behaviors of urban marginalized communities. It examined slum people's digital competencies, their access to COVID-19 online information, and their trust in COVID-19 information provided by both online and offline media. A total of 453 slum people in Bangkok city, Thailand were surveyed, and multiple regression was performed to examine whether socio-demographic factors influence the access to online communication of slum people. We hypothesized that access to online information might affect marginalized people's awareness of COVID-19 and resulted in greater levels of their practices and protective behaviors. The finding showed that slum people who had access to online information tended to have a better awareness of self-protection against COVID-19, while elderly, female, and foreign migrant workers faced a number of constraints in accessing COVID-19 online information. Such results are important considering the pandemic is compelling societies to turn toward digital technologies to confront the COVID-19 pandemic and address pandemic-related issues. We also discuss how to enhance the role of digital communication in helping urban marginalized communities during and after the pandemic.

Keywords: digital competence; digital inequality; knowledge; practice; slum communities (Thailand).

Grants and funding

The authors are grateful to the Thai HM the Queen’s Scholarship for Ms. Siwarat Pattanasri’s Master’s study and SEI Project No/work order no. 10035600 to Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).