HEALTH AUTHORITIES TO IMPROVE COVID-19 RESPONSE FOLLOWING KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES SURVEY.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness recently launched the KAP survey aimed at determining the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among the Saint Lucian population.

Medical Surveillance Officer Dr. Gemma Chery provided information on how persons can access the KAP survey.

“The survey web-based and will be done through ‘Survey monkey.’ Persons are going to get an invitation. An invitation is going to be sent out via the two mobile companies, the telecommunications companies: Flow and Digicel. The link for the survey is also going to be posted on Facebook, Whatsapp group and you would basically get an invitation and in that invitation there is a link to the survey.”

Dr. Chery also provided greater insight on the information that will be obtained from the survey to determine the best intervention for responding to COVID-19 in Saint Lucia.

“When we talk of knowledge we basically want to know what it is that persons know about COVID-19. So, we basically want to know how much information that the public knows in terms of COVID-19. In terms of attitudes, it is basically what you believe, we want to know how persons thought process, how they think about certain things. So, there has been a lot of information about masks; are persons really going to wear a mask, do you think that you should wear a mask every time you go out? In terms of the practices, what you do. So, there is a lot about hand washing. Are persons actually washing their hands? It is not just washing their hands but washing your hands for the 20 secs and washing it the way you suppose to.”

The KAP survey is also expected to assist health authorities to plan appropriate strategies to prepare and manage the general public for the global pandemic of COVID-19. So says Dr. Gemma Chery.

“So the information that we get after we do the analysis; that information is going to help strengthen what the Ministry is already doing, and it will assist in the decisions that we take. So, it is basically going to be used for policy direction and to basically strengthen what is currently happening to ensure the safety of each and every one of us.”

The KAP survey will commence on Monday, June 29th and will run for 2 weeks.