Perception of Two Rural Communities and one Indigenous Community on the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In view of the presence of COVID-19, it was identified that in Paraguay, selfgenerated information is scarce and sometimes false; even so, it is disseminated by the media, in addition to the fact that, in rural populations, information on how the coronavirus affects health is insufficient and communicators in these areas are not trained in the dissemination of this type of news. The research was carried out in two rural communities and one indigenous community in the district of Alto Vera, Itapúa, Paraguay. The main objective was to elaborate a participatory diagnosis to determine the perception of the communities of Poncho, Caraguata and Mberu Pirapo'i on the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed approach research was applied: a non-experimental, transactional-descriptive design was used for the quantitative part, and a focus group (health personnel, community leaders/referents and authorities) for the qualitative part. At the conclusion of the research, it was found that the population accesses information on COVID-19 mainly through radio media, followed by television and social networks; however, they cannot confirm whether the information received through the latter is real or not. In addition, a decrease in the implementation of sanitary measures in the area was identified; the information obtained is necessary input to establish a communication strategy using existing technologies in the community, in order to allow a fluid and real communication about the COVID-19 pandemic to be implemented in the study area and with the possibility of being replicated.