Investigating the use of Facebook by Ministry of Health for health communication during Covid-19 pandemic

CHEOK, PEI LI (2022) Investigating the use of Facebook by Ministry of Health for health communication during Covid-19 pandemic. [Project Paper] (Submitted)

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Abstract

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) characterised COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020. During the pandemic, health communication is important as it can influence public to make informed healthier decisions. Effective health communication can enhance awareness and ensure compliance with the SOP to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19. Objectives: This study aimed to understand the utilisation of Facebook by Ministry of Health, Malaysia and public engagement during different phases of the Movement Control Order (MCO) during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to May 2021. Methodology: Data extraction was conducted using the Facepager version 4.3.10. The MOH Facebook profile ID was entered into the software, and the pre-set keys were used to retrieve the post. The information extracted included the content of the message, created time, permalink URL and media type. The parameters “since” and “until” were used to filter the post by date. The engagement metrics such as the users’ reactions, comments, and shares were also extracted. All retrieved data were exported into Microsoft Excel and analysed using SPSS version 26. Results and Discussion: Photos were the most frequent type of post during all phases of MCO (n= 1842, 68%), followed by video (n= 590, 22%), link (n=180, 6%) and text (n= 108, 4%). MCO by state recorded the highest photo posts (MPPD=6.71), video posts (MPPD=1.70) and link posts (MPPD=0.83) compared to other phases of MCO. The highest number of post was from the afternoon (n=1227, 45%), followed by evening (n= 1169, 43%), morning (n= 272, 10%) and early morning (n=52, 2%). Most of the posts were uploaded on weekdays (n= 2022, 74%) compared to weekend (n=298, 26%). There was no significant correlation between COVID-19 posts and COVID-19 cases during MCO and CMCO. However, there was a significant correlation between the COVID-19 posts and COVID-19 cases during RMCO and MCO by state. The Kruskal Wallis test showed there was a significant difference between the different MCO phases with positive emotion (Χ2= 23.772, p<0.001), negative emotion (Χ2= 10.426, p=0.015), comment (Χ2= 70.353, p<0.001) and share (Χ2=69.149, p<0.001). Conclusion: This study provided valuable insight into online engagement through social media networking during different phases of MCO to better understand the users' emotional sentiments. It is hoped that the result will aid in future planning for health communication in the event that another outbreak occurs in our country. Keywords: Facebook, health communication, COVID-19, pandemic

Item Type:	Project Paper
Faculty:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Science
Depositing User:	Mr Hafizzuddin Hamidon
Date Deposited:	23 Aug 2023 02:28
Last Modified:	23 Aug 2023 02:28
URI:	http://psaspb.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/1137

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