Short Communication
Year: 2021 | Month: July | Volume: 11 | Issue: 7 | Pages: 351-357
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20210748
A Multidisciplinary Public Health Approach through Community Engagement in COVID-19 Prevention and Control – A Proposal for Bhadradri Kothagudem District in Telangana State
Kamarapu Ruma Chandana1, Farzana Memon2, Raj Narayan3, Alfusainey Manneh4
1Director, Adivasi Arogya Kendra Foundation, Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Telangana.
2Research Assistant, Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
3Assistant Research Officer, Department of Management Sciences, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi.
4Senior Nursing Officer, Bwiam General Hospital, The Gambia, West Africa.
Corresponding Author: Kamarapu Ruma Chandana
ABSTRACT
With pandemic involving different forms of disease burden on the public in terms of accurate information, treatment, care and precautions it is a necessity to promptly utilise conventional and innovative approaches in disseminating health related services and information via a community centric approach for prevention and control of COVID-19 and building community resilience. Advantage of community engagement is that it involves groups of people belonging to one geographical area who can actively engage in implementation of health initiatives and also report concerns over health services which could help in making effective and innovative strategies to minimise impact of COVID-19. Therefore a team of multidisciplinary health professionals collaborated in framing a four pronged strategy involving communication methods like IEC, BCC and SBCC to disseminate key messages for motivating and sustaining positive health behaviour among people.
Key words: IEC, BCC, SBCC, ASHA, ANM, SDG.