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Implementation and User Evaluation of the SANGYAN Digital Health Platform to Enhance Knowledge About COVID-19 and
Ashish Joshi1, Ashruti Bhatt2, Surapaneni Krishna Mohan3
1School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Robison Hall 3825 DeSoto Avenue, Memphis, TN, 38152, United States, 1 443 570-6018.
Background:
The spread of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of evidence-based information. The SANGYAN podcast promotes evidence-based knowledge on health-related issues in multiple languages in a simple, cost-effective, and concise manner. This provides individuals access to the appropriate information in an accessible manner.
Objective:
The study's goal is to assess user preferences for health information on a digital health platform designed to address COVID-19 misinformation.
Methods:
SANGYAN was developed by integrating the principles of social cognitive theory and information processing theory. The SANGYAN podcast was created to promote the importance of evidence-based information in order to address the spread of misinformation. The study design was a quasi-experimental study; prior to introducing the SANGYAN podcast, participants' sociodemographic information was collected, and health literacy was assessed using the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine, Revised scale. After listening to the podcast, participants were interviewed about its usability, and they completed the System Usability Scale and the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire - 8. Data were collected from a total of 500 participants, 250 each from the Rural Health Training Center and Panimalar Medical College Hospital & Research Institute. The participants were older than 18 years when they were included. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed.
Results:
A total of 500 participants were enrolled in the study, 50% (250/500) from rural areas and 50% (250/500) from urban areas. The majority of the participants were 45 years to 64 years old (155/500, 31%), were women (289/500, 57.8%), had poor health literacy (384/500, 76.8%), and had a high school education or less than a high school certification (241/500, 48.2%). The mean overall System Usability System score was 70.9 (SD 17.73), with those aged 18 years to 24 years having the highest mean score (81.2, SD 15.48). High user satisfaction was present, with 97.6% (487/499) obtaining the desired information from the platform.
Conclusions:
The study revealed that the SANGYAN podcast provides information to diverse individuals, as it is multilingual, and was found useful by the participants.
