Providing Covid-19 Health Information to a Vulnerable Population

India Health & Nutrition

Providing Covid-19 Health Information to a Vulnerable Population

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Researchers

Rebecca Dizon-Ross, Seema Jayachandran, Ariel Zucker

Abstract

 

This randomized controlled trial tests whether interventions that offset people’s over-optimism can improve the effectiveness of health risk information provision and correspondingly improve health in Coimbatore, India. Over-optimism about one's health risk (i.e., a tendency to believe that one's risk is lower than it is) has been documented in many settings and has been shown to lead to riskier behaviors. Participants of this study have comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension. This study will first test whether over-optimism is present in the study population. Next, the study will test two de-biasing interventions which convey the risk of severe COVID-19: (1) inform participants that most people are over-optimistic about their health risk; (2) provide general information, which participants might be less likely to rationalize as irrelevant to them.

Partners

Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

Impact Goals

  • Reduce COVID-19 transmission rates

Project Data Collection Mode

  • CATI (Computer-assisted telephone interviewing)

Results Status

No Results Yet