01 Oct 2020

University of Botswana Lecturer in Social Work Department, Dr Kgomotso Jongman says  behaviour adjustment is critical in the fight against COVID-19.

Speaking during a Media briefing in Gaborone recently, Dr Jongman said that behavior was an important aspect of public health, hence the need for behavior adjustment in order to win the fight against the pandemic.

He said that behaviour did not occur in isolation, adding that there were a number of factors such as economic, social and spiritual that lead to how individuals conducted themselves.

Dr Jongman said to successfully change human behavior, a strategy should be employed that would be effective in the long term, adding that it was important to understand why people behaved in a certain way.

However, he indicated that behavioural change was a process, noting that there should be an incentive for individuals to see the need for behaviour change.

He also indicated that there was need to evaluate behaviour change, adding that people should be shown that indeed what they were asked to practice really worked.

Dr Jongman said the way messages were constructed and relayed played an important role in behaviour change, adding that messages had to be made more user friendly.

When coming up with messages, he said, facts and consequences should be taken into consideration, in order to be clear to citizens on how the pandemic affected individuals, the country and the world at large.

“Messages of hope, motivation and support should always be sent to citizens,” he said.

He highlighted that packaging of messages had a direct impact on behaviour change, adding that if not packaged in a way that people do not see themselves in it, it becomes a challenge for people to  change behaviour.

“All professionals should be brought on board in this fight, each playing their part,” he said adding that if some were left behind, messages would not be effectively and efficiently received.

Dr Jongman also said that for the country to win the fight against corona, there was need for collective participation where everyone should play a role and not rely only on government.

To prevent the virus from spreading, he said it was a personal responsibility. “Messages should now be, we should take personal responsibility to protect the country, not for the leaders but for our children,” he added. ENDS