Research Campaign
SCORE CIMSA UPH

Psychological studies about the misinformation that refers to claims or illustrations about inaccurate things that have been done so far have a bad impact on society. To tackle this issue, a global collaboration effort is needed from different sides, this includes components such as researches, governments, and existing social media platforms.

 
During this COVID-19 pandemic era, the circulation of false information about COVID-19 has resulted in patients affected by this disease still being able to say that COVID-19 is a hoax (fake news). In March 2020, there is news stating that COVID-19 was a biological weapon made by the Chinese government and in June, not a few people also believed that this pandemic was deliberately created by people in the world who have high positions. The spread of fake news and information definitely has influenced the behavior of the people during this pandemic, especially in the protective efforts that have been urged by the government to be carried out such as wearing masks, washing hands, and keeping a distance become an obstacle for countries in the world to control the spread of this virus.

 
Hence, SCORE CIMSA UPH as part of CIMSA Indonesia that focuses on research takes a measure to held an activity called a research campaign in the purpose of educating people on the importance to have valid information and to prevent and stop the spread of hoaxes regarding COVID-19 in the society. This activity was composed of several activities including social media campaign on Instagram and a webinar starting from 14th of August – 26th September. Through the posters and infographics posted, we educate people about the valid information of COVID-19 including its variant, spread, vaccination, and other myths within the society. Meanwhile, during the webinar session, we invited an epidemiologist from the UPH Faculty of Medicine, Mr. Veli Sungono, S.KM, MS. The major topic explained was titled “Misconception in COVID-19”. During the session, participants were being explained further about facts regarding COVID-19 and how can we differentiate hoaxes and facts for the purpose of supporting the effort and preventive measure to tackle and stop the spread of COVID-19.

 
All in all, we hope that this activity could reach its ultimate goal that is to educate the society in trusting the right sources and information of COVID-19 to reduce the risk of infection by following the health protocols such as keeping distance, staying at home, washing hands, and getting the vaccination.