Leveraging Community Health Workers to Combat COVID-19 and Mental Health Misinformation in Haiti, Malawi, and Rwanda

Study team members within each country will free list misinformation or misconceptions that they commonly encounter in clinical practice or daily life. Each item will be used to create paired cards - one containing the misinformation and a second containing the corresponding correct information. During qualitative interviews, we will ask CHWs to participate in a series of card sorting activities, which is a participatory research method that can inform the design of health interventions.

A two-person team consisting of one local communication expert and one clinician will draft clinically correct, easy-to-understand SMS messages designed to counter identified misinformation. We will draft messages that use various styles and use cognitive interviewing with CHWs to assess their understanding of and responses to each style. The final messages used in our intervention will be determined by CHW preference.

Final messages will be sent via SMS to all CHWs working in our study area. CHWs will also be provided with contact information for a helpline staffed by a local team member who can answer follow-up questions in the local language.