The Relation between Perceived and Actual Understanding and Adherence: Results from a National Survey on COVID-19 Measures in Belgium

Kirsten Vanderplanken, Stephan Van den Broucke, Isabelle Aujoulat and Joris Adriaan Frank van Loenhout
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Kirsten Vanderplanken: Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), Institute of Health and Society, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1200 Brussels, Belgium
Stephan Van den Broucke: Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Isabelle Aujoulat: Centre for Health Promotion Knowledge Transfer (RESO), Institute of Health and Society, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1200 Brussels, Belgium
Joris Adriaan Frank van Loenhout: Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), Institute of Health and Society, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1200 Brussels, Belgium

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-10

Abstract: To reduce the spread of COVID-19 among the population, Belgium has implemented various infection prevention and control measures over time. This study investigated the extent to which understanding of the COVID-19 measures contributed to adherence, and which personal characteristics were considered risk factors for lower adherence. It consisted of a large online survey among a sample of the population ( n = 2008), representative of citizens of Belgium in terms of gender, age, province and socio-economic status. The survey was conducted in September 2020, and included questions on perceived and actual understanding of COVID-19 protective measures in place during that time, as well as past and future adherence to those measures. The results showed that both perceived and actual understanding contributed significantly to past as well as future adherence. Risk factors for perceived understanding included being male and belonging to a younger age group, while risk factors for actual understanding were speaking French (versus Dutch) and belonging to a lower socio-economic level. Communication about COVID-19 measures should put more focus on trying to improve the understanding of the measures, instead of only making them known, particularly for those who are less health literate and as such at risk of poor understanding.

Keywords: COVID-19; protective measures; adherence; perceived understanding; actual understanding; risk factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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