"KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND PRACTICES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AMONG FILIPINO

JEEPNEY DRIVERS”

*Victor*
INTRO:

To Dean Melvin D. Miranda, erudite members of the panel of examiners, course facilitators, Mr.
Michael John V. Flores and Dr. Agnes V. Raymundo, and fellow student researchers, a pleasant
morning to all.

Our collaborative research group, which composes of Mr. Jose Bernel, Mr. Javier Wesley and yours
truly, Victor de los Santos, humbly presents our research paper entitled, Knowledge, Attitudes, and
Practices towards COVID-19 Pandemic among Filipino Jeepney Drivers

The global virus pandemic is greatly affecting the world of work. Also, the long-term livelihoods and
well beings of millions are threatened by the economic and social disruption brought about by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 virus hit the economy of the Philippines and plunged into recession. To slow down the
spread of the virus that has already devastated the economies globally, the country continues to
suffer one of the world's longest stay-at-home orders. In Manila, Philippines, jeepney drivers that
were on enhanced community quarantine were hit by the COVID-19 virus due to uncertainty both in
terms of their health and in their livelihood, which later led to hunger and homelessness.
There have been scarce resources when it comes to research and literature regarding the impact of
the disease to the Filipino people.

SOP:
To fill this gap, the study aims to assess the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Filipino
jeepney drivers towards COVID-19 and the pandemic event in an urban community. Furthermore, it
described and provided meaning and understanding to the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of
Filipino jeepney drivers during COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, these will provide answers to the following questions....

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:
1.1 age,
1.2 civil status, and
1.3 educational attainment?
1.4 Income level
1.5 Household

2. What is the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices of the respondents during the COVID-19
pandemic?
3. Is there a significant relationship between the respondents’ demographic profile and their level of
knowledge?
4. Is there a significant relationship between the respondents’ level of knowledge and their level of
attitude and practices?
5. Based on the results of the study, what specific instructional materials could be developed aimed
at improving COVID-19 knowledge and are helpful for Filipino jeepney drivers to promote optimistic
attitudes and maintain appropriate practices?
 *Berns*

METHODS:
A descriptive correlation research design was used. The sample (N=40) is composed of Filipino
jeepney drivers who are residents of Malabon. Purposive sampling design was used to select the
respondents. Data were gathered through self-administered questionnaire using adopted instruments
of Bautista et al. All minimum health standards protocols were observed all throughout the data
collection procedure. The ethics review board of a university in Caloocan City approved the proposal
paper.

Theoretical Framework:

This study is anchored on Sister Callista L. Roy's Adaptation Model of Nursing. Roy’s work focuses
on human adaptive system responses and environmental stimuli, which are constantly changing. This
theory-guided study is foundational in providing the framework for the development of nursing
interventions to assist the jeepney drivers who are complex human beings with ever-changing
biological, psychological, social and spiritual needs especially during this pandemic.

Conceptual Framework:

The conceptual framework indicates the potential relationships of the independent and
dependent variables. The independent and dependent variables subdivide the conceptual structure
into two. The independent variable includes the profile of the respondents in terms of age, civil status,
educational attainment, income level, household, and level of knowledge on COVID-19 and the
pandemic in which it will influence the level of attitude and practices of the dependent variable.

Results:

Table 2.1

Distribution of the respondents as to their level of Knowledge

Mean Standard Deviation Interpretation

Knowledge 7.75 1.23 High Knowledge

Legend: 0-2.5 No Knowledge, 2.51-5.0 Low Knowledge, 5.1-7.5 Moderate Knowledge, 7.5-10 High Knowledge

A total of 10 items were analyzed to measure the knowledge on COVID-19. As seen in Table
2.1, the average knowledge score for the respondents was 7.75 (SD = 1.23). COVID19, which began
as a regional outbreak in China's Wuhan, has spread globally, infecting people from nearly every
country. WHO has developed proper policies and funds to protect countries around the world, with a
particular emphasis on developing countries with poor and weak health infrastructure. The aim was to
reduce virus transmission in society, disseminate critical knowledge, provide adequate healthcare,
and mitigate social and economic losses. In order to avoid infection, WHO also concentrated on
developing a simple and reliable diagnostic method (Singh et al., 2020).

Table 2.2

Distribution of the respondents as to their level of Attitudes

Mean Standard Deviation Interpretation

Attitude 2.9750 .276 Positive

Legend: 1.0-1.75- Highly Negative, 1.76-2.5 -Negative, 2.51-3.25 -Positive, 3.26-4.0 – Highly Positive

There were 10 items that were asked from the respondents regarding their attitudes on COVID-19.
As shown in table 2.2, the attitude score for the respondents was 2.9750 (SD = .0.272). The COVID-
19 has drastically affected the lives of people all over the world affecting every aspect of living the
people go through. This has led them to adapt to a multitude of different measures such as
quarantine, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and a variety of different safety
measures which was enforced on the public. (Prasetyo et al, 2020).

Table 2.3

Distribution of the respondents as to their level of Practices

Mean Standard Deviation Interpretation

Practice 3.68 .473 Most of the time

Legend: 1.0-1.80 – None at all, 1.81-2.60 – Some of the time, 2.61-3.4 – Occasionally, 3.41-4.20 – Most of the time, 4.1-5.0 – all the time

There were 10 items that were asked from the respondents regarding their practices on COVID-19.
As shown in table 2.3, the practices score for the respondents was 3.68 (SD = 0.473). In a study, the
Philippines reported local transmission of COVID-19 and imposed enhanced community quarantines
(ECQ) on half the population of the country from 20 March to 30 April. ECQ included very stringent
social and physical distancing steps at the community level, such as halting public transport, banning
intra-country travel, and limiting people to their homes, except for vital activities such as food and
health care (Department of Health, 2020).
 *Wesley*

Table 3.1

Pearson r test results of Relationship between demographic profile and their level of Knowledge

Variable p-value Decision Verbal Interpretation

Age and Knowledge 0.017 Ho: Rejected Significant at .05 level
Civil Status and Knowledge 0.550 Ho: Accepted No significant relationship
Educational Attainment and Knowledge 0.014 Ho: Rejected Significant at .05 level
Income level and Knowledge 0.040 Ho: Rejected Significant at .05 level
Household and Knowledge 0.786 Ho: Accepted No significant relationship

The high level of awareness among the respondents may be due to the fact that the majority of
them have a college degree or higher, or it could be due to the extensive media coverage, which
includes all media channels, and the effect of the pandemic on social life, which forces people to
follow. The older respondents ' high level of experience and practice could be due to a better
understanding of the disease's increased risk of infection and complications in the elderly and people
with chronic diseases. Following the health recommendations to monitor the spread of COVID-19, the
public's awareness plays an important role in prevention. (Saeed et al., 2021).

Table 4.1

Pearson r test results of Relationship between the level of Knowledge and the level of Attitude

Variable p-value Decision Verbal Interpretation

Knowledge and Attitude 0.017 Ho: Rejected Significant at .05 level

As seen on the results on table 4.1 there is a positive correlation between the knowledge and
attitudes of the respondents. As the knowledge of the respondents are higher as indicated in table
2.1, this would also result in the better attitude of the person. This is because through better
knowledge a person would be able to cope and adapt to the situation compared to those who
graduated in less higher forms of education. Similarly, to the results of the study which used Pearson
r test, another study done by Saqlein et al (2020) also manifested the same results in which in their
study showed a clear positive linear correlation of knowledge and attitudes. A reason for this is
because when a person is more knowledgeable regarding COVID-19 this would lead them to behave
more rationally during times on which problems arose during the time of the spread of the virus
allowing them show have higher level of attitudes when a person shows more literac regarding the
understanding of the virus.
Table 4.2

Pearson r test results of Relationship between the level of Knowledge and the level of Practices

Variable p-value Decision Verbal Interpretation

Knowledge and Practice 0.022 Ho: Rejected Significant at .05 level

As seen on the results on table 4.2 there is a positive correlation between the knowledge and
practice of the respondents. As the knowledge of the respondents are higher as indicated in table 2.3
which resulted in a better practice of the person. This explains that the more knowledge a person
has, that person would be able to cope and adapt to the situation compared to those who graduated
in less higher forms of education. In a study conducted in Pakistan, the findings demonstrated that
healthcare workers were using less authentic sources of information which ultimately affected the
knowledge and is reflected in their practice. (Saglain et al, 2020)

5. Based on the results of the study, what specific instructional materials could be developed
aimed at improving COVID-19 knowledge and are helpful for Filipino jeepney drivers to promote
optimistic attitudes and maintain appropriate practices?

The researchers have created an instructional material based on the study's results that aims to
improve COVID-19 awareness, foster positive attitudes, and maintain acceptable practices.
Specifically, the researchers constructed infographics and added information that would be beneficial
for the public. Furthermore, based on the important positive relationship found in our study between
awareness, attitude, and practice, health education initiatives, especially those aimed at people with
low knowledge of COVID-19, are critical for promoting positive attitudes and maintaining healthy
practices. Hopefully, through the awareness through educational materials, especially infographics,
the disease can be better controlled and eliminated.
 *Victor*

Conclusion:

The results reveal that Filipino jeepney drivers have high level of knowledge on COVID-19, are
generally optimistic in their attitude, and frequently practice health standards to reduce the
transmission of COVID-19. The success of the preventive measures against COVID-19 is highly
reliant on individual and community compliance. People's knowledge, attitudes, and practices about
the disease all play a role in the society's willingness to adopt behavioral improvement interventions.

That concludes the end of our presentation, to the panel of judges, professors, and our fellow
classmates, thank you all for listening and have a wonderful day ahead.
Questions:

COVID-19 and the pandemic event why change? - Thank you for that question. For that, we
researchers, have tried to re-read and proof read the manuscript and as we go along, we have
noticed that “COVID-19 and the pandemic event” would mean 2 different variables and for that we
have agreed to rephrase it and change it into COVID-19 pandemic event, so as to not complicate the
variables.

Why this profile of the respondents?- Thank you for that question. We have brought up these
characteristics for the profile of the respondents because these are the traits that we think are
applicable and these are the variables that we want to assess if it has an impact on the levels of
knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the jeepney drivers.

Level of significance- Thank you for that question. For the level of significance, it is stated that the
hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance meaning that there is a 5% margin of error or
risk of concluding that a difference exists when there is no actual difference. This means that the
hypotheses are

WHY JEEPNEY DRIVERS?- we selected jeepney drivers specifically because as students, we utilize
jeepneys as a mean of transportation in going to school.

Transportation plays a fundamental role for the community and is something vital for us to work
together therefor our they are essential workers. And among those who work in transportation, jeepney
drivers are one of the most used form of transport used by Filipinos Since the pandemic outbreak, news
has circulated on COVID-19 and how it affects all and we researchers have come up to think for the
jeepney drivers and the effects of COVID-19 on them especially when there was a time when the
government directed to ban all public transport during the lockdown. In addition, we would also want to
apply what we have learned in community health nursing in addressing one of the most important
members in our community That is why we chose them to be our respondents for the study.

we selected jeepney drivers specifically because

In addition, we would like to apply what we have learned in community health nursing especially in
addressing problems in the community especially those essential workers who are greatly affected by
the pandemic specifically the jeepney drivers.

The Belmont Study is one of the leading reports on ethics and science in health care. Its primary
aim is to protect subjects and participants in clinical trials or research studies. This research consists
of three principles: beneficence, justice, and respect for human dignity.