The Role of Hotline Call Center for Improving Community Preparedness of COVID-19 Pandemic in Special Region Of Yogyakarta

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Hersinta Retno Martani
Centauri Indrapertiwi
Happy Indah Kusumawati
Sutono
Syahirul Alim
Bayu Fandhi Ahmad
Sri Setiyarini

Abstract

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented situation that triggers unclear information
that causes public anxiety. The call center hotline as an effective communication strategy is expected to be able to ease concerns while still encouraging the implementation of health protocols. The Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) is one of the provinces that has a fast response in handling the pandemic, marked by the opening of the DIY Pandemic
Prevention and Handling Integrated Post (PTPPP) which is equipped with a call center hotline. This study aims to
evaluate the application of the PTPPP DIY hotline call center in an effort to increase community preparedness in
tackling COVID-19. Data analysis was carried out on 1,610 incoming telephone call documentation from March to
December 2020, with three domain categories, namely 1) general health information (21%); 2) procedure for handling COVID-19 in DIY (66%); and 3) hotline call center as government representative (13%). The domain that is most frequently asked by the public is regarding the procedures for handling COVID-19 in DIY. Meanwhile, the most frequently asked subdomain in this domain was about decontamination with a total of 357 callers. Based on this
research, it can be concluded that the call center hotline is one of the government’s appropriate efforts to accommodate the information needs of the DIY community regarding COVID-19. The results of this study can be used as a basis in the preparation of extension programs in accordance with the information needs of the community. In addition, the results of this study can be used as an evaluation for the government in designing an effective call center hotline in disseminating information to the public.

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