Health Education Campaign to Improve Malaria Knowledge, Prevention, and Treatment Behaviors in Rural East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia: Protocol for a Cluster-Assigned Quasi-Experimental Study.

Abstract

Background: Malaria is a major health issue that is distributed across 85 countries globally including Indonesia. Indonesia is in the process of achieving malaria elimination. Currently, a high burden of malaria exists in the rural eastern part of the nation, including East Nusa Tenggara Province where the number of malaria cases increased significantly during COVID-19. To achieve malaria elimination, malaria awareness must be measurable and integrated into malaria policy. Currently, malaria awareness among rural communities in the region is low, and interventional studies aiming at improving malaria awareness in rural areas in Indonesia are poorly documented.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the impact of a local wisdom-based health education campaign combining local music, the voice of subdistrict leaders, and loudspeaker announcements on malaria-related behaviors in rural communities. Specifically, we aim to assess the effect of this intervention on (1) improvement in the malaria awareness index among rural communities and their associated factors, (2) changes in appropriate malaria treatment-seeking behavior (AMTSB) and its associated factors, (3) enhancements in knowledge and practice of malaria prevention measures and their associated factors, and (4) increased use of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and their associated factors.

Methods: This study used a cluster-assigned quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest assessments in control and intervention groups. The control group, consisting of 12 villages, received malaria education integrated into routine health services provided by local health centers. The intervention group, comprising 13 villages, received the same education as the control group, in addition to a malaria campaign conducted once a week for 20 weeks. Before and after the campaign, a household survey was conducted to assess behavioral aspects of malaria, including general knowledge of malaria, AMTSB, and malaria prevention measures knowledge and practice. Improvement in the malaria awareness index, AMTSB, good level of malaria prevention measure knowledge, and good level of malaria prevention measure practice will be determined based on the difference scores for each index before and after the intervention in both groups. The chi-square test will be used to assess score differences. Binary logistic regression analysis will be conducted to identify key risk factors associated with changes in each index.

Results: The intervention was conducted from the last week of August 2024 to the second week of January 2025. A total of 894 respondents participated before and after the intervention. The project is currently in progress, with multiple papers being drafted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Conclusions: This study is expected to provide significant findings to comprehensively investigate the change in behavioral aspects of malaria due to a local wisdom-based malaria education campaign. The findings could assist stakeholders in Indonesia with developing malaria health policies that are contextually relevant, thereby supporting global efforts to achieve malaria-free status by 2030.

International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/66982.