SOCIAL SUPPORT NEEDS IN THE EARLY STAGES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

COVID-19 posed a variety of social, emotional, and economic issues to communities all around the world, including Malaysia. The challenges brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic produced a lot of psychological stress in the community, which had a negative impact on their quality of life. The COVID-19 issue resulted in an increase in the need for social support in the community. However, considering how the COVID-19 pandemic has altered daily routines and how people interact, this is not an easy task. During COVID-19, it is critical to identify the community's social support needs so that these needs can be addressed more effectively. Social support was found to be a protective factor in reducing the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study's objective was to identify the social support needs of individuals undergoing the Movement Control Order (PKP) in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 3136 respondents throughout Malaysia were involved in the online survey conducted from 26 March 2020 to 3 April 2020. Four (4) aspects of social support were evaluated in this survey: emotional support, family and spouse support, informational support, and instrumental support. Researchers were also collecting demographic information for the study, including age, gender, level of education, race, and state. Data were then analyzed using descriptive analysis. Results show that informational support is the most needed type of social support during the early stages of COVID-19 pandemic, mark up 92.4% of the respondents; followed by instrumental support (78.7%), family and spouse support (77.5%), and emotional support (62.2%). Specifically, the results show that most respondents need accurate and authentic information about COVID-19, need ongoing COVID-19 prevention advice, family safety information, financial aid information, and a stress reduction guide. The data give an idea of the respondents' need to build a sound knowledge base on the new little-known virus and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the respondents' psychosocial aspects. This study's data can be the basis for formulating public interventions that are effective and relevant to society's needs.