The Correlation Between e-Health Literacy Competencies and Self-management of COVID-19 Disease (Case Study of Health Information Managements Students in Semarang)

Introduction: Mass open communication via social media and the internet causes infodemics and information gaps. The COVID-19 pandemic has become a driving force in global adoption of digital technology such as the internet, including in Indonesia. Individuals need eHealth literacy to assess the information they are overwhelmed with critically. This study is the first paper exploring eHealth literacy related to self-management COVID-19.

Method: This study used a case study approach. An online questionnaire was distributed to health information management (HIM) vocational students of Universitas Dian Nuswantoro and got 245 responses. The questionnaire was constructed and modified from eHeals and Corona Virus disease advice for the public from WHO.

Result: This study reveals that competency in evaluation information is the lowest score than competencies in access, managing, and integrating health information. This study found that eHealth literacy related to self-management COVID-19 (r = 2.69, p = 0.000) means competencies managing health information in HIM students relate to knowledge, attitude, and practice COVID-19.

Discussion: This study found that 6.5% of HIM’s students still believe in conspiracy theory and politics; furthermore, 71.4% are still unsure how to respond to this issue. Future research needs to be conducted to explore eHealth literacy and Self-management COVID-19 in the community and compare them with this study.