The Deaf or Hard of Hearing Population’s Attitude and Information Seeking Behaviour Towards COVID-19 in South Africa

ABSTRACT This study presents an exposé of the information seeking behaviours and patterns and attitudes regarding COVID-19 among a sample of 206 people from the deaf/hard of hearing population (males, n = 119; females, n = 87) in three South African provinces. The researchers designed a Google Form, which was used for the data collection, which took place over seven weeks. The data generated were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The average age of the respondents was ±52.5 years, and the findings revealed that the respondents were most curious about preventive measures against COVID-19, possible vaccines and travel advisories. They explored information provided on the Internet, social networking sites and television for COVID-19 related information. The sources of the COVID-19 related information and the type of the COVID-19 related information sought determined the attitudes of the South African deaf/hard of hearing towards this virus. Recommendations were made based on the findings.