'No risk in the rural': Information on COVID-19 among rural university

Abstract

This article analyzed the reception, evaluation and circulation of information on COVID-19 between people living in rural communities located in municipalities in the interior region of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This research is part of an extension project created in April 2020 with 128 students from a training course aimed at teachers for rural schools, offered by a Brazilian federal public university. Questionnaires with closed and open questions were applied in three stages: 35 students in the first stage (April/May 2020), 46 students in the second stage (July 2020) and 29 students in the third stage (June/ July 2021). Data were analyzed using categorical content analysis. The results were organized into the following categories: a) means of communication to access information, b) focus of information, c) immunization through vaccine and d) false or misleading information. There is an excess of false information that could have aggravated the effects of the pandemic among rural and peasant populations in the analyzed context. Thus, given the insecurities of the pandemic scenario and the way in which the pandemic affects and is perceived by rural populations, there is still a need to create qualified spaces for access to scientific information as well as health guidelines for these people.