Three students from the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya (FISIP UB) created the innovation “Local Wisdom Soundbook: Experimental Study of Mental Health Literacy on Disaster Beliefs and Values” for Jabung Elementary School Students, Malang Regency. They are Salwa Humaira Ramadhani, Agnes Damarela Korin, and Shiva Putri Herninda.
The Team Leader, Salwa Humaira Ramadhani said that Indonesia is known as a country that is vulnerable to natural disasters because of its position at the meeting point of three active tectonic plates in the world, has a number of volcanoes and rivers, and a large population.
One of the vulnerable areas is Jabung District, Malang Regency, with the level of vulnerability to landslides which is mostly classified as moderate with a percentage of 45.93%. However, the level of awareness and involvement is still quite low. The lack of preparedness of communities and schools in dealing with disasters has caused many fatalities when disasters strike.
“Disaster risk reduction can be achieved through sustainability and participation of the entire community, with a focus on disaster preparedness. Therefore, education on disaster mitigation for early childhood or elementary school is important because they are the future generation who need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to deal with various emergency situations including natural disasters,” explained Salwa.
According to her, children need independence and the ability to make quick decisions when facing natural disasters, even if there are adults around them. So, it would be better if children were equipped with knowledge about disasters.
“This soundbook will be an alternative media to assist the psychoeducation process regarding disaster mitigation for children. With interesting and interactive media, such as books with pictures and sound, it is hoped that it will attract more children’s attention and of course can provide learning that is easier for children to understand. So, they can become more prepared and resilient in facing disasters,” said Salwa.
This soundbook also adapts the values and beliefs believed by the local community so that it will be more relevant to their daily lives.
Through the guidance of lecturer, Elmy Bonafita Zahro, S.Psi., M.Psi, this research was successfully funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture through the Student Creativity Program (PKM) in the field of Social Humanities Research in 2024.
The research results showed that local wisdom soundbook applied as a disaster mental health literacy education method showed a significant impact in increasing children’s understanding. Compared to the group of children who did not receive this education, the group of children who listened to the Soundbook showed a greater increase in understanding about disasters.
These findings indicate that innovative approaches such as the use of Soundbooks can be an effective strategy in increasing children’s awareness and knowledge about how to face and respond to disasters.
“This local wisdom soundbook is currently in the development stage, it still requires a lot of evaluation so that the soundbook is ready to use by the wider community. We hope that the development of this Soundbook will not stop at the research and PKM program scale, but will continue to be developed and optimized,” added Agnes as one of the researchers.
Shiva continued Agnes’ statement that she hopes this research can become a learning medium for children that can be accessed by the whole community.
“With this research, it is hoped that Soundbook can become an effective tool for educating children about disasters, increasing their understanding, and helping them respond and deal with emergency situations. It is hoped that this can be a real contribution from UB students in efforts to prevent and manage the impact of disasters in Indonesia today,” concluded Agnes. [Salwa/Irene/ UB PR/ Trans. Iir]
