Social distancing is the most effective non-pharmaceutical intervention to prevent the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A broad-based intervention is required to promote and sustain the general public’s motivation and intention to voluntarily stay at home, while also protecting their psychological well-being. This proposed project will develop and test a novel universal public health initiative (#StayOkayHK), incorporating a public health communication campaign, health education and promotion, and participatory social media strategies to encourage the HK public to stay at home to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

We aim to strengthen the public’s intention and motivation to stay at home and avoid nonessential high-risk social interactions to reduce the risk of community-based SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The primary objectives are to strategically target increasing the public’s (a) threat appraisal of COVID-19 and (b) coping appraisal of staying at home. This is expected to enhance the public’s motivation and intention to stay at home. A secondary objective is to promote psychological well-being through participatory social media activities.