Community social capital on fighting dengue fever in suburban Surabaya, Indonesia: A qualitative study

PURPOSE: Dengue hemorraghic fever (DHF) is a communicable disease that is difficult to manage, especially in tropical countries. Social capital is believed to be able to improve the ability of entire communities to work together to solve a collective health problem. This study aimed to describe the existing social capital in a community and how it was used to fight DHF. METHODS: Qualitative descriptive methods were used, and in-depth interviews were conducted with 13 participants. This study was conducted in the Sawahan sub-district, Surabaya, Indonesia, an endemic area that combats DHF every year. FINDINGS: Results showed that social capital as a community feature provides the main cornerstone of collective action. The creation of social groups, intersectoral collaboration, mutual assistance in cleaning, and voluntary work were visible forms of social capital in the prevention and control of DHF. Support from strong leaders also had significant implications. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that social capital was an important feature, which, if managed, used and accessed properly, would be able to provide ideas for solving community problems.