CoronaCare study protocol: an ethnographic study of the risks to and potential for social health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

IntroductionGerman government regulations such as physical distancing and limited group numbers, designed to curb the spread of COVID-19, have had far-reaching consequences for the very foundations of social life. They have, to name only a few, transformed greetings and goodbyes, blurred private and public worlds, and complicated basic communication with mandatory mask wearing. The ethnographic study CoronaCare investigates how these sociopolitical measures affect social health, a form of health which unfolds through and across social relations. It explores how caring as a fundamental human activity and one integral to sustaining social health is impacted when in-person and person-to-person contacts are restricted and everyone is radically redefined as at risk from others and a risk to others. It explores care relationships, relationships involving the giving or receiving of care in everyday life, institutional settings such as an assisted living facility, and informal settings, such as a housing block. Inside of the pandemic, relationships are a pivotal site at which the negotiation of caring and risk is intensified and where the consequences for social health and social life more generally are pronounced.Methods and analysisThis ethnographic project aims to understand the tensions that arise in the lives of individuals and communities living under the sociopolitical regulations and to analyse the tacit forms of practice that individuals and communities develop to uphold social health. Fueled by citizen science, the ethnography uses a variety of methods namely telephone and video interviews with 60–70 research participants, the collection of ethnographic material including video and audio diaries, storyboards, first-person camera footage, photographs and a survey to enrich the sample description based on the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. The analysis will draw on elements of grounded theory and through the aid of the qualitative software MAXQDA it will rigorously document and explain how the social regulations are (re)shaping our ability to be cared for and to care for one another. The survey data will be analysed through the use of the quantitative software programme R.Ethics and disseminationThe ethics committee of the Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane has approved the project (E-01-20200605). The dissemination strategy includes publications in medical, sociological and research methods journals, as well as a stakeholder discussion with political and civil society leaders where the research team will present its recommendations for future pandemic preparedness.

Are Employees Satisfied with New Normal? Study Of Health Protocol and Leadership Commitments on Aviation

“…Interestingly, in this study, it was found that the health protocol, which is a new culture campaigned by the government, did not affect employee job satisfaction. This is because the application of health protocols aims to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace (Paul et al, 2021;Schieman et al, 2021). The implementation of the health protocol is to enable them to perform even with limited conditions.…”

“…Work from home is a form of change made to reduce the number of Covid-19 infections in the workplace and the application of health protocols in the workplace (Putri & Amran, 2021;SandovalReyes et al, 2021;Paul et al, 2021;Schieman et al, 2021).…”

Pandemie-Management unter Berücksichtigung des Pflegealltags und dem Bedürfnis nach guter Pflege. Ergebnisse und Handlungsempfehlungen aus den CoronaCare-Workshops

“…CoronaCare ist eine ethnografische Studie, in der unter anderem im Abstand von drei Monaten regelmäßig ethnografische Interviews mit ausgewählten Bürger*innen durchgeführt werden. Das Studiendesign ist in Paul et al ausführlich dargestellt und öffentlich zugänglich [5].…”

“…Die aktuelle Covid-19 Pandemie wurde von der WHO als solche im März 2020 deklariert 4 . Den Spannungen und Herausforderungen, die durch die Eindämmung der Transmission von SARS-CoV-2 entstehen, geht die ethnografische Studie CoronaCare nach, die seit März 2020 Daten von Menschen in Deutschland zu ihrem alltäglichen Leben erhebt 5 . Sie untersucht, welche Auswirkungen die politischen Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung der Covid-19 Pandemie in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland auf die soziale Gesundheit der Menschen haben.…”