The Lived Experience of Protection During the Early Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Main Article Content
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, declared by the World Health Organization in March 2020, brought unprecedented challenges to public health communication, adherence to guidelines, and personal protection practices. This study explored the lived experience of protection during the pandemic’s early stages, before vaccines or antiviral treatments were available, to understand factors influencing individual protective behaviors. Using existential phenomenology, the research focused on “environment” as a key element, examining how participants experienced protection within their unique contexts. A sample of 37 U.S. adults was recruited through social media from May to June 2020, and 12 completed virtual, unstructured interviews. Guided by an initial question — “When you think about protection during this time, what comes to mind?”—participants shared narratives of their protective practices. Data analysis, beginning with the first interview and continuing iteratively, involved identifying and grouping meaning units into themes.
Two primary themes emerged: Communication and Actions. The Communication theme included subthemes of “Science Literacy and Mixed Messaging,” as participants expressed challenges in discerning credible information and frustrations with inconsistent public health messaging. The Actions theme comprised “Connections and Routines,” highlighting how participants adapted daily routines to protect themselves while managing disruptions in social interactions and maintaining personal connections. Findings revealed that protection during the pandemic was influenced by the interplay between communication and actions, shaped by perceptions of scientific information and the need for social connections within modified routines.
This study underscores the need for clear, consistent, and contextually relevant communication strategies in public health crises, highlighting that factors such as science literacy, social connectivity, and routine adjustments play a critical role in shaping protective behaviors. Future research should continue to explore the role of effective communication and social support in encouraging protective behaviors, providing insights to improve public health messaging and resilience in future health crises.
Article Details
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
References
2 CDC. COVID-19 Timeline. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published March 15, 2023. Accessed November 7, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html
3 Haffajee RL, Mello MM. Thinking Globally, Acting Locally — The U.S. Response to Covid-19. N Eng J Med. 2020;382(22). doi:10.1056/nejmp2006740
4 AJMC. A Timeline of COVID-19 Developments in 2020. AJMC. Updated January 1, 2021. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.ajmc.com/view/a-timeline-of-covid19-developments-in-2020
5 World Health Organization. COVID-19 deaths | WHO COVID-19 dashboard. Published 2024. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/deaths
6 Shearer JE. The Concept of Protection: A Dimensional Analysis and Critique of a Theory of Protection. Adv Nurs Sci. 2002;25(1):65-78. doi:/10.1097/00012272-200209000-00008
7 Lorenz SG. Protection: Clarifying the Concept for Use in Nursing Practice. Hol Nurs Prac. 2007; 115-123.
8 Fawcett J. Editorial: But is It Nursing Research? West J Nurs Res. 2000;22(5):524-525. doi:/10.1177/01939450022044575
9 Husserl E, Farin I, Hart JG. The Basic Problems of Phenomenology: From the Lectures, Winter Semester, 1910-1911. Springer; 2006.
10 Pollio HR, Henley TB, Thompson CJ. The Phenomenology of Everyday Life. Cambridge University Press; 1997.
11 Thomas SP, Pollio HR. Listening to Patients. Springer Publishing Company; 2002.
12 O’Brien BC, Harris IB, Beckman TJ, Reed DA, Cook DA. Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research. Acad Med. 2014;89(9):1245-1251. doi:/10.1097/acm.0000000000000388
13 Gentles, S. J., Charles, C., Ploeg, J., McKibbon, KA. Sampling in qualitative research: insights from an overview of the methods literature. The Qualitative Report, 2015: Volume 20,11(4) 1772-1789.
14 Lincoln YS, Guba, EG. Criteria for assessing naturalistic inquiries as reports. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association, 1988.
15 Lincoln YS, Guba EG. Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage Publications; 1985.
16 Sandelowski M. The problem of rigor in qualitative research. Adv Nurs Sci. 1986;8(3):27-37. doi:/10.1097/00012272-198604000-00005
17 Elo S, Kääriäinen M, Kanste O, Pölkki T, Utriainen K, Kyngäs H. Qualitative Content analysis: a Focus on Trustworthiness. SAGE Open. 2014;4(1):1-10. doi:/10.1177/2158244014522633
18 Weerakoon SM, Henson-Garcia M, Valerio-Shewmaker MA, Messiah SE, Knell G. Contributions of Trustworthiness, Health Literacy, and Self-Efficacy in Communicating With COVID-19 Vaccine–Hesitant Audiences: Web-Based Survey Study. JMIR Form Res. 2022;6(8):e38076. doi:/10.2196/38076
19 Cameron LD, Lawler S, Robbins-Hill A, Toor I, Brown PM. Political views, health literacy, and COVID-19 beliefs and behaviors: A moderated mediation model. Soc Sci & Med. 2023; 320:115672. doi:/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115672
20 Austin EW, Austin BW, Willoughby JF, Amram O, Domgaard S. How Media Literacy and Science Media Literacy Predicted the Adoption of Protective Behaviors Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journ Health Comm. 2021;26(4):1-14. doi:/10.1080/10810730.2021.1899345
21 Arigbede OM, Aladeniyi OB, Buxbaum SG, Arigbede OJ. The Use of Five Public Health Themes in Understanding the Roles of Misinformation and Education Toward Disparities in Racial and Ethnic Distribution of COVID-19. Cureus. Published online October 6, 2022. doi:/10.7759/cureus.30008
22 Whitehead HS, French CE, Caldwell DM, Letley L, Mounier-Jack S. A systematic review of communication interventions for countering vaccine misinformation. Vaccine. 2023;41(5).
23 doi:/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.12.059Oliver J, Ferdinand A, Kaufman J, Allard N, Danchin M, Gibney KB. Community health workers’ dissemination of COVID-19 information and services in the early pandemic response: a systematic review. BMC Health Serv Res. 2024;24(1). doi:/10.1186/s12913-024-11165-y
24 Widiasih R, Pramukti I, Sithichoksakulchai S. Editorial: Embracing a Holistic Approach for Sustainable Healthcare Collaboration. Journ Hol Nurs. Published online June 17, 2024. doi:/10.1177/08980101241258014
25 Blaszko MA, Avino K, Shields D, Rosa W, Dossey, BM. Dossey & Keegan’s Holistic Nursing: A Handbook for Practice. 8th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2022.