Community, health and social care system stressors and coping mechanisms during COVID 19 in Edinburgh, Scotland
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Understanding and learning lessons from how COVID-19 responses have affected routine health service delivery, frontline care staff and the most vulnerable in our societies (e.g. homeless persons, migrants or those with underlying health conditions) is essential to improve future responses to infectious disease outbreaks.This study considers how health systems such as the NHS respond to and are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with NHS Lothian and the City of Edinburgh Council, the study aims to 1) understand how health and social care partnerships and organizations respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and to 2) understand how the pandemic has affected the lives of health and social care workers and also vulnerable communities. The project involves interviews and surveys with health and care staff at collaborating Health and Social care partnerships and organizations in Edinburgh. We also plan remote online data collection with community members.
This research will help to provide a better understanding of how the health and care systems, as well as health and care staff and vulnerable community members, respond to stressors such as COVID-19 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The findings will be shared with City of Edinburgh Council, Health and Social Care Partnerships and wider stakeholders responding to the COVID-19 (e.g. i/NGOs) in Scotland, thus helping shape future response strategies. In this way, the research will bridge evidence gaps highlighted by the Scottish Government on the effects of COVID-19 on the routine delivery of care to communities, including the most vulnerable in our societies.
The funding will have a key role in sustaining the overall research activities. In particular, the funding will help to cover staff time for a researcher involved in this project, the dissemination activities (e.g. scientific publications and stakeholder engagement events), technical support for the web-based data collection, and the partnership building activities with the relevant Health and Social Care Partnerships in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Division: Institute for Global Health and Development