RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on social relationships and health
JF Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
JO J Epidemiol Community Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 128
OP 132
DO 10.1136/jech-2021-216690
VO 76
IS 2
A1 Long, Emily
A1 Patterson, Susan
A1 Maxwell, Karen
A1 Blake, Carolyn
A1 Bosó Pérez, Raquel
A1 Lewis, Ruth
A1 McCann, Mark
A1 Riddell, Julie
A1 Skivington, Kathryn
A1 Wilson-Lowe, Rachel
A1 Mitchell, Kirstin R
YR 2022
UL http://jech.bmj.com/content/76/2/128.abstract
AB This essay examines key aspects of social relationships that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses explicitly on relational mechanisms of health and brings together theory and emerging evidence on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to make recommendations for future public health policy and recovery. We first provide an overview of the pandemic in the UK context, outlining the nature of the public health response. We then introduce four distinct domains of social relationships: social networks, social support, social interaction and intimacy, highlighting the mechanisms through which the pandemic and associated public health response drastically altered social interactions in each domain. Throughout the essay, the lens of health inequalities, and perspective of relationships as interconnecting elements in a broader system, is used to explore the varying impact of these disruptions. The essay concludes by providing recommendations for longer term recovery ensuring that the social relational cost of COVID-19 is adequately considered in efforts to rebuild.Data sharing not applicable as no data sets generated and/or analysed for this study. Data sharing not applicable as no data sets generated or analysed for this essay.