Solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a nine-country interview study in Europe

verfasst von: Katharina Kieslich, Amelia Fiske, Marie Gaille, Ilaria Galasso, Susi Geiger, Nora Hangel, Ruth Horn, Marjolein Lanzing, Sébastien Libert, Elisa Lievevrouw, Federica Lucivero, Luca Marelli, Barbara Prainsack, Franziska Schönweitz, Tamar Sharon, Wanda Spahl, Ine Van Hoyweghen, Bettina M. Zimmermann
Abstract: Calls for solidarity have been an ubiquitous feature in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we know little about how people have thought of and practised solidarity in their everyday lives since the beginning of the pandemic. What role does solidarity play in people's lives, how does it relate to COVID-19 public health measures and how has it changed in different phases of the pandemic? Situated within the medical humanities at the intersection of philosophy, bioethics, social sciences and policy studies, this article explores how the practice-based understanding of solidarity formulated by Prainsack and Buyx helps shed light on these questions. Drawing on 643 qualitative interviews carried out in two phases (April-May 2020 and October 2020) in nine European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, German-speaking Switzerland and the UK), the data show that interpersonal acts of solidarity are important, but that they are not sustainable without consistent support at the institutional level. As the pandemic progressed, respondents expressed a longing for more institutionalised forms of solidarity. We argue that the medical humanities have much to gain from directing their attention to individual health issues, and to collective experiences of health or illness. The analysis of experiences through a collective lens such as solidarity offers unique insights to understandings of the individual and the collective. We propose three essential advances for research in the medical humanities that can help uncover collective experiences of disease and health crises: (1) an empirical and practice-oriented approach alongside more normative approaches; (2) the confidence to make recommendations for practice and policymaking and (3) the pursuit of cross-national and multidisciplinary research collaborations.
Organisationseinheit(en): Leibniz Forschungszentrum Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft (LCSS)
Externe Organisation(en): Universität Wien
Technische Universität München (TUM)
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Université de Paris
University College Dublin
University of Oxford
Universität Augsburg
Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA)
University College London (UCL)
KU Leuven
Universität Mailand-Bicocca
Radboud University Nijmegen
Universität Basel
Typ: Artikel
Journal: Medical Humanities
Band: 49
Seiten: 511-520
ISSN: 1468-215X
Publikationsdatum: 12.2023
Publikationsstatus: Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed: Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete: Pathologie und Forensische Medizin, Philosophie
Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung: SDG 3 – Gute Gesundheit und Wohlergehen
Elektronische Version(en): https://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/frontdoor/index/index/docId/105602 (Zugang: Offen)
https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2022-012536 (Zugang: Offen)

BibTeX

@article{25b0117785024e6696f76ccf13dc3b1f,
title = "Solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a nine-country interview study in Europe",
abstract = "Calls for solidarity have been an ubiquitous feature in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we know little about how people have thought of and practised solidarity in their everyday lives since the beginning of the pandemic. What role does solidarity play in people's lives, how does it relate to COVID-19 public health measures and how has it changed in different phases of the pandemic? Situated within the medical humanities at the intersection of philosophy, bioethics, social sciences and policy studies, this article explores how the practice-based understanding of solidarity formulated by Prainsack and Buyx helps shed light on these questions. Drawing on 643 qualitative interviews carried out in two phases (April-May 2020 and October 2020) in nine European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, German-speaking Switzerland and the UK), the data show that interpersonal acts of solidarity are important, but that they are not sustainable without consistent support at the institutional level. As the pandemic progressed, respondents expressed a longing for more institutionalised forms of solidarity. We argue that the medical humanities have much to gain from directing their attention to individual health issues, and to collective experiences of health or illness. The analysis of experiences through a collective lens such as solidarity offers unique insights to understandings of the individual and the collective. We propose three essential advances for research in the medical humanities that can help uncover collective experiences of disease and health crises: (1) an empirical and practice-oriented approach alongside more normative approaches; (2) the confidence to make recommendations for practice and policymaking and (3) the pursuit of cross-national and multidisciplinary research collaborations.",
keywords = "COVID-19, health policy, medical ethics/bioethics, medical humanities, public health",
author = "Katharina Kieslich and Amelia Fiske and Marie Gaille and Ilaria Galasso and Susi Geiger and Nora Hangel and Ruth Horn and Marjolein Lanzing and S{\'e}bastien Libert and Elisa Lievevrouw and Federica Lucivero and Luca Marelli and Barbara Prainsack and Franziska Sch{\"o}nweitz and Tamar Sharon and Wanda Spahl and {Van Hoyweghen}, Ine and Zimmermann, {Bettina M.}",
note = "Funding Information: The German and Swiss parts of the SolPan study are supported by the Bundesministerium f{\"u}r Bildung und Forschung under Grant number 01Kl20510.The Dutch part of the SolPan study is supported by the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Grant number 804985.The Irish team gratefully acknowledges support for this project from the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Grant agreement number 771217.The British team gratefully acknowledges funding from the COVID-19 Research Response Fund University of Oxford, Grant number 0009534, and from the Wellcome Trust, Grant number 203132/Z/16/Z.The Belgium team gratefully acknowledges funding from the KULeuven BOF Fund, Grant number 3H200158.Dr Luca Marelli and the Italian team gratefully acknowledge funding under the Cariplo Foundation Social Science Research Grant, 2020-1314.Dr Bettina M. Zimmermann gratefully acknowledges funding for this project from the University of Basel Research Fund for Junior Researchers, Grant number 3BE1003. ",
year = "2023",
month = dec,
doi = "10.1136/medhum-2022-012536",
language = "English",
volume = "49",
pages = "511--520",
journal = "Medical Humanities",
issn = "1468-215X",
publisher = "BMJ Publishing Group",
number = "4",
}