COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on social relationships and health

Emily Long*, Susan Patterson, Karen Maxwell, Carolyn Blake, Raquel Bosó Pérez, Ruth Lewis, Mark McCann, Julie Riddell, Kathryn Skivington, Rachel Wilson-Lowe, Kirstin R. Mitchell

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

150 Citations (Scopus)
315 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)128-132
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Volume76
Issue number2
Early online date19 Aug 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jan 2022

Keywords

  • social relationships
  • relationships and health
  • COVID-19
  • COVID-19 social impact
  • inequalities
  • health
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Pandemics
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Epidemiology

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