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How families matter for health inequality during the COVID ‐19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Thomeer Mieke Beth,
Yahirun Jenjira,
ColónLópez Alejandra
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of family theory and review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.454
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1756-2589
pISSN - 1756-2570
DOI - 10.1111/jftr.12398
Subject(s) - pandemic , covid-19 , health equity , inequality , public health , racism , health policy , public policy , political science , sociology , public relations , economic growth , economics , medicine , virology , nursing , gender studies , mathematical analysis , disease , mathematics , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , pathology
We theorize that the social conditions surrounding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic have the potential to increase the importance of families for health and widen existing inequalities. We suggest three primary tenets important for understanding families and health during COVID‐19. First, risks of specific COVID‐19 outcomes and other health problems are unevenly distributed across families. Second, how families impact health during the COVID‐19 pandemic is conditional on public policies, organizational decisions, and concurrent events. Third, many health inequalities driven by racism, sexism, classism, and other oppressive societal forces are amplified during COVID‐19, but the extent to which this is occurring is shaped by families and by the public policies, organizational decisions, and concurrent events that also impact families and health. As health disparities continue to emerge from this pandemic, we call on researchers and policymakers to pay attention to the multiple ways that families matter.