In March 2020, as the coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic was
escalating in the UK, psychology researchers from Cardiff Met’s School of Sport
and Health Sciences and Cardiff University’s Centre for Trials Research, very
quickly designed an 
online survey to find out about the experiences of people
living in the UK during the outbreak. This was one of the first projects of its
kind in the UK. The survey explored the realities of what was happening for the
UK public at the beginning of the lockdown—aiming to understand what members of
the public were thinking, feeling, and doing during the early days of the
crisis and how they were responding to communications from governmental and
health services. The online survey explored a range of topics, investigating
the changes the pandemic was having on peoples’ lives, and the anxieties and frustrations
people were experiencing. The survey also sought to establish how the public felt
about governmental authorities and the health services’ response to these
rapidly changing situations, and if they felt they had access to accurate and
up to date information.
The first online
survey closed on April 12, 2020 with an impressive 11,417 participants taking
part between March 13th to April 14th. Project leader,
Dr. Rhiannon Phillips, a Lecturer in Health and Wellbeing Psychology at Cardiff
Met, and her team are now working to analyse the survey findings, launch a project
webpage, and apply for funding for follow-up research. | 
Dr Rhiannon Phillips (PI) |
How people
respond to, and are affected by, pandemics are influenced by an array of
psychological and socio-demographic factors. These need to be understood when
designing and implementing global and national public health initiatives to
minimise harm across the population. Understanding the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on physical health and psychological well-being is a high priority for
UK Government policy making and pandemic planning. Findings from this project
provide guidance for the UK Government on public health behavioural patterns
and contribute recommendations to positively influence adherence to behavioural
advice and prevent disinformation.
Public
perceptions of and responses to pandemic viral threats can act both as barriers
or facilitators to engagement with and adherence to containment, delay, and
mitigation policies. This project links to global initiatives from the
WHO to learn from public responses to the COVID-19 pandemic to better prepare
for the next unforeseen epidemic. The research team have actively considered how
to adapt the UK-centric project to a multi-national comparison work driven by
international partners who can adapt the survey questions for cultural
relevance. Next steps for this project include conducting interviews with key participants
and repeating the online survey in the summer of 2020 and again in a 2021, to
see how attitudes have evolved over time.
Read more about
this project here: https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/news/Pages/UK-attitudes-to-coronavirus-pandemic.aspx.
You can follow project updates here: https://copestudy.yolasite.com/.