Risk perception, adaptation, and resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic in Southeast Alaska Natives

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4597474
AutoresT P Van Doren (0000-0002-3827-6550, Sitka Sound Science Center, autor de correspondencia), Deborah Zajdman (RAND Corporation), Ryan Brown (0000-0002-7960-9518, RAND Corporation), Ryan A Brown (0000-0002-5940-0282), Priyank Gandhi (0000-0001-8682-7698, RAND Corporation), Priya Gandhi, Ron Heintz, Ron A Heintz (0000-0002-1114-2712, Sitka Sound Science Center), Lisa Busch (Sitka Sound Science Center), Callie Simmons (Sitka Sound Science Center), Raymond Paddock (Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)
Año2023
Volumen317
Páginas115609
Fecha de publicación2023-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Science & Medicine (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0277-9536 • E-ISSN: 1873-5347
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115609
PMID36525784
OpenAlexW4310975166
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas12
Referencias citadas49

Indigenous communities worldwide are at higher risk of negative pandemic outcomes, and communities Indigenous to the Arctic are disproportionately affected compared to national majorities. Despite this, their experiences have scarcely been investigated qualitatively and from their own perspectives. We collected and analyzed 22 structured interviews in three Southeast Alaska island communities (Sitka, Hoonah, and Kake) to learn about their perceptions of and experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were analyzed with thematic qualitative analysis in Dedoose. Four primary categories were identified within which to discuss risk and resilience in Southeast Alaska: (1) risk perception, (2) socioeconomic impacts, (3) reactions to public health guidelines, and (4) coping. Primary findings indicate that Southeast Alaska Native communities display considerable resilience and adaptive flexibility despite the significant adversity imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Southeast Alaska Native people use historical and traditional knowledge to culturally ground adaptive behaviors to cope with the threat of COVID-19. Interviewees expressed that adaptive, community-centered, and non-individualistic behaviors strongly tied to Native culture minimized the negative epidemiological impacts of the pandemic. Future research can more deeply explore the root causes of the need for adaptiveness and resilience, such as histories of colonialism and marginalization, to emergency situations in Indigenous communities

Community resilience · Coping (psychology · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Economic growth · Geography · Indigenous · Pandemic · Population · Psychological resilience · Public health · Qualitative research · Resource (disambiguation · Social science · Socioeconomic status · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Demography · Disaster Management and Resilience · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology · Ecology