Face Masks During the Covid-19 Pandemic

A Simple Protection Tool With Many Meanings

Bibliographic Data

ID22089553
AuthorsLucia Martinelli (0000-0002-9943-8437, Museo delle Scienze), Vanja Kopilaš (0000-0002-8614-9505, University of Zagreb), Matjaz Vidmar (0000-0002-1368-9762, University of Edinburgh), Ciara Heavin (0000-0001-8237-3350, University College Cork), Helena Machado (0000-0001-8554-7619, University of Minho), Zoran Todorović (0000-0001-8869-9976, University of Belgrade), Norbert Buzás (0000-0002-4496-8828, University of Szeged), Mirjam Pot (0000-0001-9839-8309, University of Vienna), Barbara Prainsack (0000-0002-6335-1532, University of Vienna), Srećko Gajović (0000-0001-8668-5239, University of Zagreb, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume8
Pages606635-606635
Publication date2021-01-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpubh.2020.606635
PMID33520918
OpenAlexW3119432916
LanguageEN
Citations received30
References cited38

Wearing face masks is recommended as part of personal protective equipment and as a public health measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Their use, however, is deeply connected to social and cultural practices and has acquired a variety of personal and social meanings. This article aims to identify the diversity of sociocultural, ethical, and political meanings attributed to face masks, how they might impact public health policies, and how they should be considered in health communication. In May 2020, we involved 29 experts of an interdisciplinary research network on health and society to provide their testimonies on the use of face masks in 20 European and 2 Asian countries (China and South Korea). They reflected on regulations in the corresponding jurisdictions as well as the personal and social aspects of face mask wearing. We analyzed those testimonies thematically, employing the method of qualitative descriptive analysis. The analysis framed the four dimensions of the societal and personal practices of wearing (or not wearing) face masks: individual perceptions of infection risk, personal interpretations of responsibility and solidarity, cultural traditions and religious imprinting, and the need of expressing self-identity. Our study points to the importance for an in-depth understanding of the cultural and sociopolitical considerations around the personal and social meaning of mask wearing in different contexts as a necessary prerequisite for the assessment of the effectiveness of face masks as a public health measure. Improving the personal and collective understanding of citizens' behaviors and attitudes appears essential for designing more effective health communications about COVID-19 pandemic or other global crises in the future. To wear a face mask or not to wear a face mask? Nowadays, this question has been analogous to the famous line from Shakespeare's Hamlet: “To be or not to be, that is the question.” This is a bit allegorical , but certainly not far from the current circumstances where a deadly virus is spreading amongst us ... Vanja Kopilaš, Croatia

Disease · Pandemic · Personal identity · Political science · Politics · Public health · Public relations · Self · Social distance · Social science · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Solidarity · COVID-19 and Mental Health · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Infection Control and Ventilation · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology