Solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a nine-country interview study in Europe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Authors

  • Katharina Kieslich
  • Amelia Fiske
  • Marie Gaille
  • Ilaria Galasso
  • Susi Geiger
  • Nora Hangel
  • Ruth Horn
  • Marjolein Lanzing
  • Sébastien Libert
  • Elisa Lievevrouw
  • Federica Lucivero
  • Luca Marelli
  • Barbara Prainsack
  • Franziska Schönweitz
  • Tamar Sharon
  • Wanda Spahl
  • Ine Van Hoyweghen
  • Bettina M. Zimmermann

External Research Organisations

  • University of Vienna
  • Technical University of Munich (TUM)
  • Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
  • Université de Paris
  • University College Dublin
  • University of Oxford
  • University of Augsburg
  • University of Amsterdam
  • University College London (UCL)
  • KU Leuven
  • University of Milan - Bicocca
  • Radboud University Nijmegen (RU)
  • University of Basel
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numbermedhum-2022-012536
Pages (from-to)511-520
Number of pages10
JournalMedical Humanities
Volume49
Issue number4
Early online date5 Jun 2023
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Abstract

Calls for solidarity have been an ubiquitous feature in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we know little about how people have thought of and practised solidarity in their everyday lives since the beginning of the pandemic. What role does solidarity play in people's lives, how does it relate to COVID-19 public health measures and how has it changed in different phases of the pandemic? Situated within the medical humanities at the intersection of philosophy, bioethics, social sciences and policy studies, this article explores how the practice-based understanding of solidarity formulated by Prainsack and Buyx helps shed light on these questions. Drawing on 643 qualitative interviews carried out in two phases (April-May 2020 and October 2020) in nine European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, German-speaking Switzerland and the UK), the data show that interpersonal acts of solidarity are important, but that they are not sustainable without consistent support at the institutional level. As the pandemic progressed, respondents expressed a longing for more institutionalised forms of solidarity. We argue that the medical humanities have much to gain from directing their attention to individual health issues, and to collective experiences of health or illness. The analysis of experiences through a collective lens such as solidarity offers unique insights to understandings of the individual and the collective. We propose three essential advances for research in the medical humanities that can help uncover collective experiences of disease and health crises: (1) an empirical and practice-oriented approach alongside more normative approaches; (2) the confidence to make recommendations for practice and policymaking and (3) the pursuit of cross-national and multidisciplinary research collaborations.

Keywords

    COVID-19, health policy, medical ethics/bioethics, medical humanities, public health

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Sustainable Development Goals

Cite this

Solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a nine-country interview study in Europe. / Kieslich, Katharina; Fiske, Amelia; Gaille, Marie et al.
In: Medical Humanities, Vol. 49, No. 4, medhum-2022-012536, 12.2023, p. 511-520.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Kieslich, K, Fiske, A, Gaille, M, Galasso, I, Geiger, S, Hangel, N, Horn, R, Lanzing, M, Libert, S, Lievevrouw, E, Lucivero, F, Marelli, L, Prainsack, B, Schönweitz, F, Sharon, T, Spahl, W, Van Hoyweghen, I & Zimmermann, BM 2023, 'Solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a nine-country interview study in Europe', Medical Humanities, vol. 49, no. 4, medhum-2022-012536, pp. 511-520. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2022-012536
Kieslich, K., Fiske, A., Gaille, M., Galasso, I., Geiger, S., Hangel, N., Horn, R., Lanzing, M., Libert, S., Lievevrouw, E., Lucivero, F., Marelli, L., Prainsack, B., Schönweitz, F., Sharon, T., Spahl, W., Van Hoyweghen, I., & Zimmermann, B. M. (2023). Solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a nine-country interview study in Europe. Medical Humanities, 49(4), 511-520. Article medhum-2022-012536. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2022-012536
Kieslich K, Fiske A, Gaille M, Galasso I, Geiger S, Hangel N et al. Solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a nine-country interview study in Europe. Medical Humanities. 2023 Dec;49(4):511-520. medhum-2022-012536. Epub 2023 Jun 5. doi: 10.1136/medhum-2022-012536
Kieslich, Katharina ; Fiske, Amelia ; Gaille, Marie et al. / Solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a nine-country interview study in Europe. In: Medical Humanities. 2023 ; Vol. 49, No. 4. pp. 511-520.
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AU - Fiske, Amelia

AU - Gaille, Marie

AU - Galasso, Ilaria

AU - Geiger, Susi

AU - Hangel, Nora

AU - Horn, Ruth

AU - Lanzing, Marjolein

AU - Libert, Sébastien

AU - Lievevrouw, Elisa

AU - Lucivero, Federica

AU - Marelli, Luca

AU - Prainsack, Barbara

AU - Schönweitz, Franziska

AU - Sharon, Tamar

AU - Spahl, Wanda

AU - Van Hoyweghen, Ine

AU - Zimmermann, Bettina M.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

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