Research project The unequal pandemic: investigating health equity and political responses to covid-19
Countries' political responses to covid-19 share a common goal of protecting public health, yet are highly diverse in both design and outcome. In a set of three integrated studies, the purpose of this project is to investigate how social inequalities in health have been affected by political determinants during the covid-19 pandemic.
The Covid-19 pandemic can be compared to a stone hitting the surface of the water. If the virus is the stone itself, then the ripples closest to the centre are equivalent to covid-related disease and death. As we move further away from the centre, the rings get bigger, just like the indirect health effects of the pandemic. In addition, these rings are easily affected, strengthened or erased as a result of other events on the surface. This project focuses on these other events: by examining how the political response to covid-19 has affected the development of health inequalities, we aim to get a better view of the entirety of the water surface.
The unequal pandemic: investigating the relationship between health equity and political responses to covid-19
The project aims to investigate the broad connection between the political response to covid-19 and social inequality in health. Here we are not only interested in the effect of infectious disease control, but also in more comprehensive welfare and fiscal policies. In terms of health effects, we also adopt a broader perspective by not only looking at the spread of covid-19, but also at co-morbidities and the social determinants of health. Increasing the understanding of mechanisms behind health inequality during an unpredictable societal crisis – as well as how political measures affect these mechanisms – is of central importance both for public health research and for society at large.
Inequalities in health often arise from a complex interplay between potentially harmful exposure (e.g. to a virus) and individual or group-related vulnerability (e.g. linked to age or co-morbidity). In addition, the social consequences of the disease (e.g. unemployment) may further reinforce the disadvantage connected to ill-health. The project is based on theory building around the political determinants of health. This perspective complements models of the social determinants of health by emphasising that public health is also a result of political processes, decisions and priorities. In the interplay between exposure, vulnerability and social consequences, the political plays a major role in influencing the long-term development of public health.
Project description
Countries' political responses to covid-19 share a common goal of protecting public health, yet are highly diverse in both design and outcome. In a set of three integrated studies, the purpose of this project is to investigate how social inequalities in health have been affected by political determinants during the covid-19 pandemic. In the first study, we aim to analyse how the reciprocal relationship between political responses and global burden of covid-19 has developed over time. In the second study, we will generate a typology of political responses in European countries, taking into consideration how they explicitly address, discursively frame and implicitly affect health equity. In the third study, we will use Nordic registers to decompose inequalities in mortality and hospitalisations by their underlying causes and compare trends before and during the pandemic, using the results of the two first studies as an interpretative framework.
Data and method
The project will use openly available data on political responses, epidemiological indicators on the burden of covid-19, policy documents and aggregated Nordic register data. The first study will combine the parametric g-formula with an empirical cluster analysis to analyse the relationships between political responses and burden of covid-19 on a global level. The second study will conduct a policy analysis with particular consideration of health equity in a European context. The third study will use a decomposition model and population registers to analyse health inequity trends in the Nordic countries during the pandemic.
Plan for project realisation
The project is based on three separate studies with separate methods and study materials, but will contribute to a common framework for the understanding and interpretation of the individual study results. The project group consists of five researchers at the Department of Public Health Sciences, who will combine their experience in quantitative public health research, policy analysis and health inequality studies.
Relevance
Covid-19 is not the deadliest or most contagious pandemic the world has experienced, but never before has an infectious disease been the subject of such a massive political response. Understanding how pandemic policy manages health inequities that emerge as a result of complex interactions between exposure, vulnerability and social consequences of covid-19 will be essential in preparing for future pandemics.
Project members
Project managers
Karl Gauffin
Senior Lecturer/Researcher
Members
Ylva Brännström Almquist
Professor
Agneta Cederström
Forskare
Olof Östergren
/Researcher/Associate professor
