JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to wide-scale changes in societal organization. This has dramatically altered people’s daily activities, especially among families with young children, those living with disabilities such as spinal cord injury (SCI), those who have experienced a stroke, and older adults. We aim to 1) investigate how COVID restrictions influence daily activities 2) track the psychosocial effects of these restrictions over time; and 3) identify strategies to mitigate the potential negative effects of these restrictions. Methods and analysis: This project is a longitudinal concurrent mixed-methods study in British Columbia, Canada. Data collection occurred at four time points, between April 2020 and February 2021. The first three data collection time points occurred within phases 1-3 of the Province of British Columbia Restart Plan. The final data collection coincided with the initial distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines. At each time point, participants’ socio-demographics, depressive and anxiety symptoms, resilience, boredom, social support, instrumental activities of daily living, and social-media and technology use were collected in an online survey. These data supplemented qualitative videoconference interviews exploring participants’ COVID-19 related experiences. Participants were also asked to upload photos representing their experience during the restriction period, which facilitated discussion during the final interview. We recruited five groups of participants: 1) families with children under the age of 18, 2) adults who have a spinal cord injury (SCI), 3) experienced a stroke or 4) other types of disabilities, and 5) older adults (>64 years) with no self-reported disability. The total sample size is 82. We are limited in the number of participants we could recruit from each group, which may make some sub-group analyses challenging. Ethics and dissemination: Findings from our study will inform the development and recommendation of a new resource guide for the post-COVID period and for future public health emergencies.