Akhter, Sadika;
Bashar, Farzana;
Kamruzzaman, Mohammed;
Mahmood, Nabila;
Rahman, Aminur;
Anwar, Iqbal;
Hawkes, Sarah;
(2022)
A Rapid Ethnographic Assessment of Cultural and Social Perceptions and Practices About COVID-19 in Bangladesh: What the Policy Makers and Program Planners Should Know.
Qualitative Health Research
10.1177/10497323221091516.
(In press).
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Abstract
Anthropological literature on health beliefs and practices related to COVID-19 is scarce, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. We conducted a qualitative research on perceptions of COVID-19 among slum residents of Dhaka, Bangladesh from November 2020 through January, 2021. Methods included in-depth interviews and photo elicitation with community residents. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Results show scientific explanations of COVID-19 conflicted with interviewees' cultural and spiritual beliefs such as: coronavirus is a disease of rich, sinful people; the virus is a curse from Allah to punish sinners. Interviewees rejected going to hospitals in favor of home remedies, and eschewed measures such as mask-wearing or social distancing instead preferring to follow local beliefs. We have highlighted a gap between community beliefs about the pandemic and science-led interventions proposed by health professionals. For public health policy to be more effective it requires a deeper understanding of and response to community perceptions.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Rapid Ethnographic Assessment of Cultural and Social Perceptions and Practices About COVID-19 in Bangladesh: What the Policy Makers and Program Planners Should Know |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1177/10497323221091516 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1177%2F10497323221091516 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2022 by SAGE Publications. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Bangladesh, COVID-19, anthropology, cultural explanatory model, health, illness and disease, rapid ethnographic assessment |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10148802 |
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