Paradoxes of pandemic infection control: Proximity, pace and care within and beyond SARS-CoV-2
From the adoption of mask-wearing in public settings to the omnipresence of hand-sanitising, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has brought unprecedented cultural attention to infection prevention and control (IPC) in everyday life. At the same time, the pandemic threat has enlivened and unsettled hospital IPC...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-12-01
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| Series: | SSM: Qualitative Research in Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321522000725 |
| _version_ | 1811295449025347584 |
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| author | Leah Williams Veazey Alex Broom Katherine Kenny Chris Degeling Mary Wyer Suyin Hor Jennifer Broom Penny Burns Gwendolyn L. Gilbert |
| author_facet | Leah Williams Veazey Alex Broom Katherine Kenny Chris Degeling Mary Wyer Suyin Hor Jennifer Broom Penny Burns Gwendolyn L. Gilbert |
| author_sort | Leah Williams Veazey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | From the adoption of mask-wearing in public settings to the omnipresence of hand-sanitising, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has brought unprecedented cultural attention to infection prevention and control (IPC) in everyday life. At the same time, the pandemic threat has enlivened and unsettled hospital IPC processes, fracturing confidence, demanding new forms of evidence, and ultimately involving a rapid reassembling of what constitutes safe care. Here, drawing on semi-structured interviews with 63 frontline healthcare workers from two states in Australia, interviewed between September 2020 and March 2021, we illuminate some of the affective dimensions of IPC at a time of rapid change and evolving uncertainty. We track how a collective sense of risk and safety is relationally produced, redefining attitudes and practices around infective risk, and transforming accepted paradigms of care and self-protection. Drawing on Puig de la Bellacasa's formulation, we propose the notion of IPC as a multidimensional matter of care. Highlighting the complex negotiation of space and time in relation to infection control and care illustrates a series of paradoxes, the understanding of which helps illuminate not only how IPC works, in practice, but also what it means to those working on the frontline of the pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:32:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-03a8a7758c3e4b45a19c71849c4ea81a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2667-3215 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:32:41Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SSM: Qualitative Research in Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-03a8a7758c3e4b45a19c71849c4ea81a2022-12-22T03:00:22ZengElsevierSSM: Qualitative Research in Health2667-32152022-12-012100110Paradoxes of pandemic infection control: Proximity, pace and care within and beyond SARS-CoV-2Leah Williams Veazey0Alex Broom1Katherine Kenny2Chris Degeling3Mary Wyer4Suyin Hor5Jennifer Broom6Penny Burns7Gwendolyn L. Gilbert8Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia; Corresponding author. Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, AustraliaSydney Centre for Healthy Societies, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, AustraliaCentre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values, University of Wollongong, NSW, 2522, AustraliaThe Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, 176 Hawkesbury Road, Westmead, NSW, 2145, AustraliaCentre for Health Services Management, Faculty of Health, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, 2007, AustraliaSunshine Coast Health Institute, 6 Doherty Street, Birtinya, QLD, 4575, Australia; School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, AustraliaANU Medical School, Building 4, Hospital Road, Garran ACT, 2605, Australia; School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, 2751, AustraliaThe Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, 176 Hawkesbury Road, Westmead, NSW, 2145, AustraliaFrom the adoption of mask-wearing in public settings to the omnipresence of hand-sanitising, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has brought unprecedented cultural attention to infection prevention and control (IPC) in everyday life. At the same time, the pandemic threat has enlivened and unsettled hospital IPC processes, fracturing confidence, demanding new forms of evidence, and ultimately involving a rapid reassembling of what constitutes safe care. Here, drawing on semi-structured interviews with 63 frontline healthcare workers from two states in Australia, interviewed between September 2020 and March 2021, we illuminate some of the affective dimensions of IPC at a time of rapid change and evolving uncertainty. We track how a collective sense of risk and safety is relationally produced, redefining attitudes and practices around infective risk, and transforming accepted paradigms of care and self-protection. Drawing on Puig de la Bellacasa's formulation, we propose the notion of IPC as a multidimensional matter of care. Highlighting the complex negotiation of space and time in relation to infection control and care illustrates a series of paradoxes, the understanding of which helps illuminate not only how IPC works, in practice, but also what it means to those working on the frontline of the pandemic.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321522000725AustraliaCOVID-19Healthcare workersInfection prevention and controlSARS-CoV-2Proxemics |
| spellingShingle | Leah Williams Veazey Alex Broom Katherine Kenny Chris Degeling Mary Wyer Suyin Hor Jennifer Broom Penny Burns Gwendolyn L. Gilbert Paradoxes of pandemic infection control: Proximity, pace and care within and beyond SARS-CoV-2 SSM: Qualitative Research in Health Australia COVID-19 Healthcare workers Infection prevention and control SARS-CoV-2 Proxemics |
| title | Paradoxes of pandemic infection control: Proximity, pace and care within and beyond SARS-CoV-2 |
| title_full | Paradoxes of pandemic infection control: Proximity, pace and care within and beyond SARS-CoV-2 |
| title_fullStr | Paradoxes of pandemic infection control: Proximity, pace and care within and beyond SARS-CoV-2 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Paradoxes of pandemic infection control: Proximity, pace and care within and beyond SARS-CoV-2 |
| title_short | Paradoxes of pandemic infection control: Proximity, pace and care within and beyond SARS-CoV-2 |
| title_sort | paradoxes of pandemic infection control proximity pace and care within and beyond sars cov 2 |
| topic | Australia COVID-19 Healthcare workers Infection prevention and control SARS-CoV-2 Proxemics |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321522000725 |
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