There is no question that though health workers have been in the frontline of dealing with Covid-19, all of us have been seeing action on the “Home Front” during the pandemic. Especially families, where parents have been managing the care and education of children while juggling the new demands of working from home and concerns for older relatives. The impact on our families and on the physical and mental health of parents has been the source of much anecdotal comment and speculation.
Dr Anis Ben Brik, distinguished and acknowledged expert in Social Policy and Sustainable Development, LSE alumnus, now Associate Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University College of Public Policy Qatar, has set up the Covid Family Study to provide some real evidence of this experience and opportunities to learn from it. The Impact of the Pandemic on Family Life Across Cultures is an ambitious and timely study. Twenty-one researchers from 40 countries across five continents will be looking at the survey data generated by the project. Fourteen partners are also contributing to this work. We are delighted that Home Renaissance Foundation is one of them, joining with international organisations sharing our vision and priority for the life and work of the home.
The aims of the study are wide-reaching and of great potential value to all families and agencies concerned with their thriving: to track the pattern of the symptoms, causes and risk factors of mental health in parents; to understand the experiences, coping skills and mechanisms of parents under pandemic conditions; to identify parents’ needs, and to use this evidence to inform the design of policy and support for families in the future.
Such aims reveal a strong understanding and recognition of the foundational role of parents in providing secure, stable and healthy home environments for their children. At HRF we whole-heartedly endorse this understanding and approach. During the pandemic, we have returned to our homes for safety and support. There have been positive aspects to this; many children have benefited from more time with their parents and regular daily patterns of meal and bedtimes, but it has also been costly for families in terms of health, living conditions and resources.
The Covid Family Study survey invites parents to share their experiences to help provide support in the future. The questions are straightforward and the guide time to complete the survey is 30 minutes. By receiving information across all national, cultural and economic contexts, both global and local insights will be generated. The investigating team will be able to use these responses to direct, design and deliver the best support services for every family.
If you are a parent of a child or children under 18, please take some time now to contribute to the survey to be a part of this vital work. For, if the pandemic has led to an international conversation on what we want to happen next in our world, it could not start in a better place than at home.
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