Contact Tracing explores the public health response to COVID-19 and the psychology of the medical decisions that are made as they pertain to communicating with and abiding by contact tracing efforts. This is accomplished through an anthropological approach to critically examine the implications of contact tracing, taking into account several nuances that encompass the spread of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, as well as misinformation surrounding it.
Social determinants of health, accessibility, and digestibility of reliable information versus readily available pseudoscience, and the stigma associated with COVID-19 were found to exacerbate COVID-19 related health disparities. By modifying the contact tracing experience, contact tracing efforts can reap more efficacious outcomes, and a better experience for the cases and contacts, ultimately perpetuating high efficacies in contact tracing, on the basis that cases/contacts are provided a better sense of importance regarding pertinent information and informing contact tracers of potential close contacts. Minds Made Up paves the way for contact tracing to become a more personalized experience, and produce more promising response rates from cases/contacts. Proposed modifications demand that contact tracing incorporate anthropological understandings of social determinants of health and the positionalities which curate the stances that people exhibit during contact tracing interviews.
This research advanced the primary researchers understanding of her intended future endeavors, as she continues to work toward a career as a geriatric psychiatrist. This immersion experience incorporated several key components that will be invaluable to her professional ventures as the relative skills gained revolving around serving members of the general public in sensitive situations and standing in solidarity with those who’d otherwise be vulnerable to being failed by medical professionals.
Author: Victoria Ward, Biology, Psychology, Global Health Studies, Pre-medical Studies and Neuroscience
Faculty Advisors: Christopher Wolfe and Paul Flaspohler, Psychology
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