Broken bones and apple brandy: resilience and sensemaking of general practitioners and their at-risk patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland

Anthropol Med. 2023 Dec;30(4):346-361. doi: 10.1080/13648470.2023.2269523. Epub 2024 Feb 8.ABSTRACTIn early 2020, when the first COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Switzerland, the federal government started implementing measures such as national stay-at-home recommendations and a strict limitation of health care services use. General practitioners (GPs) and their at-risk patients faced similar uncertainties and grappled with subsequent sensemaking of the unprecedented situation. Qualitative interviews with 24 GPs and 37 at-risk patients were conducted which were analyzed using thematic analysis. Weick's (1993) four sources of -resilience - improvisation, virtual role systems, attitudes of wisdom and respectful interaction - heuristically guide the exploration of on-the-ground experiences and informal ways GPs and their at-risk patients sought to ensure continuity of primary care. GPs used their metaphorical Swiss army knives of learned tools as well as existing knowledge and relationships to adapt to the extenuating circumstances. Through improvisation, GPs and patients found pragmatic solutions, such as using local farmer apple brandy as disinfectant or at-home treatments of clavicle fractures. Through virtual role systems, GPs and patients came to terms with new and shifting roles, such as "good soldier" and "at-risk patient" categorizations. Both parties adopted attitudes of wisdom by accepting that they could not know everything. They also diversified their sources of info...
Source: Anthropology and Medicine - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: research