RAPID: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Resiliency and Vulnerability to COVID-19 in Rural Communities: Health and Socioeconomic Well-Being in the Context of Ethnic Diversity

2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）全球大流行仍然是美国的一场重大公共卫生危机。在学术和政策讨论中，人们忽视了这场大流行对较小社区的影响。即使在没有确诊病例的情况下，农村地区仍然极易感染COVID-19，因为大流行可能刚刚开始。这使得农村地区在统计上不可见，造成了农村免疫的错误感觉。迫切需要了解COVID-19对未充分研究的农村社区，特别是肉类加工城镇的健康和社会经济影响。需要近实时的数据收集，以了解COVID-19的全面影响和恢复工作的有效性，特别是对农村弱势群体，如老年人、穷人、残疾人、移民或少数民族居民。该项目将调查中西部小城镇的居民，以：(1)记录疫情对健康、社会经济和情感的影响；(2)确定当地需求和地方和州应对措施的有效性；(3)了解不同小城镇的影响、反应和需求是如何变化的。该项目的调查结果将为各级政府的政策和方案提供信息，从而促进农村人口和农村地区的健康和福祉。即使在没有确诊病例的情况下，农村地区也极易感染COVID-19，这使得农村地区在统计上不可见，并产生了农村免疫的错误感觉。然而，迄今为止的社会研究不成比例地集中在城市影响上。该项目将使用爱荷华州小城镇项目（ISTP）现有的纵向农村面板调查65个小城镇（800至10,000人之间）的11,716名居民。这些ISTP社区特别容易受到COVID-19的影响，因为它们是大型肉类包装设施的所在地，可能会加剧先前存在的种族边缘化和耻辱。主要研究人员将建立一个由不同利益相关者组成的咨询小组，他们将指导该项目。一项全面的调查和社区参与战略将用于有效地对肉类包装工人和少数民族居民进行抽样调查。健康影响将包括个人COVID-19身体健康问题、医疗保健的获取和使用、社区的感知流行情况以及对当地医疗保健系统的影响。情绪影响将包括标准抑郁和焦虑量表（csd -10和GAD-7）、获得和使用精神卫生服务，以及对大流行对家庭和社区影响的普遍关注。经济影响将包括家庭就业和收入损失、消费模式的改变、获得和使用经济保障计划以及对当地经济的影响。社会影响将衡量社会资本、社会支持和生活质量如何受到大流行的影响。将衡量COVID-19信息来源的获取和信任，以及遵守社交距离的情况。居民将被要求对政府、医疗保健提供者、当地企业和社区组织的大流行准备和响应能力进行评分。该项目的研究结果将为与社会资本、社会压力和社会经济不平等，特别是与健康和少数民族地位有关的社会理论提供信息。所有的发现将有助于更大的文献相关的农村社会学，这是试图了解美国农村生活的社会动态。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic continue to be a major public health crisis in the U.S. Missing from the academic and policy discussion is the pandemic’s impact on smaller communities. Rural places are still highly susceptible to COVID-19 even in the absence of confirmed cases, as the pandemic may just be taking hold. This makes rural places statistically invisible, creating a false sense of rural immunity. There is an urgent need to understand the health and socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 in understudied rural communities, especially in meat packing towns. Near real-time data collection is needed to understand the full impact of COVID-19 and the effectiveness of recovery efforts, especially among vulnerable rural populations, e.g. older, poor, disabled, immigrant, or minority residents. This project will survey residents of midwestern small towns to: (1) document the health, socioeconomic, and emotional impacts of the pandemic; (2) identify local needs and effectiveness of local and state responses; and (3) understand how impacts, responses, and needs vary across diverse small towns. Findings from the project will inform governmental policies and programs at several levels, thus advancing the health and well-being of rural people and places. Rural places are highly susceptible to COVID-19 even in the absence of confirmed cases, making rural places statistically invisible and creating a false sense of rural immunity. And yet social research to date has disproportionately focused upon the urban impact. This project will survey n=11,716 residents across 65 small towns (between 800 and 10,000 people) using an existing longitudinal rural panel from the Iowa Small Towns Project (ISTP). These ISTP communities are uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19 because they are home to large meat packing facilities, potentially exacerbating preexisting racial marginalization and stigma. The principal investigators will establish an advisory panel comprised of diverse stakeholders who will guide the project. A comprehensive survey and community engagement strategy will be used to effectively oversample meat packing workers and minority residents. Health impacts will include individual COVID-19 physical health issues, access to and use of healthcare, perceived prevalence in the community, and impact on local healthcare systems. Emotional impacts will include standard depression and anxiety scales (CESD-10 and GAD-7), access to and use of mental health services, and general concern about the pandemic’s impact on family and community. Economic impacts will include household employment and income loss, change in spending patterns, access to and use of economic security programs, and local economic impacts. Social impacts will measure how social capital, social support, and quality of life have been affected by the pandemic. Access and trust of COVID-19 information sources will be measured, as will adherence to social distancing. Residents will be asked to rate pandemic preparedness and responsiveness of governments, healthcare providers, local businesses, and community organizations. Findings from the project will inform sociological theories related to social capital, social stress, and socio-economic inequality, particularly related to health and minority status. All findings will contribute to larger bodies of literature related to rural sociology, which seeks to understand the social dynamics of rural life in the United States.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.