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ABSTRACT
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges to societies, individual healthcare systems and global public health. Manifestations of increasing health inequalities, social stigmatization and challenging ethical decision-making have been previously noticed. The aim of this article is to analyse the perceptions of frontline healthcare professionals regarding the potential impact of COVID-19 on the provision of healthcare services and the ethical challenges it may entail.
Method
This research is a part of a larger research project which was conducted among frontline healthcare professionals in Estonia and used both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. In this article, answers to specific open-ended questions from the questionnaire (n = 116) and in-depth interviews (n = 8) were analysed. For data analysis, inductive content analysis was used. The research was granted ethical approval.
Results
Findings show that through changes in regular and routinized practices in the provision of emergency medicine services, COVID-19 influences an increase of health inequality and social stigmatization. Other factors as well, such as lack of information about the disease, lack of resources, and fear of the disease, might reinforce these social phenomena. Additionally, from patient-centred and legal perspectives, issues of personal data management and privacy are highlighted.
Conclusions
In addition to medical issues arising from COVID-19, countries worldwide should pay attention to the social and legal side effects of the illness to minimize health inequality and social stigmatization, as well as to moral, ethical and legal shortcomings in responses to the pandemic.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, KL, upon reasonable request.
Notes
1 In the literature, the term health inequity is also used to denote avoidable forms of health inequality [Citation9]. Although research show that COVID-19-related inequity has a disproportionate impact on different social groups [Citation24,Citation25], we will use the term ‘health inequality’ since the majority of the literature continues to employ this term and we are not able to distinguish between avoidable and unavoidable inequalities in our results.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Kadi Lubi
Kadi Lubi, PhD, MA is a former associate professor at Tallinn Health Care College’s Health Education Centre. Her doctoral thesis focuses on information-seeking strategies during chronic illness and current research deals with the areas of medical sociology and health communication with particular attention to people’s health-related decisions.
Kadri Simm
Kadri Simm, PhD, is an associate professor of practical philosophy in University of Tartu. She holds a PhD in philosophy (Tartu). Many of her projects are located at the intersections of moral and political philosophy, health care and new medical technologies.
Kaja Lempu
Kaja Lempu, BA is a lecturer at Tallinn Health Care College in Kuressaare and a nurse at Kuressaare Hospital. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she operated as the nurse responsible for the 4th Department of Internal Diseases at Kuressaare Hospital.
Jay Zameska
Jay Zameska, MA is a doctoral student in philosophy at the University of Tartu. He holds a master’s degree in philosophy. His research focuses on the ethics of health care and public health, specifically concerning questions of justice and fairness.
Angela Eensalu-Lind
Angela Eensalu-Lind, MA is a lecturer of primary healthcare nursing at Tallinn Health Care College and a health nurse at the Järveotsa Family Doctor Centre in Tallinn.