Mitigating information anxiety in COVID-19 contact tracing for BIPOC Communities

ABSTRACT

Contact tracing is a crucial process of information exchange in which health institutions share guidance with the public and obtain local health data to curb the spread of disease. But this data collection can exacerbate multiple forms of anxiety, particularly for people who have historically been excluded from and exploited by public health institutions. Given this history, our article centers the perspectives of contact tracers and BIPOC tracees in two US cities: Philadelphia, PA and Providence, RI. Our analysis shows that many BIPOC tracees experience information anxiety, shaped by complex relationships between their communities and health institutions, inconsistent access to care, and privacy concerns. At the same time, contact tracers have the potential to mitigate this anxiety, though this capacity is influenced by the institutional conditions in which they work. By analyzing both tracers’ and tracees’ perspectives on contact tracing, this study contributes grounded and holistic accounts of how public health institutions can better serve local communities, particularly communities of color in urban areas, during public health crises.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• contact tracing
• information anxiety
• racial justice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Social Science Research Council: [Grant Number Just Tech COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant].

Notes on contributors

Jenny Lee

Jenny Lee is a PhD student at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jessa Lingel

Jessa Lingel is an Associate Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and Core Faculty in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies department.

Alexandra Sanchez

Alexandra Sanchez is an activist with Free Radicals.

Theo Loftis is an activist with Creative Resilience Collective.

Amelia Mauldin

Amelia Mauldin is a recent graduate of the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.