Collective resilience to meet the challenge of the global pandemic of Covid-19

Abstract

Utilizing a Community-Based Participatory Research model, faculty members of a local university school of social work completed a qualitative study of an emerging Bhutanese minority group’s subjective view of their living experiences related to Covid-19 while living in Northeast, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Utilizing purposive sampling methodology, fifty samples, such as bilingual (English & Nepali) community leaders and Bhutanese residents participated in individual telephone interviews due to the high surge of Covid-19, from October 2020 to January 2021. The purpose of the study is to understand the subjective views of Bhutanese residents’ lived experience during the peak of the global pandemic, COVID-19. The interview incorporated two components: 1. Demographic information and 2) Questionnaires developed by the researchers which were reviewed by two independent researchers in the university before their use. The study found that the Bhutanese community residents identified challenging needs in the areas of language barriers, unemployment, multigenerational living, and strategies to overcome hardship of Covid-19. The study findings point to the benefits of an interprofessional collaborative action with community organizations (faith-based organizations, social institutions, and cultural centers) to close the gap of social and health care disparities among minority populations. Community health care and social service institutions and organizations need to build relationships with leaders of local minority organizations in order to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate information about treatment, care and prevention of Covid-19 in the future.