IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i8p3943-d532779.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“At Least until the Second Wave Comes…”: A Twitter Analysis of the NHS and COVID-19 between March and June 2020

Author

Listed:
  • Kathy McKay

    (Public Health, Policy and Systems, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GL, UK
    Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London NW3 5BA, UK)

  • Sarah Wayland

    (School of Health, University of New England, Armidale 2350, Australia)

  • David Ferguson

    (Formerly, Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney 2007, Australia)

  • Jane Petty

    (Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London NW3 5BA, UK)

  • Eilis Kennedy

    (Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London NW3 5BA, UK
    Research Department of Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, University of College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK)

Abstract

In the UK, tweets around COVID-19 and health care have primarily focused on the NHS. Recent research has identified that the psychological well-being of NHS staff has been adversely impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate narratives relating to the NHS and COVID-19 during the first lockdown (26 March–4 July 2020). A total of 123,880 tweets were collated and downloaded bound to the time period of the first lockdown in order to analyse the real-time discourse around COVID-19 and the NHS. Content analysis was undertaken and tweets were coded to positive and negative sentiments. Five main themes were identified: (1) the dichotomies of ‘clap for carers’; (2) problems with PPE and testing; (3) peaks of anger; (4) issues around hero worship; and (5) hints of a normality. Further research exploring and documenting social media narratives around COVID-19 and the NHS, in this and subsequent lockdowns, should help in tailoring suitable support for staff in the future and acknowledging the profound impact that the pandemic has had.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathy McKay & Sarah Wayland & David Ferguson & Jane Petty & Eilis Kennedy, 2021. "“At Least until the Second Wave Comes…”: A Twitter Analysis of the NHS and COVID-19 between March and June 2020," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:3943-:d:532779
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/3943/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/3943/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kento Tanaka & Masatoshi Tahara & Yuki Mashizume & Kayoko Takahashi, 2021. "Effects of Lifestyle Changes on the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers with Different Sense of Coherence Levels in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-11, March.
    2. Chang, H.-J. & Huang, N. & Lee, C.-H. & Hsu, Y.-J. & Hsieh, C.-J. & Chou, Y.-J., 2004. "The Impact of the SARS Epidemic on the Utilization of Medical Services: SARS and the Fear of SARS," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(4), pages 562-564.
    3. Yoshito Nishimura & Tomoko Miyoshi & Hideharu Hagiya & Yoshinori Kosaki & Fumio Otsuka, 2021. "Burnout of Healthcare Workers amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Japanese Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-8, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marion Davin & Mouez Fodha & Thomas Seegmuller, 2021. "Environment, public debt and epidemics," AMSE Working Papers 2128, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    2. Yu shin Park & Soo Young Kim & Eun-Cheol Park & Sung-In Jang, 2022. "Screening for Diabetes Complications during the COVID-19 Outbreak in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-12, April.
    3. Marion Davin & Mouez Fodha & Thomas Seegmuller, 2023. "Environment, public debt, and epidemics," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 25(6), pages 1270-1303, December.
    4. Kuan-Ying Hsieh & Wei-Tsung Kao & Dian-Jeng Li & Wan-Chun Lu & Kuan-Yi Tsai & Wei-Jen Chen & Li-Shiu Chou & Joh-Jong Huang & Su-Ting Hsu & Frank Huang-Chih Chou, 2021. "Mental health in biological disasters: From SARS to COVID-19," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(5), pages 576-586, August.
    5. Katarzyna Tomaszewska & Bożena Majchrowicz & Katarzyna Snarska & Donata Telega, 2022. "Stress and Occupational Burnout of Nurses Working with COVID-19 Patients," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-13, October.
    6. Yue-Chune Lee & Ming-Chin Yang & Yu-Tung Huang & Chien-Hsiang Liu & Sun-Bing Chen, 2006. "Impacts of Cost Containment Strategies on Pharmaceutical Expenditures of the National Health Insurance in Taiwan, 1996–2003," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 24(9), pages 891-902, September.
    7. Tomoko Miyoshi & Hiromi Ida & Yoshito Nishimura & Soichiro Ako & Fumio Otsuka, 2022. "Effects of Yoga and Mindfulness Programs on Self-Compassion in Medical Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Intervention Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-10, September.
    8. Ilaria Buonomo & Bruna Ferrara & Martina Pansini & Paula Benevene, 2023. "Job Satisfaction and Perceived Structural Support in Remote Working Conditions—The Role of a Sense of Community at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-11, June.
    9. Manon Duay & Margot Morgiève & Hélène Niculita-Hirzel, 2021. "Sudden Changes and Their Associations with Quality of Life during COVID-19 Lockdown: A Cross-Sectional Study in the French-Speaking Part of Switzerland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-17, May.
    10. Yoshito Nishimura & Tomoko Miyoshi & Asuka Sato & Kou Hasegawa & Hideharu Hagiya & Yoshinori Kosaki & Fumio Otsuka, 2021. "Burnout of Healthcare Workers Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Follow-Up Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-10, November.
    11. Shukla, Prakriti & Lee, Myeong & Whitman, Samantha A. & Pine, Kathleen H., 2022. "Delay of routine health care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A theoretical model of individuals’ risk assessment and decision making," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    12. Thérèse McDonnell & Emma Nicholson & Ciara Conlon & Michael Barrett & Fergal Cummins & Conor Hensey & Eilish McAuliffe, 2020. "Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 Public Health Stages on Paediatric Emergency Attendance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-24, September.
    13. Wesley Buckwalter & Andrew Peterson, 2020. "Public attitudes toward allocating scarce resources in the COVID-19 pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, November.
    14. Yoshito Nishimura, 2022. "Primary Care, Burnout, and Patient Safety: Way to Eliminate Avoidable Harm," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-3, August.
    15. Erika Obikane & Daisuke Nishi & Akihiko Ozaki & Tomohiro Shinozaki & Norito Kawakami & Takahiro Tabuchi, 2023. "Association between Poverty and Refraining from Seeking Medical Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: A Prospective Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, February.
    16. Manuel Hermosilla & Jian Ni & Haizhong Wang & Jin Zhang, 2023. "Leveraging the E-commerce footprint for the surveillance of healthcare utilization," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 604-625, December.
    17. Mabugu, Ramos E. & Maisonnave, Helene & Henseler, Martin & Chitiga-Mabugu, Margaret & Makochekanwa, Albert, 2023. "Implications of COVID-19 and mitigation measures on gender and the Zimbabwean economy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    18. Andreas Richter & Thomas C. Wilson, 2020. "Covid-19: implications for insurer risk management and the insurability of pandemic risk," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 45(2), pages 171-199, September.
    19. Teodora Safiye & Branimir Vukčević & Medo Gutić & Ardea Milidrag & Draško Dubljanin & Jakša Dubljanin & Branimir Radmanović, 2022. "Resilience, Mentalizing and Burnout Syndrome among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Serbia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-13, May.
    20. Caitlin A. J. Powell & John P. Butler, 2022. "The Role of Moral Distress on Physician Burnout during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-10, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:3943-:d:532779. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.