Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on family carers of those with profound and multiple intellectual disabilities: perspectives from UK and Irish Non-Governmental Organisations.

BACKGROUND: Family carers of people with profound and multiple intellectual disabilities (PMID) experienced a reduction in healthcare services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many subsequently turned to Non-Governmental Organisations who worked to support families. However, little research has sought to capture the experiences of family carers or identify effective interventions which might support them. To address these concerns we explored the views of Non-Governmental sector workers across the UK and Ireland who supported families people with PMID during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also sought to explore their views on the characteristics of online support programmes for family carers.  METHODS: This study employed a qualitative design using focus groups with participants (n = 24) from five Non-Governmental Organisations across the UK and Ireland. A focus group guide included questions on challenges, supports, coping and resources which helped during lockdown restrictions. Focus groups were held online, were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The resulting transcripts were pseudonymised and subjected to thematic analysis. FINDINGS: Four themes were identified (i) 'mental and emotional health', (ii) 'they who shout the loudest' (fighting for services), (iii) 'lack of trust in statutory services' and (iv) 'creating an online support programme'. Mental and emotional health emerged as the most prominent theme and included three subthemes named as 'isolation', 'fear of COVID-19' and 'the exhaustion of caring'. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the vulnerability of family carers who were already experiencing difficulties in accessing services and supports for their families. While Non-Governmental Organisations have been a crucial lifeline there is urgent need to design services, including online support programmes, in partnership with family carers which adequately address their needs.

"IN TWO YEARS WE WILL NOT REMEMBER THE PANDEMIC." DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ON TOURISM DECREASE IN BARCELONA

When the spread of COVID-19 globally, it would be possible to affirm that tourism is in an authentic situation of life-support machine. Governments around the world are pouring money into the sector in anticipation of a speedy recovery. This is also the desire on the part of a business sector that hopes to return, as soon as possible, to the buoyant pre-pandemic situation. However, there are numerous voices, mostly from the academic sphere and social movements, which warn that the occasion is not being used to modify some of the old patterns that dragged tourism production. With the intention of taking advantage of old teachings, this article focuses on the role that social movements and the ideology of degrowth have played in protest actions against touristification in Spain in recent years. Although, these types of episodes have been frequent in cities such as Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Bilbao, Seville and Valencia, without any doubt those that have had the greatest diffusion and influence have been carried out in Barcelona. Platforms such as the Assemblea de Barns per un Turisme Sostenible (ABTS), an organization formed by grassroots movements, associations and other entities have stood out in their performance. Since its constitution in 2015, the ABTS has been at the forefront whenever it has tried to demand a reduction in the flow of tourists to the Catalan capital and a reversal of the social, economic, cultural and environmental effects indicated as harmful and generated by mass tourism. The research hypothesis raises that the dominant discourse, by emphasizing the contribution that tourism has made to Spanish economic and political development, provides a positive framework for the industry that contrasts sharply with the concerns about its harmful effects expressed by its opponents, the degrowth movements. The interpretation of such a proposal will be developed through the use of the Analysis of Political Discourse (ADP), as well as the treatments of Louis Althusser on the concept of ideology, and the interpellation and work on tourism degrowth developed by various authors. Finally, the text shows what happens when these interpellation attempts fail, as has happened so spectacularly in the case of Barcelona.

That Woman from Michigan: How Gender Resentment Shapes the Efficacy of Stay-at-Home Policies

The United States has the highest number of COVID-19 cases, yet many Americans have responded indifferently towards policies designed to combat the spread of the virus. While nearly all 50 states have implemented some type of stay-at-home policy to encourage social distancing, there has been high variation in the degree of compliance. We argue this variance is in part driven by gender resentment. Gender resentment reduces trust in female political leaders, and thus decreases compliance with government policy and recommendations. Using data from SafeGraph and the 2016 American National Election Study, we demonstrate the effect of stay-at-home policies on social distancing is reduced when gender resentment increases in states with female leaders. However, when gender resentment is low, there is no difference in the effect of policies on behavior. This research has important implications for understanding unseen barriers that can mediate the efficacy of female political leaders. © 2020 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.