Window of opportunity: creating a hopeful future following the covid-19 disaster

Abstract

The COVID-19 disaster has resulted in feelings of isolation and trauma, as well as hope for the future. It has highlighted a number of issues that were previously devalued by society: gender equity, equal access to health care, and emphasis on systems that work well for a certain segment of society but not for all people or the environment. Two international studies were conducted in April-May 2020 and September-December 2020 to measure the impacts of these issues on participants during the pandemic. Results showed that feelings of isolation and stress were at a high level, especially in the second survey, and overwork resulting from remote work, children at home attending school via computer, and unequal access to healthcare was noted. However, respondents also expressed significant levels of resilience and hope for the future.