What have we learned about COVID-19 volunteering in the UK? A rapid review of the literature.

Background Community engagement and volunteering are essential for the public response to COVID-19. Since March 2020 a large number of people in the UK have been regularly doing unpaid activities to benefit others besides their close relatives. Although most mutual aid groups emerged from local neighbourhoods and communities, official public institutions also fostered community volunteering, namely through the community champions scheme. By considering a broad definition of COVID-19 volunteering, this article describes a systematic review of the literature focused on one broad question: What have we learned about COVID-19 volunteering both at the UK national level and the more local community level? Methods A rapid review of the literature in peer-reviewed databases and grey literature was applied in our search, following the PRISMA principles. The search was conducted from 10 to 16 of October 2020, and sources were included on the basis of having been published between January and October 2020, focusing on COVID-19 and addressing community groups, volunteering groups, volunteers, or community champions in the UK. Results After initial screening, a total of 40 relevant sources were identified. From these, 27 were considered eligible. Findings suggest that food shopping and emotional support were the most common activities, but there were diverse models of organisation and coordination in COVID-19 volunteering. Additionally, community support groups seem to be adjusting their activities and scope of action to current needs and challenges. Volunteers were mostly women, middle-class, highly educated, and working-age people. Social networks and connections, local knowledge, and social trust were key dimensions associated with community organising and volunteering. Furthermore, despite the efforts of a few official public institutions and councils, there has been limited community engagement and collaboration with volunteering groups and other community-based organisations. Conclusions We identified important factors for fostering community engagement and COVID-19 volunteering as well as gaps in the current literature. We suggest that future research should be directed towards deepening knowledge on sustaining community engagement, collaboration and community participation over time, during and beyond this pandemic

Behavioural responses to Covid-19 health certification: a rapid review.

BACKGROUND: Covid-status certification - certificates for those who test negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, test positive for antibodies, or who have been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 - has been proposed to enable safer access to a range of activities. Realising these benefits will depend in part upon the behavioural and social impacts of certification. The aim of this rapid review was to describe public attitudes towards certification, and its possible impact on uptake of testing and vaccination, protective behaviours, and crime. METHOD: A search was undertaken in peer-reviewed databases, pre-print databases, and the grey literature, from 2000 to December 2020. Studies were included if they measured attitudes towards or behavioural consequences of health certificates based on one of three indices of Covid-19 status: test-negative result for current infectiousness, test-positive for antibodies conferring natural immunity, or vaccination(s) conferring immunity. RESULTS: Thirty-three papers met the inclusion criteria, only three of which were rated as low risk of bias. Public attitudes were generally favourable towards the use of immunity certificates for international travel, but unfavourable towards their use for access to work and other activities. A significant minority was strongly opposed to the use of certificates of immunity for any purpose. The limited evidence suggested that intention to get vaccinated varied with the activity enabled by certification or vaccination (e.g., international travel). Where vaccination is seen as compulsory this could lead to unwillingness to accept a subsequent vaccination. There was some evidence that restricting access to settings and activities to those with antibody test certificates may lead to deliberate exposure to infection in a minority. Behaviours that reduce transmission may decrease upon health certificates based on any of the three indices of Covid-19 status, including physical distancing and handwashing. CONCLUSIONS: The limited evidence suggests that health certification in relation to COVID-19 - outside of the context of international travel - has the potential for harm as well as benefit. Realising the benefits while minimising the harms will require real-time evaluations allowing modifications to maximise the potential contribution of certification to enable safer access to a range of activities

Tracking the nature and trajectory of social support in Facebook mutual aid groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of mutual aid groups were established on social media and operated as platforms through which people could offer or request social support. Considering the importance of Facebook mutual aid groups during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom but also the lack of empirical research regarding the trajectories and types of social support rendered available through the groups, our aims in this paper are threefold; first, to examine the trajectory of social support-related activity during the period between March-December 2020; second, to compare offers and requests of support during the peaks of the first and second waves; third to provide a rich analysis of the types of social support that were offered or requested through the online mutual aid groups. Quantitative findings suggest that online social support activity declined soon after the peak of the first pandemic wave and, at least in Facebook mutual aid groups, did not reach the levels observed during the first wave. Also, the number of offers of support during the first wave was higher compared to offers during the second wave, and similar was the case for requests for support. Additionally, offers for support were higher compared to requests for support during both the first and second waves. Finally, qualitative analysis showed that people used the Facebook mutual aid groups to offer and request various types of practical, emotional, and informational support. Limitations as well as implications of our study are considered. [Abstract copyright: © 2022 The Authors.

Can group-based strategies increase community resilience? Longitudinal predictors of sustained participation in Covid-19 mutual aid and community support groups

Mutual aid groups have been a critical part of the coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19) response and continue to address the needs of people in their communities. To understand how mutual aid and similar community support groups can be sustained over time, we test the idea that using group-based strategies initiates psychological trajectories that shape future participation. We conducted a preregistered longitudinal survey among Covid-19 mutual aid and community support volunteers in the United Kingdom (nWave 1 = 600, May 2021; nWave 2 = 299, July–August 2021) who were registered panelists of an independent research organization. Assessments included measures of group-based strategies, collective participation predictors, participation experience, and sustained participation. Volunteers engaged in a wide range of support activities including shopping, emotional support provision, and deliveries. Two group-based strategies—group alliances and group horizontality—longitudinally predicted sustained participation. In addition, sense of community responsibility and burnout were longitudinal predictors of sustained participation. Importantly, predictors of sustained participation diverged for volunteers with different levels of volunteering experience. Our findings highlight group-based strategies as a potential resource for organizers seeking to sustain participation. Use can be tailored depending on the profiles of individual Covid-19 mutual aid volunteers. These findings have significance beyond Covid-19 as they are relevant to sustaining community resilience more generally

More than a COVID-19 response: sustaining mutual aid groups during and beyond the pandemic

Mutual aid groups have been an indispensable part of the public response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have provided many forms of support, in particular grocery shopping which has enabled people to self-isolate if required. While community solidarity during emergencies and disasters is common, previous studies have shown that such solidarity behaviours tend to decline over time, even when needs remain high. In this study, we address how mutual aid groups can be sustained over time in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted 32 interviews with organisers of COVID-19 mutual aid and community support groups in the UK between September 2020 and January 2021. Based on a reflexive thematic analysis, we identified several community and group level experiences and strategies that were related to sustained participation in COVID-19 mutual aid groups. Meeting community needs over time with localised action and resources and building trust and community-based alliances were foundational elements in the COVID-19 mutual aid groups. Group processes strategies, such as a culture of care and support and regular group meetings, were used to help to sustain involvement. Some experiences resulting from participation in COVID-19 mutual aid groups were also related to sustained participation, including positive emotions (e.g., joy, pride), well-being and sense of efficacy, and an increasing sense of local community belonging and cohesion. Based on these findings, we propose four practical recommendations for sustaining mutual aid groups to assist public engagement with protective behaviours in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. We recommend providing practical and financial support to COVID-19 mutual aid groups; to mobilise the knowledge and the experiences acquired by COVID-19 mutual aid groups for developing programmes and interventions for addressing the medium and long-term impacts of COVID-19; to prioritise community-level interventions; and to recognise the role of group processes as these have the potential to lead to long-term community responses. These approaches will be key for ensuring that communities effectively recover from the COVID-19 pandemic

Safeguarding concerns, practices, and resources in COVID-19 mutual aid groups

Community mutual aid groups that sprang up during the COVID-19 pandemic were able to respond flexibly to local needs. Their informal character built trust with local communities, but also meant an absence of formal regulation and hence potential issues around safeguarding. However, there has been little research on COVID mutual aid groups’ safeguarding practices. In the present study, eight organizers of COVID mutual aid groups in the UK describe their group’s concerns, and existing safeguarding resources, and resources they would find useful in the future. Groups often created their own policies, training, reference materials, and safeguarding roles as a way of implementing safeguarding measures. Interviewees expressed three types of concerns around safeguarding: protection from harm (of both volunteers and members of the public), retaining character of mutual aid, and making appropriate referrals. The solutions suggested by interviewees included educational materials, training, funding, consultation, a signposting database, and a forum for COVID mutual aid groups. Some of these needs could be provided by developing relationships with formal community groups. This study suggests some of the mechanisms whereby informal community support groups can retain their grassroots identity and yet protect the health, wellbeing and rights of volunteers and those they work with

Facilitating the Public Response to COVID-19: Group Processes and Mutual Aid

This chapter seeks to understand the psychological facilitators of active community engagement with the public health response to successful responses to disease outbreaks. It summarises research on the key psychological predictors of engagement in protective behaviours in the COVID-19 pandemic, it describes how mutual aid groups have helped people to shield and self-isolate during the pandemic, and it summarises research on the factors that have sustained these groups over time. It draws out the general principles and the policy and practice implications that emerge from the research on this topic. The focus is largely on evidence from the UK, although many of the points covered in this chapter apply equally to the situation in other countries

Online mutual aid groups and social support

Project on the mobilization of social support through Facebook mutual aid groups. Focus is on the period between march - December 2020 in the UK during the first two COVID-19 waves