“Like a wake-up call for humankind”: Views, challenges, and coping strategies related to public health measures during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Thailand

Following the first Thai COVID-19 case in January 2020, the Thai government introduced several non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in March 2020 (e.g., contact tracing, travel restrictions, closure of businesses, curfews, stay at home orders) to control COVID-19 transmissions. This study aimed to understand the views and experiences of a small number of Thai residents related to public health measures implemented during the first COVID-19 wave in Thailand. A total of 28 remote in-depth interviews with Thai residents (18–74 years old) were conducted between 8 May and 21 July 2020. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analysed using thematic analysis based on the Framework Method. Our results describe participants’ views, challenges, and coping strategies relating to COVID-19 restrictions. Most participants expressed support for the introduction of strict public health measures, while some criticized lacking enforcement or rational of certain measures. Participants identified four major challenges, namely financial hardship; social isolation and loneliness; stigma and shaming; and fear of COVID-19 infection. Strategies adopted to address these challenges included practical coping strategies (e.g., reducing risks and fear of COVID-19 infection; mitigating financial, social, and mental health impacts), and embedded socio-cultural ways of coping (e.g., turning to religion; practicing acceptance; kindness, generosity and sharing (‘Namjai’); ‘making merit’ (‘Tham-bun’)). The challenges identified from this study, in particular the role of stigma and discrimination, may be relevant to other infectious disease outbreaks beyond COVID-19. Findings from this study underscore the need for policies and interventions that mitigate the negative impacts of NPIs on the public, particularly on vulnerable groups, and highlight the importance of considering socio-cultural context to support community resilience in times of crisis. Our findings remain relevant in light of low COVID-19 vaccine availability and the potential need to implement further public health restrictions in Thailand and elsewhere against COVID-19 or future infectious disease threats

“AMR Dialogues”: a public engagement initiative to shape policies and solutions on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Thailand

Background: The use of antimicrobials in Thailand has been reported as one of the highest in the world in both the human and animal sectors. The objectives of this project are: (1) to improve understanding of the issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among adult Thai communities and (2) to drive change through the national AMR policy to include context-specific and locally-driven solutions. Methods: The project contains two components conducted in parallel: the “AMR Dialogues” public engagement project and the embedded evaluation of the project. We will bring together AMR stakeholders and members of the public through a series of conversation events to co-create an AMR stakeholder map, engagement strategy, and context-specific solutions to reduce the burden of AMR. There will be a combination of regional in-person events (‘regional conversations’) and national online events (‘national conversations’) with members of the public and AMR stakeholders. The conversations will follow this sequence: introduce and explore issues related to AMR, brainstorm solutions and finally propose promising/feasible solutions to take forward. Evaluation of the project will be conducted to assess if the AMR Dialogues objectives have been achieved using feedback forms and qualitative methods. Ethics: Approval of the evaluation component of the project has been obtained from the ethics committee of the Thailand Institute for the Development of Human Subject Protection (IHRP2021059) and the Oxford University Tropical Research Ethics Committee (OxTREC 529-21). Dissemination: The results of these conversation events will inform the next Thailand National Strategic Plan on AMR. The learning and outcomes will be disseminated to AMR policy makers, academic audiences, and participants of all the conversation events. Thaiclinicaltrials.org registration: TCTR20210528003 (28/05/2021

Social, ethical and behavioural aspects of COVID-19.

Introduction: Vaccines and drugs for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 require robust evidence generated from clinical trials before they can be used. Decisions on how to apply non-pharmaceutical interventions such as quarantine, self-isolation, social distancing and travel restrictions should also be based on evidence. There are some experiential and mathematical modelling data for these interventions, but there is a lack of data on the social, ethical and behavioural aspects of these interventions in the literature. Therefore, our study aims to produce evidence to inform (non-pharmaceutical) interventions such as communications, quarantine, self-isolation, social distancing, travel restrictions and other public health measures for the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study will be conducted in the United Kingdom, Italy, Malaysia, Slovenia and Thailand. We propose to conduct 600-1000 quantitative surveys and 25-35 qualitative interviews per country. Data collection will follow the following four themes: (1) Quarantine and self-isolation (2) social distancing and travel restrictions (3) wellbeing and mental health (4) information, misinformation and rumours. In light of limitations of travel and holding in-person meetings, we will primarily use online/remote methods for collecting data. Study participants will be adults who have provided informed consent from different demographic, socio-economic and risk groups. Discussion: At the time of the inception of the study, United Kingdom, Italy, Malaysia, Slovenia and Thailand have initiated strict public health measures and varying degrees of "lockdowns" to curb the pandemic. These public health measures will change in the coming weeks and months depending on the number of cases of COVID-19 in the respective countries. The data generated from our study could inform these strategies in real time

The impact of COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions on the lived experiences of people living in Thailand, Malaysia, Italy and the United Kingdom: A cross-country qualitative study.

This qualitative study explores the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), including social distancing, travel restrictions and quarantine, on lived experiences during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand (TH), Malaysia (MY), Italy (IT) and the United Kingdom (UK). A total of 86 interviews (TH: n = 28; MY: n = 18; IT: n = 20; UK: n = 20) were conducted with members of the public, including healthcare workers (n = 13). Participants across countries held strong views on government imposed NPIs, with many feeling measures lacked clarity. Most participants reported primarily negative impacts of NPIs on their lives, including through separation, isolation and grief over missed milestones; work-related challenges and income loss; and poor mental health and wellbeing. Nonetheless, many also experienced inadvertent positive consequences, including more time at home to focus on what they most valued in life; a greater sense of connectedness; and benefits to working life. Commonly employed coping strategies focused on financial coping (e.g. reducing spending); psycho-emotional coping (e.g. engaging in spiritual practices); social coping and connectedness (e.g., maintaining relationships remotely); reducing and mitigating risks (e.g., changing food shopping routines); and limiting exposure to the news (e.g., checking news only occasionally). Importantly, the extent to which participants' lived experiences were positive or negative, and their ability to cope was underpinned by individual, social and economic factors, with the analysis indicating some salient differences across countries and participants. In order to mitigate negative and unequal impacts of NPIs, COVID-19 policies will benefit from paying closer attention to the social, cultural and psychological-not just biological-vulnerabilities to, and consequences of public health measures

Economic and social impacts of COVID-19 and public health measures: results from an anonymous online survey in Thailand, Malaysia, the UK, Italy and Slovenia.

OBJECTIVES: To understand the impact of COVID-19 and public health measures on different social groups, we conducted a mixed-methods study in five countries ('SEBCOV-social, ethical and behavioural aspects of COVID-19'). Here, we report the results of the online survey. STUDY DESIGN AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Overall, 5058 respondents from Thailand, Malaysia, the UK, Italy and Slovenia completed the self-administered survey between May and June 2020. Poststratification weighting was applied, and associations between categorical variables assessed. Frequency counts and percentages were used to summarise categorical data. Associations between categorical variables were assessed using Pearson's χ2 test. Data were analysed in Stata 15.0 RESULTS: Among the five countries, Thai respondents reported having been most, and Slovenian respondents least, affected economically. The following factors were associated with greater negative economic impacts: being 18-24 years or 65 years or older; lower education levels; larger households; having children under 18 in the household and and having flexible/no income. Regarding social impact, respondents expressed most concern about their social life, physical health, mental health and well-being.There were large differences between countries in terms of voluntary behavioural change, and in compliance and agreement with COVID-19 restrictions. Overall, self-reported compliance was higher among respondents who self-reported a high understanding of COVID-19. UK respondents felt able to cope the longest and Thai respondents the shortest with only going out for essential needs or work. Many respondents reported seeing news perceived to be fake, the proportion varying between countries, with education level and self-reported levels of understanding of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that COVID-19 and public health measures have uneven economic and social impacts on people from different countries and social groups. Understanding the factors associated with these impacts can help to inform future public health interventions and mitigate their negative consequences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: TCTR20200401002

"Like a wake-up call for humankind": Views, challenges, and coping strategies related to public health measures during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Thailand.

Following the first Thai COVID-19 case in January 2020, the Thai government introduced several non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in March 2020 (e.g., contact tracing, travel restrictions, closure of businesses, curfews, stay at home orders) to control COVID-19 transmissions. This study aimed to understand the views and experiences of a small number of Thai residents related to public health measures implemented during the first COVID-19 wave in Thailand. A total of 28 remote in-depth interviews with Thai residents (18-74 years old) were conducted between 8 May and 21 July 2020. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analysed using thematic analysis based on the Framework Method. Our results describe participants' views, challenges, and coping strategies relating to COVID-19 restrictions. Most participants expressed support for the introduction of strict public health measures, while some criticized lacking enforcement or rational of certain measures. Participants identified four major challenges, namely financial hardship; social isolation and loneliness; stigma and shaming; and fear of COVID-19 infection. Strategies adopted to address these challenges included practical coping strategies (e.g., reducing risks and fear of COVID-19 infection; mitigating financial, social, and mental health impacts), and embedded socio-cultural ways of coping (e.g., turning to religion; practicing acceptance; kindness, generosity and sharing ('Namjai'); 'making merit' ('Tham-bun')). The challenges identified from this study, in particular the role of stigma and discrimination, may be relevant to other infectious disease outbreaks beyond COVID-19. Findings from this study underscore the need for policies and interventions that mitigate the negative impacts of NPIs on the public, particularly on vulnerable groups, and highlight the importance of considering socio-cultural context to support community resilience in times of crisis. Our findings remain relevant in light of low COVID-19 vaccine availability and the potential need to implement further public health restrictions in Thailand and elsewhere against COVID-19 or future infectious disease threats

Embedding community and public voices in co-created solutions to mitigate antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Thailand using the ‘Responsive Dialogues’ public engagement framework

Abstract The use of antimicrobials in Thailand has been reported as one of the highest in the world in human and animal sectors. Our engagement project aimed to improve our understanding of the issue of antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among adult Thai communities, and co-create locally relevant solutions to AMR, especially those focusing on raising awareness to improve related policies in Thailand. We conducted a series of online and in-person ‘conversations’ according to Wellcome’s ‘Responsive Dialogues’ engagement approach, designed to bring together different voices to understand complex AMR problems and find potential solutions. This approach enabled key AMR stakeholders and policy makers to hear directly from communities and members of the public, and vice versa. Conversations events took place between 25 November 2020 and 8 July 2022, and we engaged 179 AMR key stakeholders and members of the public across Thailand. The issues found were: there were quite a lot of misunderstandings around antimicrobials and AMR; participants felt that communications and engagement around antimicrobial resistance had limited reach and impact; asking for and taking antibiotics for self-limiting ailments is a social norm in Thailand; and there appeared to be a wide availability of cheap antimicrobials. To mitigate the spread of AMR, participants suggested that the messages around AMR should be tailored to the target audience, there should be more initiatives to increase general health literacy, there should be increased availability of AMR related information at the local level and there should be increased local leadership of AMR mitigation efforts. Trial registration Thaiclinicaltrials.org registration: TCTR20210528003 (28/05/2021)

Topic guide for qualitative study: Social, ethical and behavioural aspects of COVID-19

This is the topic guide for the protocol entitled "Social, ethical and behavioural aspects of COVID-19 (SEBCOV)" which will be conducted in the UK, Italy, Malaysia and Thailand

Online survey questions: Social, ethical and behavioural aspects of COVID-19

These are the online surveys for the protocol entitled: Social, ethical and behavioural aspects of COVID-19 (SEBCOV