Making sense of COVID-19: manifestations of health capital during the pandemic

Creative Commons License

BAĞCI Ş. E., ERDEN Ş., YENGEL B.

BMC Public Health, cilt.24, sa.1, 2024 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 24 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1186/s12889-024-18451-8
  • Dergi Adı: BMC Public Health
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, CAB Abstracts, CINAHL, EMBASE, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, MEDLINE, Pollution Abstracts, Public Affairs Index, Veterinary Science Database, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Biographical narrative interview, COVID-19, Documentary method, Field, Habitus, Health capital, Social determinants of health
  • Çukurova Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Background: Grounded in Bourdieu's theory of human practice, this study aims to examine how individuals as social agents made sense of and acted upon their COVID-19 experiences. A recent conceptualization of health capital is utilized to explain the practices of patients in the pandemic, in relation to their biographical background. Methods: This is a qualitative research in which the data were collected by biographical narrative interviews through a theoretical sampling approach. Eighteen interviews with COVID-19 patients were conducted and 8 of them were analyzed by the Documentary Method. Results: The informants made sense of their illness experiences through their health capital, which is manifested in their self-perception of health, their attitudes towards the healthcare system, their conception of terms such as luck, their work status, and the gendered division of labour at home in the COVID-19 pandemic. All the manifestations are mediated by the social, cultural, and economic capital of the informants, and their habitual practices are based on their symbolic capital. Conclusion: The study depicts how social agents’ health capital manifested in the pandemic, relying on their symbolic capital, and shaping their practices. Further research across diverse contexts is needed to fully understand extra dimensions of health capital as a descriptor of the social determinants of health.