Many of the strategies to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, include social and behavioral interventions like handwashing, social distancing, paid sick leave, and risk communication. These measures significantly impact not only disease transmission but also the economy, social life, and other health conditions, such as mental health, substance use, and stress.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) played a crucial role in the pandemic response, and OBSSR worked closely with various NIH institutes, centers, and offices (ICOs) to integrate social and behavioral research into the COVID-19 response.
OBSSR helped coordinate urgent and competitive funding opportunities to encourage COVID-19 behavioral and social sciences research. Research areas included risk communication; adherence and transmission risks related to public health measures; the economic and social impacts of these measures; the effects on health and health care access; and interventions to mitigate these health impacts.
Additionally, OBSSR led an NIH-wide funding opportunity to encourage existing grantees to address key social and behavioral questions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. OBSSR also coordinated the development of COVID-19 survey question repositories for the Health Disaster Research Response program and the PhenX Toolkit to facilitate the use of existing items and promote data comparisons and integration across surveys and clinical studies.
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Impacts of COVID-19
Early in 2020, NIH leadership identified multiple crosscutting research initiatives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the key initiatives emerging from these discussions was the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Impacts of COVID-19 in Vulnerable and Health Disparity Population (SBE COVID-19) Initiative. This initiative aimed to support research that lessened the impacts of COVID-19 and addressed health needs in the hardest-hit communities.
Public health interventions to control the spread of COVID-19 had substantial effects on virus transmission but also profoundly impacted social and economic activity and health and health care use. These efforts exacerbated existing social, economic, and health disparities and disproportionately impacted populations already experiencing deficits.
What were the goals of the SBE COVID-19 Initiative?
Through the SBE COVID-19 initiative, NIH funded research to understand and improve health for populations that experience health disparities and other vulnerable groups, through three interrelated goals:
- Improve prediction of various mitigation efforts on transmission reduction and on social and economic impacts by leveraging and augmenting existing surveys, cohort studies, and research networks.
- Assess the downstream health and health care access effects from the economic downturn through comprehensive analysis of a wide range of available data sources.
- Develop scalable interventions to improve COVID-19 mitigation strategies and address secondary health impacts of the pandemic.
Efforts to contain and stop the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted many people’s daily lives, their finances, and access to health care—especially for people who were already at risk. The goal of this research was to better assess the benefits and risks of various pandemic and mitigation actions, such as issuing stay-at-home orders, limiting health care services, and closing nonessential businesses. Findings from this research helped reduce and address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and will help us prepare for the next public health emergency.
