SOCIAL COHESION: A TOOL TO COUNTER PANDEMIC EFFECTS

Abstract

This research paper explores the role of social cohesion during the pandemic crisis. The adverse impact of pandemic crisis challenged the existence of human beings affecting social stability, economy and mental well-being of people. With the threat of the arrival of concurrent waves of pandemic the people are living in fear and anxiety. In order to understand the role of social cohesion database searches were done in Scopus, Google scholar, Research Gate and PLoS One. From the identified 120 relevant articles, 52 articles were selected and included for review in this paper. These articles helped in preparing the base for proposing 3P model. The 3P(P1= Promoting Participation by Minimizing Inequities, P2= Priority setting, P3= Policy Formulation and Planned Intervention) model suggested in the paper focuses on creating the strategy highlighting that as pandemic creates strain on socio-economic resources, the social cohesion in the society helps in dealing the crisis. The suggested model outlines the importance of social cohesion in dealing the critical situations and emphasizes that social cohesion can act as buffer for people in reducing vulnerabilities to the pandemic crisis in an effective way and crafting reality based approach to deal with crisis from time to time.