STRENGTHENING SOCIETAL RESILIENCE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The aim: To investigate factors that can negatively affect societal resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and identify communication aspects of strengthening resilience through information policy formation. Materials and methods: In the research process, the authors employed the monographic and abstract-logical methods. The communication aspect analysis of strengthening social resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic also grounded upon the results of the authors' sociological study "Motivation of compliance/non-compliance with quarantine restrictions by the population of Ukraine". Focus-group interviews and surveys. A total of 1,700 respondents represent the adult population of Ukraine aged 18 and older (except those living on the territory temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, some areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions). The error of the study representativeness with a probability of 0.95: does not exceed 4%. Results:The analysis results indicate that under pandemic conditions informational space of Ukraine is charging with low-quality and diverse information and is getting out of control, which entails adverse effects on societal resilience. Besides, a survey conducted by the SSU Center for Social Studies endorses the availability of communication gaps. The poll claims 38.6% of Ukrainians to be dissatisfied with their awareness level of Covid-19 because the information is contradictory and unreliable. The opinion poll also proves the low level of Ukrainians' trust in state institutions and official details on the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, violations of quarantine restrictions are socially acceptable, and a significant part of the population tends to ignore such violations by others. That is, among Ukrainians, compliance with quarantine restrictions has not become a social norm. Conclusions: An essential component for molding social resilience is the development and adoption of communication policies to change human behavior in the long-term in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government should also develop a Public Health Awareness Concept in the pandemic with appropriate implementation plans at the state, regional and territorial community levels.