Psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 lockdown and coping strategies of the community, Jimma University, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Beside its infections and death rates, COVID-19’s lockdown has instigated worldwide psychosocial impacts by causing mass stress, tension, isolation, loneliness, less social interaction, fear, and responded with social support system called ubuntu. Collective fear of coronavirus can be termed as “corona phobia” has produced an excess psychosocial crisis across the different societal levels. Thus, to control its rapid spreading, countries introduced lockdowns and social-distancing. Therefore, the study aimed to explore the psychosocial impacts of lockdown and the coping strategies of participants. A crosssectional qualitative phenomenological research design was used to explore the experiences of 10 Jimma University  instructors. Ubuntu is used as a lens to inspect the support system in the community. The trustworthiness of the data is secured via member- checking and consent participation. Narrative data from in-depth interviews discovered eight major themes: the spiritual aspects, social and cultural
aspects, emotional and behavioral stabilities, the social and physical environment, changing lifestyle, adherence to instructions, sharing and caring for others, future directions. Participants confirmed fears, stress, isolation, loneliness, poor social interaction are the psychosocial impacts and coped-up by support systems. Engaging in resource mobilization and spending their time with family and self-update. The finding implies the need for social workers' contribution in handling the psychosocial challenges of the community and intervention with culturally relevant theories like Ubuntu.

Key Terms: COVID-19, buntu, lockdown, psychosocial, Jimma, Ethiopia