COVID-19 was a disaster that turned lives upside down
The goal of our COVID-19 research project was to understand how workers and their families were affected by the pandemic at home and on the job. Beyond the number of cases, deaths, and unemployed were the physical and mental health impacts on individuals and their families. A pandemic of this magnitude demanded quick action from decision-makers, but information about workers and their health, economic security, and needs was incomplete.
In addition to a general survey, EHSC researchers worked with several community organizations to develop targeted surveys for domestic workers, healthcare workers, and day laborers.
Healthcare Workers
COVID-19 & Healthcare Workers Report
We worked with the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW). SEIU-UHW represents more than 100,000 people employed by healthcare organizations (including janitors, respiratory therapists, caregivers, environmental service technicians and others who perform direct and indirect patient care). We collected data from 421 participants at a time when Delta variant was emerging and cases and deaths were increasing. Nearly 1 in 3 front-line SEIU-UHW healthcare workers had been told by a healthcare provider they had COVID-19, compared with 5% of Californians.
Check out the blog we wrote about our collaboration with SEIU-UHW here.
Domestic Workers
COVID-19 & Domestic Workers Report
We worked with California Domestic Workers Coalition - a coalition of 11 organizations in Northern and Southern California. In California, more than 2 million homes rely on the essential labor of house cleaners, nannies and home attendants. Domestic workers, who are mostly immigrant women of color, are the only group of workers excluded from the state's health and safety protections under the California Occupational Safety and Health Act. The COVID-19 Survey for Workers collected data from 164 domestic workers. Domestic workers had 3X COVID-19 infection rate compared with the general population in California.