Children’s pictures of COVID-19 and measures to mitigate its spread: An international qualitative study

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T11:01:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-01-01 Objectives: To gain insight into children’s health-related knowledge and understanding of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) and COVID-19, and measures adopted to mitigate transmission. Design: A child-centred qualitative creative element embedded in an online mixed-methods survey of children aged 7–12 years. Setting: Children participated in the study in six countries – the UK, Australia, Sweden, Brazil, Spain and Canada. Method: A qualitative creative component, embedded in an online survey, prompted children to draw and label a picture. Children were recruited via their parents using the researchers’ professional social media accounts, through known contacts, media and websites from health organisations within each country. Analysis of the form and content of the children’s pictures took place. Results: A total of 128 children (mean age 9.2 years) submitted either a hand-drawn (n = 111) or digitally created (n = 17) picture. Four main themes were identified which related to children’s health-related knowledge of (1) COVID-19 and how it is transmitted; (2) measures and actions to mitigate transmission; (3) places of safety during the pandemic; and (4) children’s role in mitigating COVID-19 transmission. Conclusion: Children’s pictures indicated a good understanding of the virus, how it spreads and how to mitigate transmission. Children depicted their actions during the pandemic as protecting themselves, their families and wider society. Faculty of Health Social Care Medicine Edge Hill University Keele Medical School Keele University Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute Esplugues de Llobregat Department of Nursing Botucatu Medical School UNESP – São Paulo State University Department of Nursing Umeå University School of Nursing University of Tasmania Département des sciences infirmières Université du Québec en Outaouais Institute of Health and Care Sciences Centre for Person-Centred Care Sahlgrenska Academy University of Gothenburg Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital Department of Nursing Botucatu Medical School UNESP – São Paulo State University