Masks, Misinformation, and Making Do: Appalachian Health-Care Workers and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on rural health-care providers, who were already burdened before the outbreak. This volume explores the experiences of Appalachian health-care workers, including frontline providers, administrators, and educators, and highlights how governmental and corporate policies exacerbated the regions injustices, stymied response efforts, and increased the death toll. The essays provide background material and contextualize the explosion of telemedicine, the pandemics impact on medical education, and its relationship to systemic racism and related disparities in mental health treatment. The first-person narratives recount the pandemics layered stresses, including the scramble for ventilators, masks, and other personal protective equipment, the added burden on patients with existing health conditions, and the acute ways the pandemic exacerbated interpersonal and systemic racism. These experiences will shape the historical record of this "unprecedented time" and provide a glimpse into the future of rural medicine.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 03 January 2023
Publisher: Ohio University Press

The pandemic experiences of rural health-care providers, who were already burdened when COVID-19 hit, raise significant questions about the future of public health and healthcare delivery. This comprehensive volume encompasses the firsthand accounts of Appalachian health-care workers, including frontline providers, administrators, and educators, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The collective narrative unveils how governmental and corporate policies exacerbated the region's injustices, hindered response efforts, and tragically increased the death toll.

The book begins with an overview of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its profound impact on the human body. The subsequent section of the book provides valuable background information and contextualizes the subsequent surge of telemedicine, the pandemic's impact on medical education, and its connection to systemic racism and related disparities in mental health treatment.

In the next section, first-person narratives from diverse perspectives unfold, capturing the layered stresses experienced by Appalachian health-care workers during the pandemic. These narratives encompass the desperate scramble for vital ventilators, masks, and other personal protective equipment; the frustration and disappointment faced when neighbors, friends, and family members disregarded public-health mandates, believing COVID-19 to be a hoax; the additional burden the virus placed on patients with pre-existing health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, or addiction; and the acute exacerbation of interpersonal and systemic racism experienced by Black and other health-care workers of color, not only in their fight against the virus but also in the face of growing suspicion and even physical abuse from patients who believed doctors and nurses were conspiring to harm them.

These visceral, personal accounts of how Appalachian health-care workers responded to the pandemic amidst the nation's deeply polarized political discourse will leave an indelible mark on the historical record of this unprecedented time. They offer a glimmer of hope and resilience as we navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Weight: 432g
Dimension: 137 x 215 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780821425022