O'Reilly, Alexis and Meredith, David and Foley, Ronan and McCarthy, Jack (2023) Continuity, change and new ways of being: An exploratory assessment of farmer's experiences and responses to public health restrictions during the COVID‐19 pandemic in a rural Irish community. Sociologia Ruralis, 63 (S1). pp. 95-115. ISSN 0038-0199

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Abstract

Farming occupations are, in the Global North, generally solitary, and a growing body of research identifies this as one of the factors that underpins low levels of wellbeing and poor mental health amongst farmers. The primary public health response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic focused on reducing transmission of the virus by limiting interactions of people. This article seeks to assess the impact of these restrictions on farmer's experience of isolation and how it shaped their wellbeing. Applying a broad socio-ecological framework, we analyse change, continuity and shifts in social and economic relations and their spatial reconfiguration during the COVID-19 pandemic as recounted in semi-structured, qualitative interviews. We found that while COVID-19 has disrupted socio-spatial relations, including key sites of socialisation for farmers and rural communities, occupational isolation was viewed as a positive feature of farming as was working in nature. Familial and informal networks of support were important throughout the pandemic, while novel engagements with communication technologies facilitated both change and continuity of social and economic interaction. Whilst these findings are broadly positive, the reconfiguration of, particularly, economic relations is viewed as accelerating the turn towards service delivery using technology and, consequently, further reducing opportunities for social interaction. © 2023 The Authors. Sociologia Ruralis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society for Rural Sociology.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	COVID-19 public health restrictions; farmer wellbeing; Ireland; rural isolation; socio-spatial relations;
Academic Unit:	Assisting Living & Learning,ALL institute Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography
Item ID:	18975
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12424
Depositing User:	Dr. Ronan Foley
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2024 13:41
Journal or Publication Title:	Sociologia Ruralis
Publisher:	Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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