Abstract
In this chapter, the authors explore the gendered experiences of women healthcare workers in Kerala during the Covid-19 pandemic period. Data were collected from 55 of them, including ASHAs, counsellors, supporting staff, technical staff, multipurpose workers, nursing staff and doctors using both direct and telephonic interviews. A combined inductive and deductive approach was used for thematic analysis. Female leadership and workforce have contributed to internationally recognised pandemic response in the state. Yet, many of them suffered from overwork and stress due to gender roles and double work. Social stigma, sexual harassment, and gender segregation of certain cadres of low-income healthcare workers were the other problems identified. These experiences are intersecting with various socio-demographic factors. This study stresses the importance of inclusion of gender responsiveness in all programmes, policies and disaster preparedness.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abdelhafiz, A. S., & Alorabi, M. (2020). Social stigma: The hidden threat of Covid-19. Frontiers in Public Health, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00429
Almaghrabi, R. H., Alfaraidi, A. H., Hebshi, A. A. W., & Albaadani, M. M. (2020). Healthcare workers experience in dealing with Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Saudi Medical Journal, 41(6), 657–660. https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2020.6.25101
Anand, S., Fan, V., & World Health Organization. (2016). The health workforce in India. Human resources for health observer series No. 16. https://www.who.int/hrh/resources/16058health_workforce_India.pdf
Bhanot, D., Singh, T., Verma, S. K., & Sharad, S. (2020). Stigma and discrimination during COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 829. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.577018
Carmassi, C., Foghi, C., Dell'Oste, V., Cordone, A., Bertelloni, C. A., Bui, E., & Dell’Osso, L. (2020). PTSD symptoms in healthcare workers facing the three coronavirus outbreaks: What can we expect after the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatry Research, 113312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113312
Cunningham, M. (2007). Influences of women’s employment on the gendered division of household labour over the life course: Evidence from a 31-year panel study. Journal of Family Issues, 28(3), 422–444. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X06295198
Di Tella, M., Romeo, A., Benfante, A., & Castelli, L. (2020). Mental health of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 26(6), 1583–1587. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.13444
Dutta, A., & Fischer, H. W. (2021). The local governance of Covid-19: Disease prevention and social security in rural India. World Development, 138, 105234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105234
Dye, T. D., Alcantara, L., Siddiqi, S., Barbosu, M., Sharma, S., Panko, T., & Pressman, E. (2020). Risk of Covid-19-related bullying, harassment and stigma among healthcare workers: An analytical cross-sectional global study. BMJ Open, 10(12), e046620. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046620
Gogoi, M. M. (2020). ASHA worker as human resource and problem faced by them before and after Covid-19. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 17(6), 11172–11178. https://archives.palarch.nl/index.php/jae/article/view/2826/2749
ILO. (2020). Women health workers: Working relentlessly in hospitals and at home. Newsroom, International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_741060/lang%2D%2Den/index.htm
Ippolito, M., Gregoretti, C., Cortegiani, A., & Iozzo, P. (2020). Counterfeit filtering facepiece respirators are posing an additional risk to health care workers during Covid-19 pandemic. American Journal of Infection Control, 48(7), 853–854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2020.04.020
Johnson, S. U., Ebrahimi, O. V., & Hoffart, A. (2020). PTSD symptoms among health workers and public service providers during the Covid-19 outbreak. PLoS One, 15(10), e0241032. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241032
Joshi, A. (2021). Covid-19 pandemic in India: Through psycho-social lens. Journal of Social and Economic Development, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40847-020-00136-8
Karan, A., Negandhi, H., Hussain, S., Zapata, T., Mairembam, D., De Graeve, H., Buchan, J., & Zodpey, S. (2021). Size, composition and distribution of health workforce in India: Why, and where to invest? Human Resources for Health, 19(1), 39, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-021-00575-2.
Karia, R., Gupta, I., Khandait, H., Yadav, A., & Yadav, A. (2020). COVID-19 and its modes of transmission. SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-020-00498-4
Khasne, W. R., Dhakulkar, S. B., Mahajan, C. H., & Kulkarni, P. A. (2020). Burnout among healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic in India: Results of a questionnaire-based survey. Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine, 24(8), 664–671. https://doi.org/10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23518
Kitano, T., Kitano, M., Krueger, C., Jamal, H., Al Rawahi, H., Lee-Krueger, R., Sun, R. D., Isabel, S., Garcia-Ascaso, T. M., Hibino, H., Camara, B., Isabel, M., Cho, L., Groves, E. H., Piché-Renaud, P.-P., Kossov, M., Kou, I., Jon, I., Blanchard, C. A., … Morris, S. K. (2021). The differential impact of pediatric Covid-19 between high-income countries and low-and middle-income countries: A systematic review of fatality and ICU admission in children worldwide. PLoS One, 16(1), e0246326. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246326
Liu, Q., Luo, D., Haase, J. E., Guo, Q., Wang, X. Q., Liu, S., Xia, L., Liu, Z., Yang, J., & Yang, B. X. (2020). The experiences of healthcare providers during the Covid-19 crisis in China: A qualitative study. The Lancet Global Health, 8(6), e790–e798. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30204-7
Menon, V., Padhy, S. K., & Pattnaik, J. I. (2020). Stigma and aggression against health care workers in India amidst Covid-19 times: Possible drivers and mitigation strategies. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 42(4), 400–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/0253717620929241
Moreira da Silva, J. (2019). Why you should care about unpaid care work. OECD Development Matters. https://oecd-development-matters.org/2019/03/18/why-you-should-care-about-unpaid-care-work
Nanda, P., Lewis, T. N., Das, P., & Krishnan, S. (2020). From the frontlines to Centre stage: Resilience of frontline health workers in the context of Covid-19. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 28(1), 1837413. https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2020.1837413
Pappa, S., Ntella, V., Giannakas, T., Giannakoulis, V. G., Papoutsi, E., & Katsaounou, P. (2020). Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and insomnia among healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 88, 901–907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.026
Phillips, S. P., & Schneider, M. S. (1993). Sexual harassment of female doctors by patients. New England Journal of Medicine, 329(26), 1936–1939. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199312233292607
Prasad, P., & Arathi P. M. (2020). Kerala’s ASHAs lead Covid-19 charge, get little. https://www.article-14.com/post/ashas-within-the-kerala-model-lead-covid-19-response-get-little-in-return
Ramaci, T., Barattucci, M., Ledda, C., & Rapisarda, V. (2020). Social stigma during Covid-19 and its impact on HCWs outcomes. Sustainability, 12(9), 3834. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093834
Regenold, N., & Vindrola-Padros, C. (2021). Gender matters: A gender analysis of healthcare workers’ experiences during the first Covid-19 pandemic peak in England. Social Sciences, 10(2), 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10020043
Ridgeway, C. L. (2001). Small-group interaction and gender. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (1st ed., pp. 14185–14189). Pergamon.
Sadanandan, R. (2020). Kerala’s response to COVID-19. Indian Journal of Public Health, 64(6), 99. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijph.IJPH_459_20
Sasaki, N., Kuroda, R., Tsuno, K., & Kawakami, N. (2020). Fear, worry and workplace harassment related to the Covid-19 epidemic among employees in Japan: Prevalence and impact on mental and physical health. Journal of Occupational Health, 62(1), e12134. https://doi.org/10.1002/1348-9585.12134
Sharma, V., Scott, J., Kelly, J., & Van Rooyen, M. J. (2020). Prioritising vulnerable populations and women on the frontlines: Covid-19 in humanitarian contexts. International Journal for Equity in Health, 19, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01186-4
Shreffler, J., Petrey, J., & Huecker, M. (2020). The impact of Covid-19 on healthcare worker wellness: A scoping review. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 21(5), 1059–1066. https://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2020.7.48684
Spoorthy, M. S., Pratapa, S. K., & Mahant, S. (2020). Mental health problems faced by healthcare workers due to the Covid-19 pandemic: A review. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 102119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102119
Sreenivasan, J., Shehzebkhan, M., Khan, U. S., Hooda, U., Aronow, S. W., Panza, A. J., Levine, N. G., Commodore-Mensah, Y., Bluementhal, S. R., & Michos, D. E. (2021). Mental health disorders among patients with acute myocardial infarction in the United States. American Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 5, 100133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpc.2020.100133
Suryavanshi, N., Kadam, A., Dhumal, G., Nimkar, S., Mave, V., Gupta, A., Cox, R. S., & Gupte, N. (2020). Mental health and quality of life among healthcare professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic in India. Brain and Behaviour, 10(11). https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1837
Tabah, A., Ramanan, M., Laupland, K. B., Buetti, N., Cortegiani, A., Mellinghoff, J., Morris, C. A., Camporota, L., Zappella, N., Elhadi, M., Povoa, P., Amrein, K., Vidal, G., Derde, L., Bassetti, M., Francois, G., Kai, Y. S. N., & De-Waele, J. J. (2020). Personal protective equipment and intensive care unit healthcare worker safety in the Covid-19 era (PPE-SAFE): An international survey. Journal of Critical Care, 59, 70–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrc.2020.06.005
Watts, J. H. (2016). Gender, health and healthcare: Women’s and men’s experience of health and working in healthcare roles (1st ed.). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315584119
Wilson, W., Raj, J. P., Rao, S., Ghiya, M., Nedungalaparambil, N. M., Mundra, H., & Mathew, R. (2020). Prevalence and predictors of stress, anxiety, and depression among healthcare workers managing COVID-19 pandemic in India: A nationwide observational study. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 42(4), 353–358. https://doi.org/10.1177/0253717620933992
Xiao, X., Zhu, X., Fu, S., Hu, Y., Li, X., & Xiao, J. (2020). Psychological impact of healthcare workers in China during COVID-19 pneumonia epidemic: A multi-centre cross-sectional survey investigation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 274, 405–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.05.081
Acknowledgements
Dr. Reshma Radhakrishnan, Associate Postdoc Fellow, Max Weber Kolleg fur kultur und sozialwissenschaftliche Studien, University of Erfurt.
Dr. Divyamol N, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Palakkad.
Ms. Soumya M.S., Ms. Aswathy B, Mr. Abdul Saleem T.K. and Ms. Aswathy C.K.—Social workers (MSW), Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Palakkad.
Ms. Ila Rajesh, Palakkad.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
C., S., A. K., J. (2021). COVID-19: Gendered Experiences of Healthcare Workers in Kerala, India. In: George, I., Kuruvilla, M. (eds) Gendered Experiences of COVID-19 in India. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85335-8_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85335-8_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-85334-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-85335-8
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)