GUELPH – A new report has highlighted a number of troubling “secondary impacts” of the COVID-19 pandemic, including more screen time and less socialization for children and increased alcohol consumption for parents, as well as a greater risk for family violence and various mental health impacts for all ages.
Toward Common Ground (TCG), a partnership of social and health service organizations in Guelph and Wellington, released the Vital Focus report on families and children on Dec. 17.
It is the fifth in a series TCG reports “providing evidence-based recommendations on how to mitigate and address the secondary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” officials say.
“Increasing awareness of the pandemic’s effects across a range of issues helps identify and make sense of the community’s most urgent needs and how best to serve [local] residents as service providers and local organizations continue to work together to respond and recover from COVID-19,” states the press release.
The report notes that results from various surveys echo the World Health Organization’s findings that suggest the initial measures put in place to manage the pandemic, including school closures, were not easy for parents, caregivers or children.
Survey results indicate:
- parents have struggled to balance the competing demands of work, remote learning and their children’s needs;
- children socialized less and felt isolated;
- many parents and caregivers experienced depression and anxiety;
- children’s mental health was affected;
- some parents drank more alcohol;
- there was increased risk for family violence due to factors like isolation, lack of privacy, and increase in alcohol use at home; and
- the risk of food insecurity increased due to significant decreases in or loss of income.
Additionally, at the beginning of the pandemic, reports of child abuse and neglect decreased, which can be attributed to decreased contact between children and schools and community programs, which often serve as reporting sources for suspected abuse or neglect.
Local trends
In April and May 2020, the Guelph Family Health Study asked 254 families how COVID-19 impacted them.
Of the parents who responded to the survey:
- 87% reported that their children were spending more time on screens;
- 22% of mothers and 18% of fathers reported being worried they would not be able to pay the mortgage, rent or other bills on time over the next six months; and
- 55% said they were eating more meals with children.
The Vital Focus report details national and local data and offers recommendations for local community organizations, institutions, and all orders of government on how to mitigate and address the secondary impacts over the longer term.
The recommendations generally fall under one of the following categories:
- support individuals, families and the community to build resilience by reducing sources of stress;
- promote healthy behaviours, such as outdoor time and physical activities that support good physical and mental health;
- keep children safe while on the internet;
- consult with subject matter experts and use research to ensure that measures put in place to protect against COVID-19 take into account the potential positive or negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of children and families;
- prioritize the unique needs of children and families who are disproportionately at-risk of negative outcomes due the measures put in place for COVID-19 (examples include: families living in poverty, families where a parent/caregiver is struggling with a mental health or addiction issue, or families where a child has a disability); and
- address barriers families will face in the implementation of some COVID-19 measures (e.g. parental employment and the need for child care; the developmental ability of children to follow certain restrictions).
Vital Focus report partners include TCG, Wellington County, City of Guelph, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, Guelph and Area Ontario Health Team, and Vital Signs.
