Understanding the Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Transmission and Mental Health Effects of COVID - 19 in Zambia

Background: Humanity faces one of the most serious crises in recent history. The COVID-19 pandemic has and continues to undo many years of socio-economic development for several countries, exacerbating humanitarian crises and potentially aggravating social and public health upheavals. The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted how interconnected, fragile and complex the global socio-economic system is. The uncertainty, along with the impact of the virus and subsequent economic losses, is likely to sharpen the focus on other socioeconomic factors that have been brewing, such as the growing inequality in wealth, loss of jobs which has resulted in some cases people developing mental health problems. Zambia has not been spared from the scourge of Covid-19. The Zambian Government has recognised the impact of Covid-19 on the mental wellbeing of its citizens and the economy. To this effect, Zambia has come up with a multisectoral approach to help deal with the impact of Covid-19 on the economy in general. The overarching aim of this study is to investigate likely pathways of transmission of COVID between rural and urban populations, and the preventive strategies such as social distancing, self-quarantine and isolation measures be effectively implemented in Zambia. Methods: this research will employ an embedded case study mixed methods design, which will seek to compare rural and urban experiences to understand the dynamism of transmission as well as mental health effects of COVID - 19 across different populations through qualitative and quantitative data collected sequentially. Quantitative samples will be drawn using multistage cluster sampling while qualitative samples will be drawn using purposive sampling. Qualitative data will be analysed thematically using Nvivo 12.0 while quantitative data will be analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) in Stata 22. Expected Outputs Study findings will be prepared in a number of formats in order to meet the needs of different audiences. Outputs will include academic papers, lessons learned paper, practice guidelines, reports, infographics and video content. These outputs will be directed to families, frontline and management delivering disability services, national-level policy makers, healthcare quality and delivery authorities, national pandemic organisations and international bodies