EAGER: RUI: How Do Multigenerational Households Provide Care, Manage Risk and Negotiate Infectious Disease Safety during the Pandemic?

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Multigenerational household arrangements, defined as having a grandparent, parent, and child co-residing in one household-has long been practiced for its economic and cultural benefits to families. However, the coronavirus pandemic has turned these economic survival strategies into high risk living conditions as household transmission remains a primary source of COVID-19 infections. Despite recommendations to physically distance, vaccinate, wear masks if unvaccinated, sanitize, and get tested, little is known about how readily multigenerational household members can apply these recommendations given real world contingencies related to work, kin, and cultural obligations. This is especially true for households with essential workers as vaccination rates slow down and businesses reopen. The results of this study will contribute to recommendations for how to strengthen public health responses to accommodate not just individuals but families (broadly conceived), particularly those living in multigenerational households. The study is implemented as part of a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) with students at a Primarily Undergraduate, Hispanic-Serving Institution, to broaden participation of students in STEM. This project investigates how multigenerational households provide care while negotiating coronavirus safety during the pandemic. The study will be conducted in a context in which variation in household composition and employment outside the home create specific vulnerabilities to COVID-19 given multigenerational household arrangements. The investigators use ethnographic and ranking methods to compare risk perceptions, harm reduction practices, and social relational issues associated with culturally specific care roles in a context of limited resources and close living quarters. The project provides the foundations for building a research design model for researchers who evaluate risk assessment for disease transmission within multigenerational households where disease exposure is higher, and frequently less able to adhere to public health guidelines. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.