Understanding and mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth, families and schools in remote areas

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting measures have had significant consequences on the health of young people and families, as well as on school environments. Despite these difficulties, the containment measures have had some positive impacts for young people and families, such as increased quality time spent with family, reduced stress related to travel and social commitments, and increased parental involvement in their children's school activities. The impacts of the pandemic on young people and families are therefore varied and depend on several vulnerability factors. In this context, this qualitative study will, through 73 interviews, highlight the discourse of young people, parents and school staff members in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (Québec) on the consequences of the pandemic on their health and their adaptation to it, in light of social, academic and digital inequalities. It will be conducted in collaboration with two school service centres (CSS) in the region through individual (parents) and group (students and school staff) interviews in primary and secondary schools. This project offers a promising avenue to better understand the consequences of the pandemic on the health of school stakeholders in remote regions, a subject that has been little studied to date. It will identify the strategies that seem most effective in addressing inequalities in schools and the consequences of the pandemic. This data can be integrated into the support services offered by schools in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of the support offered to young people and their families during and after the pandemic.