# Stories of the Pandemic

[](https://hackmd.io/vTX1VBy7RcW5xD-H_WAaZQ)

## Introduction:
The ongoing global pandemic has had an impact on the daily lives everywhere the world over. Its onset was characterized by chaos as doctors, administrators and communities struggled to understand and address the novel coronavirus.

As the world works to meet this challenge, the virus is still an unknown quantity for us. Doctors have worked tirelessly to develop treatments that can help those afflicted with the virus though a vaccine or cure still seems to be some time away.

## Context:
The virus has tested administrative capabilities and capacity across the board including those of governmental, media and medical agencies who, under different circumstances, would be responsible for documenting the impact of this virus including the devastating experiences of those affected by it.

In many places the virus has been anathema. Patients and medical staff have been ostracized by their immediate communities which has served to further exacerbate their challenges.

It has also been a unifying force prompting people to help those most vulnerable to the disease including the elderly, the daily wage earners, and essential workers at the frontline of this heroic struggle.

This resource is an attempt to capture, document and record for posterity experiences of those who have contracted the virus, their friends and immediate families.

## Questionnaire
This questionnaire seeks to understand the experience of patients and their family and friends from when they find out about the infection, the challenges they faced and the actions they took.

Patients, healthcare workers and their families have been stigmatized because of the coronavirus infection. Such a strong response has had a significant impact on social support that would have otherwise been available.

Thus, this project also seeks to understand the impact of immediate society on the overall experience of patients.

## Introduction & Icebreaker
*Note: Introduction material should talk about the motivation behind this project on the webpage / social media / digital property we’re using to administer the questionnaire. We can use the copy above as a starting point for this purpose.

• Patient’s background information
1. Place of residence – City (District), State
2. Description of society, home
3. Work Description: what does the patient do – how does their normal daily life look like?
4. Family members at home and their descriptions

### Stage 1: Infection Discovery
• Date of Discovery
• Location - City (District), State
• Method of discovery
• Patient Reaction
• Reactions of Immediate Friends & Family
• Reactions of immediate society

### Stage 2: First Response
• What challenges did you face?
• What were the first three things you did once you realized the patient was infected?
• How easy or difficult did you find dealing with your immediate challenges?

### Stage 3: First Medical Treatment
• Hospital / Clinic admission process
• Description of waiting space and surrounding conditions at the time of admittance.
• Reactions of the medical staff
1. Clear, consistent communication by medical staff
2. Understanding of how the treatment would work
3. Responsibilities of patient, staff, friends & family during treatment
• Once the immediate crisis is solved, what were patients, family & friends thinking?

### Stage 4: Treatment
• Treatment suggested by doctors – what was it?
• Difficulties faced during treatment
• How did patients, family keep their spirits up during the process?
• Friends, family, society – what role did they play?
• Who paid for treamment
* How expensive was it (Manageble, Very, I have loans now)

### Stage 5: Post Treatment
• Conclusion – good / bad / ugly
• How was the news communicated?
• Reactions of patients, friends & family
• What was done next?
• Coming home
• Reactions of immediate society

### Conclusions & Summary Remarks
Note : Can be kept unstructured / open for respondent to talk about anything that may not have been covered earlier, a summary of their overall experience and 3-4 things that surprised them during the whole ordeal