Covid-19 diaries put changing lives in focus

Volunteers are being invited to record their lockdown experiences to help researchers assess Covid-19’s impact on Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Local residents – living on their own, or with other household members – are being asked to create audio or video diaries about how they are coping with the restrictions.

Assessing wellbeing

The intimate and immediate nature of the accounts makes them an ideal resource for assessing people’s health and wellbeing, the study team says.

Diaries will help researchers gauge how lockdown has affected people’s work patterns and the ways in which they communicate with others.

Lockdown communication

They will give experts and Government policy makers a sense of how widely people have embraced – and stuck to – public health advice.

Researchers are also working with Museum and Galleries Edinburgh to archive the results, which will give future generations a real sense of life during lockdown.

The project is open to anyone regardless of their usual residence, nationality or language background. The team is keen to accept diaries in any language, especially Scots and Gaelic.

Recording experiences

Recordings should last at least five minutes. Once they have been uploaded to the project website, volunteers will complete a 20-minute survey about their experiences.

All the information collected will be handled in accordance with Data Protection legislation. People can take part anonymously if they wish.

Participants will receive a £15 fee, or they can make a donation to their favourite charity instead.

Everyone has had to make changes to their day-to-day lives – each in different ways – so we’d really like to hear people’s stories in a direct and personal way through their own audio or video diary.

Dr Lauren Hall-LewProject Leader, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

/University of Edinburgh Public Release. View in full here.