Occupations, social connections, health, and well-being of US university students during COVID-19

ABSTRACT Objective: Participation in social occupations and some daily occupations decreased significantly due to social distancing and lockdown measures during COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about how social occupations and connections impact the way people adapt to support their health and well-being. The aim of this study was to further discern the relationship between adaptation to occupational disruption, participation in social occupations, and health and well-being during the global pandemic. Method: Twenty-two university students completed in-depth interviews via video conferencing as part of a larger descriptive research design with multiple methods of data collection. In the interviews, students described their responses to social distancing measures and how they adapted their social occupations and social connections within their day-to-day occupations over several months. Results: Qualitative analysis, using constant comparative method, revealed three themes. First, changes in the nature of doing social occupations. Second, the impact on participation in all other occupations. And third, how these adapted occupations impacted perceived health and well-being. Portraits of three participants elucidate the complex interactions of factors within an individual’s life that influence occupational choices and adaptations. Conclusion: Students’ experiences in adapting and sustaining their social connections within the pandemic context reflect the non-linear fluid relationship between doing, being, becoming, and belonging and how life is improvised with occupational disruption. This dynamic relationship begins to identify some of the complexity between occupation, health, and well-being.