Ms. Himali will present her APS as per the detail below: 

Date : 15th September 2023

Time: 5.30 to 6.30 p.m.

Venue: CTARA Conference Room No.1

Topic: Understanding Response of Lay-people to Covid-19 Pandemic

Guide: Prof. Subodh Wagle

RPC Members: Prof. Pankaj Sekhsaria, Prof. Himanshu Burte

Abstract:

The Covid-19 pandemic outbreak was an unprecedented and novel phenomenon that severely affected the economy and daily lives of people across the globe. Different government agencies suggested various behavioural and other policy measures such as lockdowns and information campaigns to contain the spread. However, in many countries across the world, including India, the response of the citizens or lay-people to these measures remained mixed and varied, often creating barriers to the execution of the policy measures. These responses are seen by this researcher as an outcome of two sequential phenomena—first, understanding the onset, spread, and impact of disease viewed through the theoretical lens of Mental Models. Mental models are cognitive tools used by human beings to understand, explain, and make sense of physical and social phenomena around them. The second phenomenon is adherence or non-adherence to the Covid-19 containment measures. It is studied through the lens of Compliance Models. The fieldwork for the research was conducted at academic, commercial, and transport sites in the Alibag town of the state of Maharashtra using semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation. This report describes the context of the field area followed by the considerations for the research design for the study of mental models held by lay-people. Some of the findings from the study on mental models held by lay-people, of four core phenomena involved in the spread of Covid-19, namely, transmission of the virus to the host body, entry of infection in the host body, its effects on potential patient’s body, and treatment and closure of the disease are discussed in the report. The scheme of presentation of analysis along with the findings from fieldwork for mental models of Covid-19 is discussed in the report. The analysis will help articulate coalesced mental models to draw policy and theoretical lessons.