TY  - JOUR
AU  - Alaqra, Ala Sarah
AU  - Khumalo, Akhona C
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/5/12
TI  - Handling Public Well-being During the COVID-19 Crisis: Empirical Study With Representatives From Municipalities in Sweden
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e40669
VL  - 7
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - Sweden
KW  - government
KW  - well-being
KW  - public health
KW  - information and communications technology
KW  - recreational activities
AB  - Background: COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the public’s health and well-being due to infections and restrictions imposed during the crisis. Recreational activities are important for the public’s well-being; however, the public’s safety from the COVID-19 virus is the top priority. Sweden, a country with a decentralized public health and welfare system, relied on less stringent approaches for handling the crisis. The limited restrictions in Sweden allowed recreational activities to take place despite the pandemic, which could be attributed to considerations for the public’s well-being. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate municipal approaches for handling and supporting recreational activities during the COVID-19 crisis. Methods: We conducted an empirical study (qualitative and quantitative), using an online survey for data collection, with 23 participants. They were representatives holding mostly managerial roles in 18 distinct municipalities (18 counties). A thematic analysis was conducted to analyze open-ended responses, and descriptive statistics were used to summarize the closed-ended responses. Results: In this study, we report on the status of municipalities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The highlighted results showed a significant impact on the municipalities as a result of COVID-19, where 78% (18/23) of participants stated significant changes due to the pandemic. Moreover, 91% (21/23) indicated efforts and approaches for supporting recreational activities during COVID-19. Following national guidelines for the public’s health and safety was indicated by 78% (18/23) of participants. Information and communications technology (ICT) was considered significant for dealing with COVID-19 according to 87% (20/23) of participants. Our qualitative results further showed details of the public’s health and safety considerations, the efforts to support recreational activities particularly for youth, and the role and requirements of ICT. Challenges relating to the usability of ICT were also highlighted. Conclusions: Despite the critique of Sweden’s lenient strategy for handling the COVID-19 crisis, our results showed significant considerations for the public’s safety and well-being by the municipalities (regional and local levels) in this study. The Swedish approach to handling the crisis involved trusting the public with safety guidelines in addition to efforts for the public’s safety, supporting the public’s well-being with approaches for maintaining recreational activities, and giving special care to the youth. Despite having technological solutions in place, challenges in using digital solutions and requirements for future development were noted. 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2023/1/e40669
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/40669
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37053098
DO  - 10.2196/40669
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/40669
ER  -