Parents' Perceptions of Schools' COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies: A Phenomenological Study.
Janny Dinh, Lorece V Edwards, Gabriela Calderon and 5 others
PMID 38936963WHAT IT FOUND
Parents who were more or less accepting of school masking both valued in-person learning and disliked inconsistent COVID policies.
Higher-acceptability parents mostly stayed supportive; some lower-acceptability parents grew skeptical.
Key findings
01Parents in both masking-acceptability groups said in-person learning helped children through more teacher interaction, hands-on learning, fewer distractions, and social-emotional development with peers.
02Parents in both groups reported COVID-19 fatigue and frustration with inconsistent policies across schools, settings, and time.
03Higher-acceptability parents mostly continued to support mitigation strategies, while some lower-acceptability parents became skeptical after personal experience or doubts about effectiveness.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 40 parents in nine focus groups, so findings may not apply to other parents or schools. The study was done in Maryland, described as liberal-leaning, so school communication may differ from other states. The focus group sample was more highly educated than the national rate: 65% had a bachelor's or advanced degree, compared with 37.9% of Americans 25 and older. Member checking was not done, although a community advisory board reviewed results. Focus groups were remote, which may have affected participant engagement. Survey scores used to group parents were collected as early as January 2022, and the final focus group was in July 2022, so some parents' views may have changed before discussion.
Declared interests
The study was part of an NIH RADx-UP Return to School initiative. Authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these parent reports as evidence that any school mitigation strategy improved or harmed health. The study asked parents what they perceived; it did not measure infection, learning, or mental-health outcomes.