COVID-19 and the Experiences of Populations at Greater Risk - Wave 1

As a continuation of RAND Corporation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation efforts to capture how people in the United States think about, value, and prioritize issues of health, well-being, and health equity, a new longitudinal survey aims to understand how health views and values have been affected by the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this report, the authors present the results of the first of four waves of the COVID-19 and the Experiences of Populations at Greater Risk Survey, fielded during summer 2020, with particular focus on populations deemed at risk or underserved, including people of color and those from low- to moderate-income backgrounds.

 

The questions in this COVID-19 survey focused specifically on experiences related to the pandemic (e.g., financial, physical, emotional), how respondents viewed the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic, whether and how respondents' views and priorities regarding health actions and investments are changing (including the role of government and the private sector), and how general values about such issues as freedom and racism may be related to pandemic views and response expectations.

 

The authors summarize detailed top-line results for each of the questions included in the survey and sociodemographic characteristics of the sample. An appendix presents top-line results for a shorter survey of the general population.