Investigating People’s Anxieties and Concerns About COVID-19

Background: In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19’s outbreak as an international public health emergency. In March 2020, WHO evaluation showed that COVID-19 could be considered a pandemic disease. Nowadays, the spread of COVID-19 threatens all aspects of human living conditions. In this regard, the objectives of this research are to investigate the anxieties and concerns of the Iranian people regarding the spread of COVID-19 in the initial months of its outbreak. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted with a qualitative methodology employing the conventional content analysis method. Data of anxieties and concerns of the general population were collected through social workers working at university/ medical schools throughout the country, affiliated healthcare centers, hotline 190, and social networks. The data collection process was saturated with 2920 theoretical data from February 27, 2020, to April 3, 2020. Results: Anxieties and concerns of community members were categorized into 8 areas: 1- Confusion in communication with the surrounding environment, 2- Concerns about vulnerable groups being affected, 3- The necessity of informational support, 4- Economic turmoil, 5- Shortage of preventive and treatment facilities, 6 -weakness of social capital, 7- Stressful and destructive atmosphere, 8- Approaches for crisis management situation. Conclusion: Based on the research findings, focusing and attention on people’s concerns in a transparent manner, and designing novel psychosocial support systems based on people’s real needs to control the disease spread result in the enhancement of social capital between community members to get through this crisis quickly.