Occupational changes during the COVID-19 lockdown in Jordan

Background Measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 have disrupted the lives of countless millions of individuals worldwide. Objective To explore the experiences of occupational disruption and changing social roles among Jordanians during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. The specific aim was to explore the changing occupations, routines, roles and coping strategies. Material and Methods This qualitative study used a digital ethnographic approach. Data collection included online observations of Jordanian's posts of comments, photos and videos on six public Facebook pages during the COVID-19 lockdown for the initial 3-week period. In addition, 150 Jordanians participated in an online interview answering four open-ended questions to achieve triangulation. Qualitative analyses included open coding of the photos, videos and text as well as the interviews independently and blindly by the research team. Results Four themes were identified: changing daily occupations; changing family roles; missing pre-lockdown life and coping strategies under lockdown. Conclusion The COVID-19 lockdown restrictions caused direct, significant and immediate changes to Jordanians' occupations, routines and roles; enforcing new obligatory occupations and eliminating desired ones. Significance Knowledge from this study highlight the kinds of strategies and supports during and after lockdowns that need to be considered in future planning of occupational therapy practice in Jordan.