Department of Family Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
PLoS One. 2024 Oct 3;19(10):e0311514. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311514. eCollection 2024.
In Canada, the COVID-19 pandemic was initially characterized by emergency government responses that disrupted daily life, especially for marginalized groups. This study explored the vulnerabilities and capacities of international students studying at a university in Calgary, Canada during the first phase of the pandemic. Guided by the Capacities and Vulnerabilities Analysis framework, we thematically analyzed 11 semi-structured interviews with international students. We found that material vulnerabilities included balancing finances, housing conditions, lack of information, food inaccessibility, reliance on public transport, and poor mental health, social vulnerabilities included lack of social support, culture shock, and racism, and attitudinal vulnerabilities included "nowhere to go", feeling like a burden, and perception of Canada as safe. Material capacities included financial support, knowledge about pandemic, and mental health supports, social capacities included local social support and multilingualism, and attitudinal capacities included resilience, religious and spiritual beliefs, "it's not just about you", and reflexivity. We found overlapping and complex relationships between vulnerabilities and capacities, indicating that while international students' vulnerabilities were exacerbated and introduced challenges during the pandemic, students uniquely leveraged their capacities to offset and recover from challenges. Findings from this study may be informative for stakeholders involved in disaster responses, especially universities and governments, to support international students' capacities and address their vulnerabilities.
在加拿大，COVID-19 大流行最初的特点是政府采取紧急措施扰乱了日常生活，尤其是边缘化群体。本研究探讨了在 COVID-19 大流行的第一阶段，在加拿大卡尔加里大学学习的国际学生的脆弱性和能力。本研究以能力和脆弱性分析框架为指导，对 11 名国际学生的半结构化访谈进行了主题分析。研究结果发现，物质脆弱性包括平衡财务、住房条件、信息缺乏、食物获取困难、依赖公共交通和心理健康不良等方面；社会脆弱性包括缺乏社会支持、文化冲击和种族主义等方面；态度脆弱性包括“无处可去”、感到负担过重以及对加拿大安全的看法等方面。物质能力包括经济支持、对大流行的了解和心理健康支持等方面；社会能力包括当地社会支持和多语言能力等方面；态度能力包括韧性、宗教和精神信仰、“这不仅仅关乎你自己”以及反思性等方面。研究结果发现，脆弱性和能力之间存在重叠和复杂的关系，这表明，虽然国际学生的脆弱性在大流行期间加剧并带来了挑战，但学生们独特地利用自己的能力来应对和克服挑战。本研究的结果可能为参与灾害应对的利益相关者（尤其是大学和政府）提供信息，以支持国际学生的能力并解决他们的脆弱性。
