Social Determinants of Health and Distance Learning in Italy in the Era of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Arianna Dondi, Jacopo Lenzi, Egidio Candela, Sugitha Sureshkumar, Francesca Morigi, Carlotta Biagi and Marcello Lanari
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Arianna Dondi: Paediatric Emergency Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Jacopo Lenzi: Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40125 Bologna, Italy
Egidio Candela: Specialty School of Pediatrics, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Sugitha Sureshkumar: Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Francesca Morigi: Specialty School of Pediatrics, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Carlotta Biagi: Paediatric Emergency Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Marcello Lanari: Paediatric Emergency Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: Objectives: To investigate the experiences by distance learning (DL) method during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Italy, and to search for correlations with purported experiences and respective levels of social determinants of health (SDH). Study design and methods: Cross-sectional online survey, investigating various SDH and parents’ attitude towards DL, proposed 6 months after the beginning of the pandemic to a sample population of parents with school-aged children throughout Italy. Results: A total of 3791 questionnaires were analyzed. Non-Italian parents complained more frequently of difficulties in providing support to their children in DL due to poor digital skills ( p = 0.01), lack of good-quality digital equipment ( p = 0.01), problems with the Italian language ( p < 0.001), and a lower level of education ( p < 0.001). When parents lived apart, greater difficulties in concentration in children using DL ( p = 0.05) and a lower parental capacity to support DL ( p = 0.002) were reported. Adequate digital structures appeared related to living in owned compared to rented property, higher levels of parental education, and better familial financial situations. Conclusions: Students from families with financial difficulties and low levels of parental education, or even those living in houses for rent or having separated parents, may be disadvantaged in an educational context since the introduction of DL.

Keywords: social determinants of health; distance learning; remote learning; SARS-CoV-2 pandemic; COVID-19; social inequities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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