The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on shelter use frequency and experiences of shelter professionals in Finland: A mixed-method study.

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with increased prevalence of domestic violence (DV). The mitigation efforts – such as lock-down, social distancing or stay-at-home orders – are proposed to simultaneously increase the risk of DV while limiting the possibilities for seeking help. In this study we explored the effects of the pandemic in shelter services. The data consist of shelter use data and regular reports from 29 shelters in Finland. In a mixed-methods study we analyse how shelter service use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland was predicted by the stringency of government actions. Furthermore, to gain additional depth on the topic we carried out a qualitative analysis on the themes raised by the staff in regular shelter reports. We found the stringency of government actions – as measured by the comparative composite value Stringency Index – to causally predict shelter use during the pandemic. The major finding of our qualitative analysis is that the pandemic has affected shelters at three levels: client, professional and organization. As shelter reports indicate, pandemic becomes visible with clients in how they perceive the pandemic, how they receive help, and in the everyday life at the shelter. At the professional level COVID-19 has affected the practices and contents of work with clients plus personal experience and wellbeing of staff. On the organizational level there has been a need to reconsider the preparedness and organization of work.