Constructing Future ‘New Normals' after Pandemics and Other Crises

Health regimes are shaped by social values and norms concerning individual responsibility for one's own health vs larger public health good. Major crises like pandemics and wars uproot values and change how individuals participate in healthcare: e.g., treatment like vaccines may become mandatory. When a crisis subsides, what a ‘new normal’ looks like becomes the biggest question. This session will map out the new landscapes of healthcare following major crises. It will examine how 'new normals' emerge in policy and practice (and what value and normative systems underpin them) focusing in particular on Covid-19 vaccination, and on treatment for "socially dangerous diseases" including HIV, tuberculosis, and opioid use disorder. Attention will be paid to factors that shape resilience at individual, organizational, and societal level, to unequal costs for different stakeholder groups, and to sustainability of emergency solutions overtime. We invite papers exploring changes in healthcare regimes during and after crises from perspective of patients, providers, clinics, and entire systems, and how this is regulated, by whom, and with what outcomes, paying particular attention to Covid-19 vaccines, but also other examples. Original research using qualitative, quantitative, and/or mixed-methods, as well as policy analyses or systematic reviews are welcome. There are no geographical restrictions and we encourage submissions focusing on marginalized and disadvantaged social groups in both Low and Middle (LMIC) and High Income Country (HIC) settings. Analyses of both ongoing (e.g., war in Ukraine or Covid-19 pandemic) and past events (e.g., the war on drugs in the Philippines) will be considered.