Perspectives of Brazilians during the Covid-19 pandemic: an analysis of self-care and environmental bioethics

Un análisis de la bioética del autocuidado y del medio ambiente.

Abstract

In crisis situations, such as in epidemic outbreaks, self-care can be compromised by emotional issues, thus our objective was to characterize the perspectives on the experiences of the Brazilian population in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic through its positioning an online questionnaire. The analysis of the 525 participations, which took place in June 2020, identified experiences recorded at the height of the pandemic in Brazil in three main vectors: emotional involvement with causes, consequences and conduct related to COVID-19; the negative and the positive impacts of social distance. The COVID-19 pandemic was mainly associated with the consequences and reflective feelings of social isolation, with dissonance of negative and positive feelings. Although the participants did not spontaneously list questions about the environment and self-care, they positioned themselves satisfactorily when directed to reflect on these issues, making it possible to identify the transposition of the negative aspects of the quarantine associated with the individual and physical context to positive aspects related to the collective and mental. The analysis of respondent’s perspectives should be part of the agenda of the environmental bioethics, since personal and everyday decisions on how to promote self-care insert it into a chain of responsibilities and interdependencies.