Work

Localized Syndemic Assemblages: COVID-19, Substance Use Disorder, and Overdose Risk in Small-Town America

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: Pandemics do not exist in isolation and COVID-19 is no exception. We argue that existing health crises, notably substance use disorder (SUD), developed syndemic relationships with COVID-19 that produced compounding deleterious effects. Combining Merrill Singer’s theory of syndemics and assemblage theory, we analyze the combinatory impact of overdose and COVID-19 within a localized context. We focus on Sandusky, Ohio, where we combine police reports, in-depth interviews with area residents, and ethnographic data to compare conditions before and after the emergence of COVID-19. We find dramatic shifts in relevant local contexts due to COVID-19, inhibiting existing systems of law and public policy aimed at overdose prevention and SUD treatment. Further, our findings provide evidence of complications in the COVID-19 response originating from the overdose epidemic.

Source: RSF The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences

DOI: 10.7758/rsf.2022.8.8.11

Authors: Andrew Burns, Kat Albrecht

Institutions: Louisiana State University, Georgia State University

Language: English

Topic: Opioid Use Disorder Treatment

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: diamond

OpenAlex ID: W4313651472