Emergent Response to the Pandemic in Canada

Dr. Jean Slick received an RRU SSHRC Institutional Grant to explore emergent group response in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to inform the development of tools to support future response.

This project explores emergent group response in Canada during the first two years of the pandemic. Additionally, the research will inform the development of tools to support future emergent group response to other disasters in Canada.
This study is situated within research that explores collective behaviour in disaster contexts. Response to disasters is inclusive of formal organized response to disaster by those with a pre-existing mandate and role, as well as informal emergent response by other groups and individual citizens (Kreps & Bosworth, 2007). This research project focuses on emergent group response, which is motivated by a perceived unmet need and takes place within the context of existing social relationships (National Research Council, 2006). While emergent response can be predicted it is inherently ad hoc (Neal & Phillips, 1995).
Throughout the first year of the pandemic, there has been a high level of emergent response as new groups formed, and established groups and organizations explored how they might contribute to the response effort. Many of these groups are continuing their efforts into the second year of the pandemic. While there is a historical tradition of study of emergent response within the US, there has been very limited research about emergent group response in the Canadian context. This study addresses that gap and also seeks to advance knowledge about the nature of emergent group response during a global pandemic, which is a distinctive type of threat.
This project builds on from Dr. Slick’s current research on Caremongering groups formed during the pandemic that used Facebook to organize activities. This new study will explore the wider array of emergent groups that were formed during the pandemic (e.g., neighbourhood pods; call lines), as many groups did not use social media as an organizing tool. This study also responds to a request from the University Health Network OpenLab to partner in developing supports for emergent group response to disasters.
The purpose of this research is twofold: to advance knowledge about the nature of emergent group response during the pandemic and to explore the kinds of tools that could support this type of predictable yet ad hoc form of disaster response in future events.