Interdisciplinary Field Placements and Applied Learning During COVID-19: Community-Based Action Research on Face Mask Usage and Policies

Abstract

This article describes the formation and work of an interdisciplinary team of social work and public health faculty and students. The team developed internships amid the challenges of the pandemic, with a focus on slowing the community spread of COVID-19. The project joined local government, the private sector, and the university in a research study to better understand and influence face mask wearing attitudes and behaviors and in an explicit effort to change related policies. We developed and implemented an action research project that included direct observations of facemask wearing behaviors, surveys regarding beliefs and attitudes about face masks, and interviews with community stakeholders. The project provided empirical data regarding face-covering usage that helped to change local—and then state—policy regarding mask wearing. This article provides a chronological narrative of the experience largely told through the participants’ voices, especially those of the students.