UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health and well-being of the population as a whole, leading to large-scale lifestyle changes, social isolation, and increased stress. However, this has been especially pertinent to essential workers — facing high workloads, insufficient safety supplies, and risk to their own health and the health of their families when returning home.

Johnna Blair, IST doctoral candidate, is investigating how essential workers used Twitter during the pandemic to connect with others about shared experiences, from coping with mental health conditions to voicing workplace concerns. Read more about the research in this Insights from Experts post.

For more on information on mental health and other issues during the pandemic, visit the Insights from Experts website — a partnership of Penn State's Social Science Research Institute and the Center for Health Care and Policy Research.