Post-Pandemic Life & Wellbeing

In early 2020 people had to change dramatically how they live to comply with Covid-19 protection measures. What did physical distancing restrictions in Scotland do to our physical and mental health? In this talk I will describe the experiences of thirty people from across Scotland of looking after their health and wellbeing during lockdown in early 2020. I will discuss what they can teach us about public health and policy strategies to support people in future.

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic played havoc with our sex lives. Since the first lockdown began, people have predicted a Baby Boom, a Sex drought, and a Summer of Love. As it happens, none of these really came to pass. This talk will present the data on sexual behaviour, and sexual and reproductive health during the pandemic. Drawing on a national British survey, it will answer questions such as, ‘did people have less sex?’, ‘did risky behaviour decrease?’, and ‘did people break lock down to have sex?’.