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Convenor(s): Laura Cataldi (University of Salerno, Italy); Willem Tousijn (University of Turin); Fiorella Vinci (eCampus University)
Presentation 9
Professionalism, Resilience and Sharing: the Case of a Community of Practice at the Time of COVID-19
Fabio Lucchini
eCampus University, Department of Human and Social Sciences (DiSUS), Novedrate - Como, Italy
This work is focused on the production and circulation of medical knowledge in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the aim is to investigate the link between personal and professional resilience and the sharing of knowledge and practices at a time of epistemic rupture. The COVID-19 pandemic required the healthcare system to rapidly adapt to an unknown virus. This challenge led the medical and scientific communities to develop new knowledge and provide solutions, even without a solid evidence base to support them. In the early stages of the pandemic - at a time of epistemic rupture and in the absence of validated knowledge - the response of the scientific community and institutions was complemented by knowledge production ‘from below’ by professionals who were assisting patients at home (Lusardi et al., 2023; Lucchini, 2025). The empirical case refers to a Community of Practice (CoP) formed by a network of health professionals spontaneously activated in Northern Italy during the first pandemic waves - CoP conceptualized as a group of people bound together in a common enterprise by relations of mutual involvement around a problem or domain of knowledge, producing a shared repertoire of resources (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wagner et al. 2019). Dynamics within the network were examined through a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), bringing out some analytical categories from the empirical field, and constructing a classification system articulated at different levels of generality. The collected audiovisual material (18 video interviews) was subjected to thematic analysis starting with an encoding of extracted text segments. The analysis was assisted by MAXQDA 2022 software. The emerging narratives highlight the value of medical practice in a situation of structural crisis, giving meaning to individual action through shared processes of signification, filling the temporary absence of recognized and established knowledge. Moreover, the analysis of the professional network in question encourages reflection on the educational value of sharing experiences for the healthcare personnel involved and on the proactive contribution it can make to the National Health Service (NHS), specifically in situations of systemic uncertainty. It also reveals the potential, in terms of activism, of those healthcare professionals committed to building relationships, sharing relevant information, and promoting joint initiatives: a rich repertoire of experiences and tools that, under certain conditions, can be a valuable resource for the Italian NHS, which is struggling with financial sustainability issues that make it vulnerable in the face of the emergency.
