Teachers' perceptions of physical education teaching in post-pandemic Spain

The aim of this research was to analyse the changes that COVID-19 have caused in Physical Education during the 2020-2021 academic course in post-pandemic years in Spain. For this purpose, a descriptive study was carried out with the participation of 684 physical education teachers from all the autonomous communities. The teachers answered a questionnaire consisting of five approaches: technological, pedagogical, curricular, emotional and health and hygiene. The methodological procedure followed the ethical standards of research in education and sports science. The results obtained show how COVID-19 has conditioned the teaching of Physical Education in the first year back to the classroom. Compliance with the contingency protocols, the limitations of space and material, the institutional helplessness, and the uncertainty in the face of a totally new situation have generated stress and emotional exhaustion in the teaching staff. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of technology, the promotion of student autonomy and the need to select curricular content in accordance with the contingency protocols. The use of active methodologies mediated by technology that promote self-regulation of learning, opens the door to new hybrid teaching models in Physical Education that should be studied. © Copyright: Federación Española de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educación Física (FEADEF) ISSN: Edición impresa: 1579-1726.

The practicality of curricula towards improved employability

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a plunge of worldwide economies and consequently, new economic models must be evolved in order to come out of such an unfavourable situation. Innovation and creativity will be a must to reach success and it is here where young graduates can provide a fresh perspective. Certainly, the education system must also adapt to a new era that will result from this situation and although present curricula can become a constraint to achieve this goal in some cases, a drastic change in classroom methodology is a must. The objective of this paper is to describe that a learning process based on hand-on practice and autonomous learning can result in an upgrade of competences and skills. Therefore, a project carried out by Tourism undergraduates will be introduced in which students become the main characters of their own learning process. As a result, an increase in motivation has been revealed and also, in students' maturity towards the learning experience.

Teachers' perceptions of physical education teaching in post-pandemic Spain

The aim of this research was to analyse the changes that COVID-19 have caused in Physical Education during the 2020-2021 academic course in post-pandemic years in Spain. For this purpose, a descriptive study was carried out with the participation of 684 physical education teachers from all the autonomous communities. The teachers answered a questionnaire consisting of five approaches: technological, pedagogical, curricular, emotional and health and hygiene. The methodological procedure followed the ethical standards of research in education and sports science. The results obtained show how COVID-19 has conditioned the teaching of Physical Education in the first year back to the classroom. Compliance with the contingency protocols, the limitations of space and material, the institutional helplessness, and the uncertainty in the face of a totally new situation have generated stress and emotional exhaustion in the teaching staff. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of technology, the promotion of student autonomy and the need to select curricular content in accordance with the contingency protocols. The use of active methodologies mediated by technolo-gy that promote self-regulation of learning, opens the door to new hybrid teaching models in Physical Education that should be studied.

Health surveillance of workers during the COVID-19 crisis and data protection

The crisis generated by COVID-19 has placed one of its focuses on prevention of occupational risks measures, and in particular those that concern health surveillance. The severity of the crisis and the need to control the pandemic make them mandatory. But the especially sensitive nature of health data requires that its treatment comply with the regulations on the protection of personal data. This study analyzes the main measures that can be adopted to monitor the health of workers, their adaptation to the regulations on the prevention of occupational risks and data protection and the application problems that may arise in the current environment. © 2021 Wolters Kluwer (UK) Ltd.. All rights reserved.

How did the first wave affect medical physics practice in Europe? ESTRO survey

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed changes in radiotherapy (RT) departments worldwide. Medical physicists (MPs) are key healthcare professionals in maintaining safe and effective RT. This study reports the results of a survey on changes in departmental and clinical practice and on the impact for the future, which was sent to the global MP community. The impact of COVID-19 was bigger in countries with high daily infection rate. The majority of MPs worked in alternation home/on-site. Among practice changes, implementation and/or increased use of hypofractionation was the most common. Some respondents reduced patient-specific quality assurance (QA), reduced machine QA, or moved machine QA to weekends/evenings. Changes such as home-working and increased use of hypofractionation were welcomed. Yet some MPs were concerned about pressure to keep negative changes (e.g. weekend work). COVID-19 affected MPs through changes in practice and QA procedures but also in terms of trust in leadership and team unity. Some changes were welcomed but others caused concern for the future. This data forms the basis, from a medical physics perspective, for the evaluation of long-lasting changes within a multi-disciplinary setting.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis management in Spain.

BACKGROUND: The impact of COVID-19 on the diagnosis and management of tuberculosis (TB) patients is unknown. METHODS: Participating centres completed a structured web-based survey regarding changes to TB patient management during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also included data from participating centres on patients aged ≥18 diagnosed with TB in 2 periods: March 15 to June 30, 2020 and March 15 to June 30, 2019. Clinical variables and information about patient household contacts were retrospectively collected. RESULTS: A total of 7 (70%) TB units reported changes in their usual TB team operations. Across both periods of study, 169 patients were diagnosed with active TB (90 in 2019, 79 in 2020). Patients diagnosed in 2020 showed more frequent bilateral lesions in chest X-ray than patients diagnosed in 2019 (P = 0.004). There was a higher percentage of latent TB infection and active TB among children in households of patients diagnosed in 2020, compared with 2019 (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial changes in TB care. TB patients diagnosed during the COVID-19 pandemic showed more extended pulmonary forms. The increase in latent TB infection and active TB in children of patient households could reflect increased household transmission due to anti-COVID-19 measures.

A novel use for routine CBCT imaging during radiotherapy to detect COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: Thoracic CT is a useful tool in the early diagnosis of patients with COVID-19. Typical appearances include patchy ground glass shadowing. Thoracic radiotherapy uses daily cone beam CT imaging (CBCT) to check for changes in patient positioning and anatomy prior to treatment through a qualitative assessment of lung appearance by radiographers. Observation of changes related to COVID-19 infection during this process may facilitate earlier testing improving patient management and staff protection. METHODS: A tool was developed to create overview reports for all CBCTs for each patient throughout their treatment. Reports contain coronal maximum intensity projection (MIP's) of all CBCTs and plots of lung density over time. A single therapeutic radiographer undertook a blinded off-line audit that reviewed 150 patient datasets for tool optimisation in which medical notes were compared to image findings. This cohort included 75 patients treated during the pandemic and 75 patients treated between 2014 and 2017. The process was repeated retrospectively on a subset of the 285 thoracic radiotherapy patients treated between January-June 2020 to assess the efficiency of the tool and process. RESULTS: Three patients in the n = 150 optimisation cohort had confirmed COVID-19 infections during their radiotherapy. Two of these were detected by the reported image assessment process. The third case was not detected on CBCT due to minimal density changes in the visible part of the lungs. Within the retrospective cohort four patients had confirmed COVID-19 based on RT-PCR tests, three of which were retrospectively detected by the reported process. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results indicate that the presence of COVID-19 can be detected on CBCT by therapeutic radiographers. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This process has now been extended to clinical service with daily assessments of all thoracic CBCTs. Changes noted are referred for oncologist review.