GAINS AND LOSSES OF OLDER ADULTS LIVING IN SUBSIDIZED HOUSING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Social isolation is prevalent among community dwelling older adults. Low income older adults living in subsidized housing may have increased risk for social isolation. To examine resident experiences and perspectives relating to their social connections during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 older adults (62+) who are English, Spanish, and Mandarin speaking recruited from a large non-profit affordable housing organization with communities in 22 states. Twelve housing communities were identified based on distributions of socio-demographic factors and prevalence of self-reported social isolation l in the housing community's annual survey of residents in order to maximize site diversity. We used qualitative thematic analysis methods to examined participants' views about their social connections before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their personal and the housing community's strategies to mitigate experiences of social isolation. Emerging themes include loss of common facilities and opportunities to socialize with other residents due to COVID-19 restrictions, and increased use of technology to stay connected.

Technical services and systems: Supporting student success during COVID-19

When faced with COVID-19 in March 2020, the University of North Florida (UNF) and Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) libraries quickly shifted gears to provide support for continuity of instruction and learning in a remote environment. Staff not only had to make the shift towards working remotely, but also had to find new and innovative ways to handle resources and services and make them as visible and accessible as possible. For-tunately, due to current technology and available tools, both libraries already had many resources and services available online, and it was easy to transition to those that were not. It wasn’t all easy though, and both libraries faced personnel and work challenges. Still, everyone worked together to do the best they could during a time of much uncertainty. © 2019 Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.

X-rays through the looking glass: Mobile imaging dosimetry and image quality of suspected COVID-19 patients

Background: This paper aims to evaluate the clinical utility and radiation dosimetry, for the mobile X-ray imaging of patients with known or suspected infectious diseases, through the window of an isolation room. The suitability of this technique for imaging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients is of particular focus here, although it is expected to have equal relevance to many infectious respiratory disease outbreaks. Materials and Methods: Two exposure levels were examined, a “typical” mobile exposure of 100 kVp/1.6 mAs and a “high” exposure of 120 kVp/5 mAs. Exposures of an anthropomorphic phantom were made, with and without a glass window present in the beam. The resultant phantom images were provided to experienced radiographers for image quality evaluation, using a Likert scale to rate the anatomical structure visibility. Results and Discussion: The incident air kerma doubled using the high exposure technique, from 29.47 μGy to 67.82 μGy and scattered radiation inside and outside the room increased. Despite an increase in beam energy, high exposure technique images received higher image quality scores than images acquired using lower exposure settings. Conclusion: Increased scattered radiation was very low and can be further mitigated by ensuring surrounding staff are appropriately distanced from both the patient and X-ray tube. Although an increase in incident air kerma was observed, practical advantages in infection control and personal protective equipment conservation were identified. Sites are encouraged to consider the use of this technique where appropriate, following the completion of standard justification practices. Copyright © 2021 The Korean Association for Radiation Protection.

Reopening Oral Health Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic through a Knowledge Exchange Coalition.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 novel coronavirus closed oral health care in Nova Scotia (NS) Canada in March 2020. Preparing for a phased reopening, a knowledge exchange coalition (representing government, academia, hospitals, oral health professions, and regulators) developed return-to-work (RTW) guidelines detailing the augmentation of standard practices to ensure safety for patients, oral health care providers (OHPs), and the community. Using online surveys, this study explored the influence of the RTW guidelines and related education on registered NS OHPs during a phased return to work. METHODS: Dissemination of R2W guidelines included website or email communiques and interdisciplinary education webinars that coincided with 2 RTW phases approved by the government. Aligned with each phase, all registered dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants were invited to complete an online survey to gauge the influence of the coalition-sponsored education and RTW guidelines, confidence, preparedness, and personal protective equipment use before and after the pandemic. RESULTS: Three coalition-sponsored multidisciplinary webinars hosted 3541 attendees prior to RTW. The response to survey 1 was 41% (881/2156) and to survey 2 was 26% (571/2177) of registrants. Survey 1 (82%) and survey 2 (89%) respondents "agreed/strongly agreed" that R2W guidelines were a primary source for guiding return to practice, and most were confident with education received and had the skills needed to effectively treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Confidence and preparedness improved in survey 2. Gowns/lab coat use for aerosol-generating procedures increased from 26% to 93%, and the use of full face shields rose from 6% to 93% during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: A multistakeholder coalition was effective in establishing and communicating comprehensive guidelines and web-based education to ensure unified reintegration of oral health services in NS during a pandemic. This multiorganizational cooperation lay the foundation for responses to subsequent waves of COVID-19 and may serve as an example for collaboratively responding to future public health threats in other settings. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER STATEMENT: The return-to-work strategy that was developed, disseminated, and assessed through this COVID-19 knowledge exchange coalition will benefit oral health practitioners, professional regulators, government policy makers, and researchers in future pandemic planning.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric firearm-relatedinjuries in the USA

Introduction: Firearms are the second leading cause of death for those under age 19 in the United States. Themajority of unintentional gun-related deaths occur in the home while parents/guardians are absent, and over1 in 3 children in America live in a household with a gun. Previous research has demonstrated that rearm-related injuries and fatalities are more prevalent for children who live in homes with guns, as well as in stateswith higher rates of gun ownership. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented change in Americansociety, including closures of over 124,000 schools, affecting over 55 million students across all 50 states. Wesought to analyze the impact of pandemic-related public health measures implemented since March 2020 -including school shutdowns and “Stay at Home” orders - on pediatric rearm-related injuries and fatalities.We also investigated if ndings were modulated by state-level differences in legislation around Safe Storage(SS) of rearms. Methods: Firearm-related injury and fatality data for victims aged 0-17 years from January 1,2019 to April 26, 2020 was obtained from the Gun Violence Archive. Information about state adoption of SS laws was obtained from the Giffords Law Center. Difference-in-differences estimates were calculated in Statausing ordinary least squares with heteroskedasticity robust standard errors. Results: Preliminary resultsdemonstrate several changes in pediatric rearm-related injuries and fatalities in the United States sinceMarch 2020. Daily pediatric rearm-related injuries and fatalities appear largely unchanged on weekdays(Monday through Friday) in 2020 relative to 2019. However, daily pediatric rearm-related injuries andfatalities appear to have decreased by 9.27 (p = 0.005) on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) in 2020 comparedto 2019. This decrease in weekend pediatric rearm-related injuries and fatalities appears to be larger instates without Safe Storage laws. Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that public health measuresadopted in response to COVID-19 are associated with a decrease in pediatric rearm-related injuries andfatalities on weekends. This pattern may be consistent with the likely increased presence of parents/guardiansin the home on weekends when compared with the pre-pandemic era, potentially limiting minors' access torearms. Firearm-related violence may be stable during the pandemic on weekdays because youth are undersimilar levels of supervision whether in school prior to the pandemic or at home with a parent/guardianduring the pandemic. Further investigation is needed to expand upon these results, delineate potential sub-group differences between various types of rearm-related injuries and fatalities (unintentional injuries,homicides, mass/school shootings, or suicides), and follow these trends while pandemic-related policiesremain in place. Our ndings may help inform physician counseling strategies for injury prevention andsuggest future directions for advocacy and research.