ABSTRACT
Rates of burnout among clinicians have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 (COVID)pandemic. A survey of Missouri primary care professionals at federally qualified health centers was conducted during a COVID surge in August 2021 to assess burnout, stress, and job satisfaction as well as if respondents had sought assistance for burnout or attended resiliency training. Despite respondents reporting rates of burnout (56%) that exceed those reported nationally (48%), only 17% sought help for burnout. Most (81%) had not attended resiliency training;of those who did, 16% said sessions "make me feel less alone," while an equivalent number found sessions not useful, identifying an absence of resources within their organization. Comments focused on the need for dedicated time to receive support, including time to seek assistance during working hours, time to take breaks, and time for self-care. The data suggest one path forward to remediate burnout: provide the workforce with time to access support. Copyright 2022 by the Missouri State Medical Association.
ABSTRACT
Like every other continent in the world, Antarctica has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, in an imagined as well as a practical sense. Antarctica is a mediated experience;that is, most of us experience the place through films, novels, music, visual arts and the media. We present an analysis of media articles from eight countries over three time periods - pre-COVID-19 outbreak (October-December 2019), shortly after the pandemic hit the headlines (March-May 2020) and when the virus was established (October-December 2020) - to discover how COVID-19 may have changed Antarctic discourse. Our study shows that representations of Antarctica have been affected by the pandemic, in some instances reinforcing existing ideas and in other cases bringing new ideas to the fore. Based on our findings, we believe that COVID-19 has begun to change representations of Antarctica, stepping us away from the prevailing Antarctic hero narrative and providing a more contemporary understanding of the Antarctic experience. We argue that this may increase our motivation to engage with Antarctic issues, with associated implications for future global stewardship of the region.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: U.S. adolescents have high rates of insufficient sleep. School closures and stay-at-home orders were implemented to mitigate disease spread during the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Without the restriction of imposed early school start times, we hypothesized that adolescents would have longer, later, and less variable sleep compared to pre-COVID-19. We further hypothesized these changes would be associated with increased and later light exposure. Methods: High school students age 14-19 years with <7h sleep on school nights completed two weeks of at-home monitoring. The Pre-COVID-19 week took place between October 2018-February 2020 and the COVID-19 week occurred in May 2020 during statewide stay-at-home orders. Participants wore an accelerometer to assess sleep and light exposure while completing a concurrent sleep log. Paired-samples t-tests examined differences in sleep and light between Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19. Pearson correlations assessed associations between change in sleep and change in light. Results: Participants (N=16) were 16.5 ±1.2-years-old at Pre- COVID-19, 70.6% female, 68.8% White, and 25.1% Hispanic. Youth were participating in online learning due to in-person school closures and only 2 participants (14.3%) had a set start time, while the remainder reported learning per their own schedule. Youth obtained approximately one hour more weekday sleep per night during the COVID-19 week compared to Pre-COVID-19 (p<0.001). Bed and waketimes were significantly delayed on weekdays and weekends during COVID-19 compared to Pre-COVID-19 (p< 0.01). The greatest change was a delay in weekday waketime of 2.9±0.9h (p<0.001). Social jetlag during COVID-19 was reduced by 1/3 compared to Pre- COVID-19 (p=0.02). Average 24h lux levels were 2.5x higher during the COVID-19 week compared to Pre- COVID-19 (p=0.008). Change in average lux and timing of light were not significantly associated with change in sleep duration or timing. Conclusion: An unintended effect of the switch to online learning may have been affording adolescents the opportunity to obtain longer and more regular sleep. Understanding the impact of these changed sleep behaviors on daytime functioning, academic performance, and health outcomes is particularly urgent as schools plan for the remainder of the academic year and eventual return to in-person learning.