ABSTRACT
Our research uses the environmental pillar of ESG as a proxy for environmental corporate social responsibility. We examine the performance of environmentally clustered portfolios by using simple quantitative investment strategies with optimum asset rotation. Post-hoc, sample-split analysis with non-parametric tests is performed. The results suggest that both environmental status and dynamic environmental performance are key characteristics of divergent financial behaviors. We show that environmentally low-rated companies present better financial performance, while environmental leaders are less risky and show more resilience. Assets with a dynamic environmental profile outperform on average in terms of returns and risk. Furthermore, supporting evidence of positive spillovers in high-rated environmental clusters is identified after the Paris Agreement. We evaluate the resilience of the environmental clusters during the COVID-19 crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war effect. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.
ABSTRACT
Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted implementation of the Integrative Medical Group Visit (IMGV) intervention to transition from a face-to-face format to telehealth delivery. This billable, evidence-based program offers adapted mindfulness-based stress reduction and chronic-pain self-management experientials (acupressure, self-massage, and chair yoga) to patients with chronic pain. This study assesses common barriers and facilitators to participation in a telehealth IMGV. Using participant feedback, we evaluate how the transition to an internet-based video conferencing platform can enhance or detract from the delivery and accessibility of this integrative chronic pain program. Methods: Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with eight adult participants (ages 31 to 57) who completed a nine-session, weekly 2-hour telehealth IMGV led by a physician and a certified yoga teacher via Zoom Video Communications. The mean attendance was 6 sessions, with attendance ranging from 3 to 9 sessions. Participants reflected on their experiences, the extent of their participation, and potential areas of improvement. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and inductively coded for barriers and facilitators to telehealth delivery. Results: Participant reported facilitators to participating in the telehealth IMGV program included feeling safer at home during the pandemic, ease of participation, socialization during pandemic-associated social isolation, and no need to find transportation or childcare in comparison to inperson visits. Barriers included feeling uncomfortable with technology, content not targeting virtual audiences, concerns about finding private spaces to participate, and lack of motivation to retain involvement in an online program. Conclusion: Telehealth IMGV programs are uniquely poised to provide services for patients with chronic pain, as they can alleviate barriers to care associated with transportation, mobility, and childcare. Current telehealth IMGV programs, however, can improve by incorporating more technical information about how to navigate telehealth platforms while also offering a curriculum that specifically includes internet-based, group activities to motivate participation in an online community.