ABSTRACT
The current study examined the beliefs, experiences, and challenges of primary school teachers in Vietnam in the first years of implementing a new curriculum. The study was conducted at five primary schools in a big city in Vietnam. The data consist of in-depth semi-structured interviews with eleven teachers. Analysis of qualitative data showed that the teachers held positive views on the new curriculum, commenting that the curriculum had many strengths and was introduced at the right time. The teachers reported that they largely understood the principles of and made attempts to realise the new curriculum. They highlighted several initial positive effects of the curriculum on students and themselves. However, the teachers also faced several challenges, especially the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced them to transition to online teaching. In addition, the teachers showed some difficulties in designing the long-term syllabus and the objectives for individual lessons due to the fundamental differences between the previous curriculum and the new one. Implications for teachers and policymakers for Vietnamese primary education, and possibly similar contexts, are discussed.
ABSTRACT
Nguyen Trai is a man with a great personality in Vietnam. He has morality, culture, pure soul, and profound wisdom of all times. Nguyen Trai lived in the 15th century in a feudal society with many changes. The paper studied Nguyen Trai’s philosophical thoughts to help develop a prosperous and happy country using the nation’s traditional cultural values. The article uses the methodology of dialectical materialism as a general principle and a specific historical principle to evaluate Nguyen Trai’s benevolence and righteousness in terms of compassion, justice, and management, associated with the interests of the people, the community, and society. The article also uses analytical and synthesis methods to highlight the content of benevolence and righteousness in the cultural tradition of the Vietnamese nation today. The Covid-19 pandemic had affected the world in general and Vietnam in particular. So Nguyen Trai’s thought culture is powerfully and effectively prompt in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnam and other countries today. In this article, Nguyen Trai’s benevolence and righteousness fairness clearly define the responsibility of the state and the obligation of citizens to promote the traditional cultural values of the nation. © 2022, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: Haiphong is a Vietnamese city of 2 million people and a historic hotspot for HIV and drug use. The DRIVE community research program recently demonstrated the end of the HIV epidemic among PWID in the city, with an incidence of 0.085/100PY, and a substantial decrease in HCV incidence in the past 5 years. After the emergence of COVID-19, a one-month strict lockdown was imposed in April 2020 in Vietnam, followed by lighter social distancing restrictions over the year. We investigated whether those measures affected PWID in terms of risk behaviors and access to prevention and care. Methods: Participants were PWID that had been enrolled in a respondent-driven sampling (RDS) survey as part of DRIVE in the last quarter of 2019. They were recalled and interviewed in the last quarter of 2020 by peer educators on their socioeconomic situation, drug use and sexual behaviors, relations to methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and ART services. They were tested for drugs and methadone in the urine, and for HIV, HCV, and HIV plasma viral load when HIV(+). Changes following the restrictions were assessed by comparing these "after" data to the "before" data collected one year earlier during the RDS survey. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 participants including 5 female sex workers (FSW). Results: 780 PWID were enrolled. Their mean age was 44 years and 94% were male. 56% were still actively injecting (100% heroin) at the time of the interview;their monthly consumption had decreased from 24 to 17 days on average. The main source of syringes remained pharmacies for 83% before, during and after the lockdown. The proportion of PWID still engaging in sharing decreased from 6.0 to 1.5%. No change in the frequency of condom use was reported. The proportion of PWID on MMT increased from 68.7 to 75.3%. There was no alteration in the HIV cascade of care that was still above 90/90/90. No HIV seroconversion was observed, and HCV incidence remained stable (2.6/100PY, 95%CI: 0.7-6.7). 53% reported a monthly income of less than 130 USD "after" compared to only 9% "before". One FSW reported accepting unsafe sex during the lockdown due to financial pressure. Conclusion: Six months after the beginning of COVID-19-related restrictions, access to harm reduction materials and care services for PWID was maintained and no increase in the number of new HIV or HCV infections was observed. However, this period was a major financial challenge, especially for FSW that were more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors.
ABSTRACT
Natural language processing (NLP) plays a significant role in tools for the COVID-19 pandemic response, from detecting misinformation on social media to helping to provide accurate clinical information or summarizing scientific research. However, the approaches developed thus far have not benefited all populations, regions or languages equally. We discuss ways in which current and future NLP approaches can be made more inclusive by covering low-resource languages, including alternative modalities, leveraging out-of-the-box tools and forming meaningful partnerships. We suggest several future directions for researchers interested in maximizing the positive societal impacts of NLP. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic causes fear, as its immediate consequences for the public have produced unprecedented challenges for the education and healthcare systems. We aimed to validate the fear of COVID-19 scale (FCoV-19S) and examine the association of its scores with health literacy and health-related behaviors among medical students. A cross-sectional study was conducted from 7 to 29 April 2020 on 5423 students at eight universities across Vietnam, including five universities in the North, one university in the Center, two universities in the South. An online survey questionnaire was used to collect data on participants' characteristics, health literacy, fear of COVID-19 using the FCoV-19S, and health-related behaviors. The results showed that seven items of the FCoV-19S strongly loaded on one component, explained 62.15% of the variance, with good item-scale convergent validity and high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.90). Higher health literacy was associated with lower FCoV-19S scores (coefficient, B, -0.06;95% confidence interval, 95%CI, -0.08, -0.04;p < 0.001). Older age or last academic years, being men, and being able to pay for medication were associated with lower FCoV-19S scores. Students with higher FCoV-19S scores more likely kept smoking (odds ratio, OR, 1.11;95% CI, 1.08, 1.14;p < 0.001) or drinking alcohol (OR, 1.04;95% CI, 1.02, 1.06;p < 0.001) at an unchanged or higher level during the pandemic, as compared to students with lower FCoV-19S scores. In conclusion, the FCoV-19S is valid and reliable in screening for fear of COVID-19. Health literacy was found to protect medical students from fear. Smoking and drinking appeared to have a negative impact on fear of COVID-19. Strategic public health approaches are required to reduce fear and promote healthy lifestyles during the pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Background: Hearing loss is highly prevalent in older adults, especially in those with cognitive impairment;however, it is often left unaddressed. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a rapid switch to telehealth services, and addressing hearing loss has become critical to optimizing provider-patient communication. To meet this need, our study sought to evaluate the feasibility of using a commercially available mobile hearing test application via telehealth to screen for hearing loss in older adults with cognitive impairment. Methods: Patients were recruited from the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer's Treatment Center, an outpatient memory clinic. Older adult patients (mean age 74;n=10) underwent a hearing screening using Mimi Hearing Test, a commercially available iOS-based audiometric testing application. Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Blind (MoCA-B) or Telephone Mini-Mental State Exam (T-MMSE) were performed remotely to assess participants' cognitive function. Results: Ten participants underwent hearing screening via Zoom. Five out of 8 participants (63%) received reliable results. The average screening length was 34 minutes (16-75 minutes). Patients with reliable results had higher MMSE scores compared to those without reliable results, but this difference was not statistically significant (mean MMSE 23 ± 5.1 vs. 21 ± 2.7, p=0.5). Patients with lower MMSE scores were able to successfully complete the screening test if they had a prepared and involved caregiver. Barriers to screening included unfamiliarity with using a touchscreen, difficulty following the app's instructions, and being a non-iOS user. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that using a mobile app to screen for hearing loss remotely is feasible among older patients with cognitive impairment. However, challenges included less reliable test results with worse cognitive function. Caregivers play an important role in remote telehealth assessments, as some of the more cognitively impaired patients were able to successfully complete the assessment if they had an involved caregiver. Future research is needed to ensure commercially available audiometric screening applications reflect the unique needs of older adults with cognitive impairment.