ABSTRACT
Coping with COVID-19 has been difficult for humankind globally. While there has been an assessment of the challenges people face concerning COVID-19, there is sparse research on the coping mechanisms used in different spheres. This paper lurched into this gap and looked specifically at selected female students of the Durban University of Technology, exploring their coping processes as they balance the reality of COVID-19 and the challenges of university life. Folkman and Lazarus' (1988) coping theory and the associated ways of coping (WCQ) factors (confrontive coping, distancing, self-controlling, seeking social support, accepting responsibility, escape-avoidance, planful problem-solving and positive reappraisal) are the foundations of this study's conceptual framework. This study used the WCQ factors within a qualitative interpretive analysis to interpret reflective pieces of 14 female students enrolled in a university-wide module – Cornerstone. The module aims to induct students into the higher education community with the values and practices that promote self-awareness, social justice and environmental knowledge. Findings revealed the difficulty experienced by the students in balancing life and academic contexts. The study also showed that COVID-19 had worsened their social realities because of the regulations on social distancing and public gatherings, thus inhibiting educational or physical social contact. These made female students vulnerable to mental health issues. Therefore, they used multiple coping mechanisms to deal with challenges during the COVID-19 period.
ABSTRACT
Important safety measures limiting in-person contact to curb COVID-19 transmission make it more difficult for patients to access clinical trials and for sponsors to conduct trial management. These measures may lead to pausing or delaying study activities, to the determent of study participants and the study's integrity. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of efficient, innovative clinical trials designed with the capacity to be rapidly responsive to unique challenges. The US Department of Veterans Affairs Pentoxifylline in Diabetic Kidney Disease study is a multi-site, pragmatically designed randomized controlled trial that tests the hypothesis that pentoxifylline, when added to standard of care, leads to a reduction in the incidence of End Stage Renal Disease and mortality. The study opened for recruitment at six Veterans Affairs medical centers in December 2019, months before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted all aspects of clinical care and halted all non-essential, in-person research activities. The study's protocol was designed to accommodate either in-person or remote participant follow-up and data collection for all visits after baseline. In addition, participant study visit schedules were built with the flexibility to align with existing clinic visits. The ability to collect data remotely resulted in a minimal amount of missing data. The study's investigational product is maintained and distributed centrally by the Albuquerque Cooperative Studies Program Pharmacy Center. This allowed for the continuation of distribution of the study investigational product without the need for an in-person visit to a Veterans Affairs medical center. Pentoxifylline in Diabetic Kidney Disease's trial design and protocol leverage the Veterans Affairs's research infrastructure, remote platforms, and a centralized mail-order pharmacy, and allowed the study to safely continue during a uniquely challenging global pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic brought unprecedented changes leading to ‘business unusual’ in all facets of life and livelihood on a global scale. The restrictions on gathering, social distancing and lockdown measures necessitated by the need to curtail its spread, had, and still have an enormous impact on the educational sector as indeed all spheres of life. These measures implied a change in the traditional modus operandi of curriculum and delivery options for educational institutions in South Africa in the bid to continue academic sessions. Hence, a transition of educational institutions from physical interactions to virtual meetings and the need to evolve curriculum contents and delivery. Aim: With the peculiarity of the South African socioeconomic and political space, this article assessed the viability of curriculum change and delivery options (e-teaching and learning) for both students and instructors in the higher institution and the varied implications. It drew from discourses around the theory of localisation within educative context to create a more student-centred approach especially with the situation of less physical contact. Setting: The discourse is set within the South African educational space. Method: Considering the novelty of Covid-19 research and the challenge of contact, the study adopted a participatory action desktop research method to collect and analyse secondary data. The article vividly discussed how institutions transitioned to a localisation of frameworks and policies to ensure successful academic sessions. Results: The educational landscape in South Africa is still plagued with historical antecedents of social injustice, funding, and resource allocation as well as the ever-present pressure of making education affordable to majority of local students. Also, the weakness of the online teaching methods to the physical contact method for learners and practitioners could be summed up into the issues of connectivity, technical knowledge, and attention span. Conclusion: The conclusion enumerated the need for the implementation of policies and frameworks on proper utilisation of online systems to adjust to the demands of less contact-based approaches in favour of virtual approaches. The study called for adequate consideration to issues around the localisation of teaching and learning techniques considering the peculiarities of South Africa with focus on the opportunities, feasibility, and challenges of online measures especially for those in economically disadvantaged spaces.