Collaborating with Newcomers – An Empirical Usability Study on Zoom

During lock-downs and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic many people and many companies were forced to use online-tools to connect and to communicate with each other while being in home office or in the workplace. Paving the way for collaboration, the initiation-phase is crucial as people from various environments need to valuate mutual dispositions, build up trust, and explore each other’s intentions and capabilities. The online version of such a phase calls for easy-to-use tools that allow even newcomers to concentrate on the true purpose of that phase. On the example of Zoom, which is a cloud-based solution for that need and which is a major player in this vast market, we perform a usability evaluation of the Zoom desktop-client guided by Nielsen’s heuristics. As a result, we propose a redesign of the feature join meeting, which we tested against the original one by inexperienced users to find out which of them better serves the user’s needs. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Increasing access to cognitive–behavioural therapy for patients with psychosis by evaluating the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial of brief, targeted cognitive–behavioural therapy for distressing voices delivered by assistant psychologists: the GiVE2 trial

Background Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is recommended for all patients with psychosis, but is offered to only a minority. This is attributable, in part, to the resource-intensive nature of CBT for psychosis. Responses have included the development of CBT for psychosis in brief and targeted formats, and its delivery by briefly trained therapists. This study explored a combination of these responses by investigating a brief, CBT-informed intervention targeted at distressing voices (the GiVE intervention) administered by a briefly trained workforce of assistant psychologists. Aims To explore the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the GiVE intervention when delivered by assistant psychologists to patients with psychosis. Method This was a three-arm, feasibility, randomised controlled trial comparing the GiVE intervention, a supportive counselling intervention and treatment as usual, recruiting across two sites, with 1:1:1 allocation and blind post-treatment and follow-up assessments. Results Feasibility outcomes were favourable with regard to the recruitment and retention of participants and the adherence of assistant psychologists to therapy and supervision protocols. For the candidate primary outcomes, estimated effects were in favour of GiVE compared with supportive counselling and treatment as usual at post-treatment. At follow-up, estimated effects were in favour of supportive counselling compared with GiVE and treatment as usual, and GiVE compared with treatment as usual. Conclusions A definitive trial of the GiVE intervention, delivered by assistant psychologists, is feasible. Adaptations to the GiVE intervention and the design of any future trials may be necessary.

Estimating the surgical backlog from the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa: A retrospective analysis of six government hospitals.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic reached South Africa (SA) in March 2020. A national lockdown began on 27 March 2020, and health facilities reduced non-essential activity, including many surgical services. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: to estimate the COVID-19 surgical backlog in Western Cape Province, SA, by comparing 2019 and 2020 general surgery operative volume and proportion at six district and regional hospitals. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: to compare the operative volume of appendicectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, cancer and trauma between the 2 years. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of general surgery operations from six SA government hospitals in the Western Cape. Data were obtained from electronic operative databases or operative theatre logbooks from 1 April to 31 July 2019 and 1 April to 31 July 2020. RESULTS: Total general surgery operations decreased by 44% between 2019 (n=3 247) and 2020 (n=1 810) (p<0.001). Elective operations decreased by 74% (n=1 379 v. n=362; p<0.001), and one common elective procedure, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, decreased by 68% (p<0.001). Emergency operations decreased by 22% (n=1 868 v. n=1 448; p<0.001) and trauma operations by 42% (n=325 v. n=190; p<0.001). However, non-trauma emergency operations such as appendicectomy and cancer did not decrease. The surgical backlog for elective operations after 4 months from these six hospitals is 1 017 cases, which will take between 4 and 14 months to address if each hospital can do one additional operation per weekday. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has created large backlogs of elective operations that will need to be addressed urgently. Clear and structured guidelines need to be developed in order to streamline the reintroduction of full surgical healthcare services as SA slowly recovers from this unprecedented pandemic.

Systematic Review of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction via Group Videoconferencing: Feasibility, Acceptability, Safety, and Efficacy

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) are effective in reducing distress among people with physical or mental health problems. However, implementation is limited by variable geographic provision, ability to travel, and the need for remote service delivery during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. Integration with Internet-enabled technologies like videoconferencing potentially enhances access. This article reports a systematic review exploring the feasibility, acceptability, safety, and efficacy of delivering MBCT/MBSR by videoconferencing (MBCT/MBSR-VC). No restrictions were made about population or study design. Eleven online databases were searched and 10 studies met inclusion criteria. Narrative synthesis was used because of study heterogeneity. Articles featured physical health and nonclinical samples, but not mental health. Three studies had moderate-strong methodological quality. Results supported the feasibility and acceptability of MBCT/MBSR-VC. Considerations of safety were largely unreported. MBCT/MBSR-VC demonstrated medium positive effects on mental health outcomes compared with inactive controls (ds = 0.44 -0.71), and little difference compared with active controls like in-person delivery (all confidence intervals crossed zero). Evidence regarding mindfulness or self-compassion as potential mechanisms of action was inconclusive. Future implementation research should target mental health populations using noninferiority designs. Adapting MBCT/MBSR to remote delivery will require development of guidelines and training packages to ensure best practice in this medium and adherence to evidence-based MBCT/MBSR models.