ABSTRACT
South Africa is classified as a low- and middle-income country, with a complex mixture of resource-rich and resource-limited settings. In the major referral hospitals, the necessary skill level exists for the management of complex challenges. However, this contrasts with the frequently-inadequate skill levels of anaesthesia practitioners in resource-limited environments. In Japan, obstetricians administer anaesthesia for 40% of caesarean deliveries and 80% of labour analgesia. Centralisation of delivery facilities is now occurring and it is expected that obstetric anaesthesiologists will be available 24â¯h a day in centralised facilities in the future. In China, improvements in women's reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent health are critical government policies. Obstetric anaesthesia, especially labour analgesia, has received unprecedented attention. Chinese obstetric anaesthesiologists are passionate about clinical research, focusing on efficacy, safety, and topical issues. The Latin-American region has different landscapes, people, languages, and cultures, and is one of the world's regions with the most inequality. There are large gaps in research, knowledge, and health services, and the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists is committed to working with governmental and non-governmental organisations to improve patient care and access to safe anaesthesia. Anaesthesia workforce challenges, exacerbated by coronavirus disease 2019, beset North American healthcare. Pre-existing struggles by governments and decision-makers to improve health care access remain, partly due to unfamiliarity with the role of the anaesthesiologist. In addition to weaknesses in work environments and dated standards of work culture, the work-life balance demanded by new generations of anaesthesiologists must be acknowledged.
Subject(s)
Anesthesia, Obstetrical , COVID-19 , Pregnancy , Adolescent , Infant, Newborn , Child , Humans , Female , Latin America , Japan , South Africa , China , North AmericaABSTRACT
We are constantly exposed to mental stress in our daily lives, especially under the COVID-19 pandemic. To cope with this issue, we developed StressMincer, an interactive system that combines two stress-relieving factors: expression of negative emotion and destruction. The users obtain catharsis effect by putting negative emotions into words, and a force feedback mechanism enables users to destroy these words by their actions. Three different destructive experiences were developed;shredding, burning by flamethrower, and flushing with toilet water. © 2022 Owner/Author.