Interest as a mode of reality: Answering the crisis of digital society

Currently, society is entering a new crisis in the historical phase of society namely post-truth reality. The crisis arises when the mixing of real and fake information is reproduced through social media by the digital actors. It has put new problems of social analysis particularly to understand the meaning and direction of social actions. This article aims at answering the crisis of the digital society with the elaboration of theoretical discourse of interest. Social scientists from various schools have placed interest as the basic concept to analyze social life. However, the sociological elaboration of the theory of interest stops among the great edifices of all schools of social theory. Therefore, this article is a proposal for developing a theory of interest to track the mode of reality, particularly in the digital society. The research method of this study is an eclectic literature review of interest theories and participative observation in Indonesia's digital society during 2019-2021. This study finds that digital actors produce and reproduce symbolic language on social media by confounding true and false information or post-truth in the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic policy. The symbolic language of digital actors does not only mean violating the rules in a digital society, but also expresses certain social interests including certain needs or aspirations.

Comparison of patient length of stay in care between home-based care and hospitalized covid-19 patients in northern and West Nile regions, Uganda (preprint)

SARS-CoV-2-caused COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Uganda reported her first COVID-19 case on March 21, 2020. The pandemic placed an enormous burden on health systems across the world. This retrospective cross-sectional study compared COVID-19 patient length of stay in care and associated factors for hospitalised patients in Regional Referral Hospitals and those who underwent home-based care in Northern and West Nile regions in Uganda. 400 patients were studied (200 inpatient and 200 home-based). All patients were confirmed COVID-19 cases with a positive real-time PCR test result. Regardless of signs or symptoms development, all individuals with confirmed SARS-COV2 infection were eligible for admission to the hospital during this period. It was found that hospitalized and home-based care patients were similar. 61.1% died within 14 days and 59.9% recovered under both types of care. Hospitalized patients stayed 14.8 days and home-based patients 15.0. The difference in the mean length of stay in care among hospitalized patients and patients under home-based was not statistically significant (t=0.28, p=0.38) and there was no association between type of care and length of stay in care (OR: 0.96: 95% CI 0.64 to 1.43: p=0.837). Symptom Status of patients and their occupation were found to be one of the important factors influencing recovery. It was observed that symptomatic patients were associated with longer stay in care (OR: 1.96, p=0.01). Likewise, law enforcement officers had a higher likelihood of staying longer compared to people involved in health-related work (OR: 3.28, p=0.03). Covid-19 patient length of stay in care is not dependent on the approach used in case management. Therefore, the decision of whether a patient should be hospitalised or treated at home requires careful consideration of all relevant factors and an individual evaluation of the patient's circumstances.

COVID-19 vaccination intention and activation among health care system employees: A mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Achieving high COVID-19 vaccination rates among employees is necessary to prevent outbreaks in health care settings. The goal of the study was to produce actionable and timely evidence about factors underlying the intention and decisions to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine by employees. METHODS: The study was conducted from December 2020 - May 2021 with employees from a VA health care system in Southeastern US. The study used a convergent mixed methods design comprising two main activities: a cross-sectional survey conducted prior to COVID-19 vaccine distribution, and semi-structured interviews conducted 4-6 months after vaccine distribution. Data were collected about participant characteristics, vaccination intention prior to distribution, vaccination decision post-distribution, determinants of vaccination intention and decision, activating factors, sources of information and intervention needs. Data from the survey and interviews were analyzed separately and integrated narratively in the discussion. RESULTS: Prior to vaccine distribution, 77% of employees wanted to be vaccinated. Post vaccine distribution, we identified 5 distinct decision-making groups: 1) vaccine believers who actively sought vaccination and included those sometimes described as "immunization advocates", 2) go along to get along (GATGA) individuals who got vaccinated but did not actively seek it, 3) cautious acceptors who got the COVID-19 vaccine after some delay, 4) fence sitters who remained uncertain about getting vaccinated, and 5) vaccine refusers who actively rejected the COVID-19 vaccine. Participants identifying with Black or multiple races were more likely to express hesitancy in their vaccination intention. CONCLUSION: The findings of our study highlight distinct decision-making profiles associated with COVID-19 vaccination among employees of a VA health care system, and provide tailored recommendations to reduce vaccine hesitancy in this population.

Promising Strategies to Support COVID-19 Vaccination of Healthcare Personnel: Qualitative Insights from the VHA National Implementation.

BACKGROUND: In August 2021, up to 30% of Americans were uncertain about taking the COVID-19 vaccine, including some healthcare personnel (HCP). OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to identify barriers and facilitators of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) HCP vaccination program. DESIGN: We conducted key informant interviews with employee occupational health (EOH) providers, using snowball recruitment. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included 43 VHA EOH providers representing 29 of VHA's regionally diverse healthcare systems. APPROACH: Thematic analysis elucidated 5 key themes and specific strategies recommended by EOH. KEY RESULTS: Implementation themes reflected logistics of distribution (supply), addressing any vaccine concerns or hesitancy (demand), and learning health system strategies/approaches for shared learnings. Specifically, themes included the following: (1) use interdisciplinary task forces to leverage diverse skillsets for vaccine implementation; (2) invest in processes and align resources with priorities, including creating detailed processes, addressing time trade-offs for personnel involved in vaccine clinics by suspending everything non-essential, designating process/authority to shift personnel where needed, and proactively involving leaders to support resource allocation/alignment; (3) expect and accommodate vaccine buy-in occurring over time: prepare for some HCP's slow buy-in, align buy-in facilitation with identities and motivation, and encourage word-of-mouth and hyper-local testimonials; (4) overcome misinformation with trustworthy communication: tailor communication to individuals and address COVID vaccines "in every encounter," leverage proactive institutional messaging to reinforce information, and invite bi-directional conversations about any vaccine concerns. A final overarching theme focused on learning health system needs and structures: (5) use existing and newly developed communication channels to foster shared learning across teams and sites. CONCLUSIONS: Expecting deliberation allows systems to prepare for complex distribution logistics (supply) and make room for conversations that are trustworthy, bi-directional, and identity aligned (demand). Ideally, organizations provide time for conversations that address individual concerns, foster bi-directional shared decision-making, respect HCP beliefs and identities, and emphasize shared identities as healthcare providers.

Optimizing the Impact of Pragmatic Clinical Trials for Veteran and Military Populations: Lessons From the Pain Management Collaboratory.

Pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) are well-suited to address unmet healthcare needs, such as those arising from the dual public health crises of chronic pain and opioid misuse, recently exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These overlapping epidemics have complex, multifactorial etiologies, and PCTs can be used to investigate the effectiveness of integrated therapies that are currently available but underused. Yet individual pragmatic studies can be limited in their reach because of existing structural and cultural barriers to dissemination and implementation. The National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and Department of Veterans Affairs formed an interagency research partnership, the Pain Management Collaboratory. The partnership combines pragmatic trial design with collaborative tools and relationship building within a large network to advance the science and impact of nonpharmacological approaches and integrated models of care for the management of pain and common co-occurring conditions. The Pain Management Collaboratory team supports 11 large-scale, multisite PCTs in veteran and military health systems with a focus on team science with the shared aim that the "whole is greater than the sum of the parts." Herein, we describe this integrated approach and lessons learned, including incentivizing all parties; proactively offering frequent opportunities for problem-solving; engaging stakeholders during all stages of research; and navigating competing research priorities. We also articulate several specific strategies and their practical implications for advancing pain management in active clinical, "real-world," settings.

Patients' perceptions of orthodontic treatment experiences during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has impacted the care of patients undergoing orthodontic treatment. We aimed to provide an overall view of patients' perspectives, concerns, and expectations towards their treatment throughout the clinic lockdown during the pandemic; and to assess patients' levels of mental distress and its association with their confidence in resuming care. METHODS: An anonymous, validated, in-person paper questionnaire was distributed to adult orthodontic patients' post-lockdown at an academic institution. The survey focused on the clinical aspects and patients' perspectives regarding orthodontic treatment during the pandemic. The Kessler Mental Distress Scale (K10) was used to evaluate their psychological status. Survey responses were descriptively summarized and confidence in resuming care was compared between normal patients and patients with mental distress using Mann-Whitney tests. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-four patients were surveyed from July to October 2020. Mean age of the participants was 29.30 (SD = 12.01) years and 62% were females. Emergencies during the closure (21%, 32/154) involved primarily irritation with protruding wires. Patients were neutral regarding tele-dentistry and preferred their current fixed appliances over clear aligners. Upon resuming care, 80.51% were extremely pleased with the restrictive protocols and with high level of confidence in resuming treatment. The average level of anxiety was low, and a modest association was found between mental distress and reduced confidence in resuming treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Few numbers of minor emergencies occurred during the clinic closure. Despite the rising interest in tele-dentistry, patients were neutral on considering this option to monitor treatment and were content with fixed appliances. Patients had high confidence levels to resume their care based on the protocols established upon reopening. The association of mental distress and confidence in resuming care is suggestive and needs further investigation.

Complexities of Corona Virus Disease-19: The Role of Palliative Care at a Veterans Affairs Hospital.

The Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic accentuated the need for delivery of quality palliative care. We share the experience of our acute care hospital palliative care team in caring for veteran patients who died from COVID-19 and provide recommendations for palliative care teams caring for older adult populations. We conducted a retrospective chart review on 33 patients to gather characteristics data and delineate palliative care team involvement in their clinical courses. Our palliative care team participated in the care of 87.9% of patients who died from COVID-19. They were medically and psychosocially complex with 75.8% carrying at least four medical comorbidities, 87.8% presenting from an institutional facility, and 39.4% diagnosed with at least one psychiatric condition. Our results emphasize the impact of this pandemic on vulnerable populations and highlight the benefits of palliative care for support of patients, their loved ones, and the clinical teams caring for them.