ABSTRACT
Using Personal protective equipment has become an integral part of work for all health care workers during the COVID19 pandemic however they do have an effect on their work performance. Aim(s):This study aimed to determine the effect of Personal Protective Equipment(PPE) on hearing, speech, and breathing on the work performance among the healthcare workers(HCWs) involved in treating COVID patients. Material(s) and Method(s): This is a descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted among the health care workers(HCWs) in a COVID designated hospital in Pondicherry, South India. A semi-structured questionnaire was constructed, and 384 eligible health care workers participated in the study. Their responses were collected in an excel sheet, and the data were analyzed. Result(s): Our survey showed that 79.7% of participants (n=306) had donned PPE for a total of 6 hours, and their work performance was significantly affected by the following factors, such as difficulty in hearing (p=0.053), difficulty in understanding speech (p=0.048), increased efforts in talking to patients and coworkers (p= 0.004) and increased measures of breathing(p=0.057). Conclusion(s): The use of personal protective equipment significantly impairs communication between coworkers and patients.PPE also increases the burden of breathing, and both these entities seem to influence the work performance of the HCWs. Hence we suggest that alternate communication strategies be taught and employed and formulate newer protocols with user-friendly PPEs to decrease the burden on breathing and for better communication for effective work performance. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Many religious congregations in the United States have adapted to COVID-19 lockdowns by offering religious services online. This study aims to understand whether congregants from a diverse set of faith traditions expect to attend online or in-person religious services after the pandemic. First, it examines how members of different religious traditions vary in their expectations of future attendance. Second, it explores whether respondents' habituation to online attendance during the pandemic might result in greater preference for future online attendance. This study draws on a non-representative sample of 1609 members of Christian, Jewish, and Hindu communities in four US states surveyed in late 2020 and employs logistic regression models. The findings first suggest a divergence between congregation types that require in-person attendance for certain rituals versus those that do not. Second, habituation of the practice of online attendance may cultivate the desire to sustain this practice into the future. Online religious services have been well received by most congregants, and online services will likely play a useful role across congregation types, albeit at differing levels and with different audiences. Our finding that marginal congregants were more likely to prefer online religious services, while more engaged members preferred in-person attendance, is of relevance to faith leaders.