ABSTRACT
The importance of Maturity Models in healthcare is proven to support, monitor and direct healthcare organizations to better plan and execute their investments, developments and processes. In this work, two literature reviews were collected: one of them focuses on the identification of the main maturity models developed in the health area, the similarities and gaps between them, identifying what are the Influencing Factors for each model studied, and the other is the identification lessons learned for hospital management during the Covid-19 pandemic. Combining these two lines of investigation, it can be concluded that, in order to better prepare, adapt and make health systems more resilient, it is fundamental that future Maturity Models begin to map agility in diagnosing diseases, scale of exams, process of hospital disinfection and technological infrastructure, focusing on ICTs such as ML, LMS, DL, Robot Assistance, Actuators, Big Data, Blockchain, Smart Wearables, Delivery Drones, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Sensors and Cloud Technology. These IFs are identified as gaps for existing MMs in the sector. Allied to this, it is indicated that the future MMs consider expanding their focus in supply chain, services and applications, monitoring and, mainly, patient safety and care, given the importance that these IFs demonstrated in coping with the pandemic. Copyright © 2023 by Author/s and Licensed by IADiTI.
ABSTRACT
Research background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected higher education globally and disrupted its usual activities, according to differing perspectives. The ability to adapt to online activities was an important factor for many researchers during the pandemic period. Purpose of the article: In this article, the authors are studying the ability of the students to adapt to online activities, and also the direct and indirect effect on their academic performances.Methods: The data was collected with a questionnaire and the respondents are students from Romanian Universities. The analysis was made with an econometric model by using the PLS-SEM methodology. The goal of the paper was to find and analyse the factors used to perform academic online activities during the pandemic period.Findings & value added: The results of the paper validate the research hypotheses formulated in the introductory part and confirm that the students' academic performances are a direct result of many factors, such as: system parameters, personal demand, personal commitment, and regulatory environment. The identification of the exogenous variables with significant impact on the stu-dents' performances through online activities could help the management of the universities to implement the positive aspects and to reward them for their efforts while preventing from resili-ence to change. The higher education system has to acknowledge that flexible online learning opportunities are needed by students to fit their coursework around their employment and family responsibilities.
ABSTRACT
The pandemic caused an increase in the use of, and demand for digital public services, accelerating the digital transformation, which necessitated rapid development and deployment of various ICT systems. The Authority for the Digitalization of Romania in partnership with Code for Romania developed a number of six digital platforms for better management of the COVID-19 pandemic. They firstly created stirioficiale.ro, a platform that was used by the Romanian government to give Romanian residents trustworthy, up-to-date information about pandemic measures, guidance, and other important information. Following that, another 5 platforms were developed with the help of over 420 volunteers in order for the government to better manage the COVID-19 pandemic, with a total of six platforms forming an ecosystem that would be used by over ten million citizens across the country to access reliable information. The main objective of the article is to observe and interpret the analytics of the official platform datelazi.ro. After a formal request to the Authority for the Digitalization of Romania, the official recorded data was received and analyzed by the authors. The main results of the study show us that the visibility of the platform is low compared to the country's population. However, due to the consistency of users in the fifth wave of the pandemic, it is reasonable to assume that there is a core use of roughly 10,000 residents who find this platform beneficial for information at this time.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the association between depression, anxiety, and stress according to sociodemographic and occupational factors in Peruvian health professionals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: Cross-sectional analytical and multicentre study, based on a virtual survey sent to Peruvian health personnel (from the 25 Peruvian regions) working during the COVID-19 pandemic. The three dependent variables (depression, anxiety, and stress) were measured with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0.93) and compared with sociodemographic and occupational variables. P-values were obtained through generalized linear models, adjusted for each location where the survey was sent. Results: Of the 550 participants, 2%, 13%, and 3% of them had severe or very severe depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, we observed that professionals with a greater number of children had a lower frequency of severe depression (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR): 0.37;95% confidence interval (CI): 0.17-0.79;p = 0.010). In addition, physicians had a lower frequency of severe anxiety (aPR: 0.37;95% CI: 0.18-0.75;p = 0.036), and professionals who lived in the Central region (aPR: 0.50;95% CI: 0.25-0.97;p = 0.042) and in the South of the country (aPR: 0.37;95% CI: 0.19-0.71;p = 0.003) had lower anxiety levels compared to those in the Northern region. With regard to severe stress, those who lived in the Central (aPR: 0.15;95% CI: 0.03-0.75;p = 0.021) and South regions (aPR: 0.19;95% CI: 0.04-0.79;p = 0.011) had lower stress levels. Conclusion: There were significant percentages of deteriorating mental health in Peruvian health professionals during the pandemic, which may have negative repercussions in the short-, medium-, and long-term. In this sense, additional governmental actions should be necessary to provide specific psychological and psychiatric support programs to these workers.
ABSTRACT
Before 2014, Peru had never been a common destination country for migrants and refugees. However, the exodus of people coming from Venezuela would lead the country to become the second in the world to receive this population in absolute numbers, with 830 000 as of July 2020 (Bahar et al., 2020, p. 9). Although at the beginning the State decided to adopt an open-door policy regarding the entry and permanence of Venezuelans, since mid-2018 migration control has become more restrictive. This situation has become even more adverse for them since the beginning of the pandemic of COVID-19, as they have had to go through situations of discrimination, despite its condition of especial vulnerability. Given this scenario, this article will examine certain actions and omissions carried out by the State, which reveal violations of human rights of these people, fostered by a public opinion of rejection towards them. Finally, the importance of developing citizen awareness actions questioning these perceptions and encouraging social inclusion will also be analyzed.