The shortfalls of online learning catalyzed by COVID-19: Pre-health students’ perspective

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pivot to distance learning left many higher education institutions scrambling to find the resources to shift materials online and instructors making significant modifications to their courses to adapt. This study is the critical initial step in explaining any relationships between the responsive move to remote learning and academic performance and stress, anxiety, and depression. An eight-month longitudinal cohort study design with an action research methodology was conducted over four waves from June 2020 to January 2021. Participants had the option to be involved with semi-structured, in-depth interviews via Zoom. The qualitative results from the in-depth themes include: health & wellness, relationships & connectedness, transition home, classroom changes, learning & participation, extra-curriculars, COVID-19, virtual challenges, academic performance, and self-regulation. Thus, through thoughtful and intentional accommodations, instructors and students may create a new digital space for learning to improve upon motivational barriers and retaining content.

Rural health service leaders co-design state-wide research addressing an emerging health issue: A case report.

AIMS: This commentary aims to describe a case of how meaningful co-design between rural health service leaders and a health service-embedded research unit can identify emerging research priorities and optimise translation. CONTEXT: The challenges facing rural health services are unique, and the important role of health service leaders in the research response is increasingly recognised. Poorly-designed research can contribute to research waste through reduced applicability of results to rural communities, and an opportunity exists to increase research co-designed with rural health services through the involvement of research users during study planning. APPROACH: In early 2020, leaders at a rural Victorian health service approached the embedded health service research unit to request research be conducted on an emerging issue: rural staff well-being in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was based on their concern regarding the lack of available COVID-19-specific evidence to inform organisational policy. In collaboration with the rural health service executive, a translation-focused study of staff well-being with nine rural Victorian health services was developed. Key co-design activities of the project included involving research end-users as study investigators and conducting formal stakeholder engagement regarding study design and outcomes. CONCLUSION: Meaningful co-design of research with health services is a multifaceted process that can assist researchers and end-users alike in identifying and responding to emerging health issues. In the rural setting where there is a vital need for impactful health research, we recommend that researchers should consider employing co-design processes in order to minimise research waste and optimise the translatability of research findings.

Exploration of the COVID-19 Content within a Vaccine Choice Social Media Platform: A Case Study

With the continued rise in cases of COVID-19 and the increased availability of vaccines, it is essential to recognize the drivers of vaccine uptake. A large vaccine choice organization often uses social media platforms, specifically Facebook, to communicate messages to their audience. This study examined this organization’s Facebook posts between January 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020 to determine what themes and sub-themes were most often discussed regarding COVID-19. Three independent reviewers used an inductive approach with content analysis to code and analyze 35 posts relevant to COVID-19. Ten themes and eight subthemes emerged. Personal freedoms was the most prevalent theme, followed by vaccine safety and private/government involvement. Though some of the themes and sub-themes were uniquely associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, many were similar to the vaccine uptake factors identified for other vaccines. With the increasing usage of social media for information, the investigation of online forums can provide insight into the determinants which may impact COVID-19 vaccine uptake. These findings may be generalized to guide interventions to increase vaccine acceptance and distribution of other novel vaccines within the general population.