Development and Evaluation of Interactive Flipped e-Learning (iFEEL) for Pharmacy Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Distance learning has come to the forefront of educational delivery throughout the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Presently, there is a paucity of studies that have utilized interactive e-lectures as a model for remote flipped learning. OBJECTIVES: To compare educational outcomes for the remote interactive flipped e-learning (iFEEL) activity versus paper-based in-class group learning (PICkLE). METHODS: During the spring 2021 semester, tutorials in pharmaceutical quality control and good manufacturing practice were remotely delivered to students by two different approaches: PICkLE and iFEEL. In the latter activity, interactive e-lectures were software-designed and included several audiovisual enhanced illustrations to encourage students to interact with the lecture material prior to attending the virtual class. The class time was reserved for in-class quizzes and discussion. Mean exam scores were compared and voluntary questionnaires were distributed among the participating students as well as healthcare faculty members in 29 Saudi universities. Data from the remotely-delivered course was compared with data from previous course offerings (2018-2020) that used the live PICkLE method. RESULTS: The mean score of post-lecture tests significantly (p < 0.05) increased compared to pre-lecture tests in remote PICkLE and iFEEL, respectively. iFEEL activity showed higher mean post-tests score (95.2%) compared to live PICkLE (90.2%, p = 0.08) and remote PICkLE (93.5%, p = 0.658). Mean comprehensive exam scores increased from 83.8% for remote PICkLE to 89.2% for iFEEL (p = 0.449). On average, 92% of students and 85% of faculty members reported positive feedback on the five quality attributes of the e-lecture. Over 75% of students preferred the iFEEL over PICkLE activity for future course offerings and 84% of faculty members recommend the integration of interactive e-lectures in their future courses. CONCLUSION: iFEEL represents a novel model of remote flipped learning and shows promising potential to be incorporated into live blended-learning classroom activities.

Lockdown measures in response to COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa: A rapid study of nine countries (preprint)

Lockdown measures have been introduced worldwide to contain the transmission of COVID-19. This paper defines the term lockdown and describes the design, timing and implementation of lockdown in nine countries in Sub Saharan Africa: Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It also discusses the manner in which lockdown is enforced, the need to mitigate the harms of lockdown, and the association between lockdown and the reported number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. While there are some commonalities in the implementation of lockdown, a more notable finding is the variation in the design, timing and implementation of lockdown measures across the nine countries. We found that the number of reported cases is heavily dependent on the number of tests done, and that testing rates ranged from 9 to 21,261 per million population. The reported number of COVID-19 deaths per million population also varies, but is generally low when compared to countries in Europe and North America. While lockdown measures may have helped inhibit some community transmission, the pattern and nature of the epidemic remains unclear. Of concern are signs of lockdown harming health by affecting the functioning of the health system and causing social and economic harms. This paper highlights the need for inter-sectoral and trans-disciplinary research capable of providing a rigorous and holistic assessment of the harms and benefits of lockdown.

Impact of COVID-19 on Pediatric Asthma: Practice Adjustments and Disease Burden.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether asthma may affect susceptibility or severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children and how pediatric asthma services worldwide have responded to the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric asthma services and on disease burden in their patients. METHODS: An online survey was sent to members of the Pediatric Asthma in Real Life think tank and the World Allergy Organization Pediatric Asthma Committee. It included questions on service provision, disease burden, and the clinical course of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection among children with asthma. RESULTS: Ninety-one respondents, caring for an estimated population of more than 133,000 children with asthma, completed the survey. COVID-19 significantly impacted pediatric asthma services: 39% ceased physical appointments, 47% stopped accepting new patients, and 75% limited patients' visits. Consultations were almost halved to a median of 20 (interquartile range, 10-25) patients per week. Virtual clinics and helplines were launched in most centers. Better than expected disease control was reported in 20% (10%-40%) of patients, whereas control was negatively affected in only 10% (7.5%-12.5%). Adherence also appeared to increase. Only 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported among the population; the estimated incidence is not apparently different from the reports of general pediatric cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Children with asthma do not appear to be disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Outcomes may even have improved, possibly through increased adherence and/or reduced exposures. Clinical services have rapidly responded to the pandemic by limiting and replacing physical appointments with virtual encounters.