The Ecology of Global, Collaborative Ethnography: Metho-Pedagogical Moves in Research on Climate Change with Youth in Pandemic Times

This article explores the nature of ethnographic collaboration during the harrowing and unpredictable times of a global pandemic. Documenting Year Two of a five-year, multi-sited ethnographic study, which necessitated virtual fieldwork in global drama classrooms (in Canada, India, Colombia, Taiwan, England, Greece), we offer a theoretical picture and practical illustrations of the 'metho-pedagogical' adaptations and observations made by the Toronto site team. For our study of youth and the climate emergency, we use an arts-led and youth-driven research process to provoke 'listening bodies' and the co-emergence of youth, artists, researchers, and research projects towards a more relational climate consciousness, a future created in the now. The prominence of 'presence' in our project took on an urgent and surprisingly intimate quality owing to the global pandemic in which we all suddenly found ourselves.

Losing and Finding Community in Drama: A Methodology-in-Motion for Pandemic Times

Our article explores the impact of the global health pandemic on our five-year, multi-sited, collaborative ethnographic study titled "Global Youth (Digital) Citizen-Artists" and "their Publics: Performing for Socio-Ecological Justice" (2019-2024). We illustrate how our arts-led, youth-driven ethnographic "methodology-in-motion" responded to a destabilized world by planning, listening, and seeing differently across local and global research contexts through virtual fieldwork. By focusing on reciprocity and the relational, we examine how researchers, youth participants, and global collaborators, managed to "lose" and "find" each other through creative, artistic encounters.

Extending and Strengthening Routine DHIS2 Surveillance Systems for COVID-19 Responses in Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Uganda.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged countries to protect their populations from this emerging disease. One aspect of that challenge was to rapidly modify national surveillance systems or create new systems that would effectively detect new cases of COVID-19. Fifty-five countries leveraged past investments in District Health Information Software version 2 (DHIS2) to quickly adapt their national public health surveillance systems for COVID-19 case reporting and response activities. We provide background on DHIS2 and describe case studies from Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Uganda to illustrate how the DHIS2 platform, its community of practice, long-term capacity building, and local autonomy enabled countries to establish an effective COVID-19 response. With these case studies, we provide valuable insights and recommendations for strategies that can be used for national electronic disease surveillance platforms to detect new and emerging pathogens and respond to public health emergencies.

Vaccine Hesitancy versus Vaccine Behavior in Patients with Chronic Illness.

While vaccine hesitancy has been described for the general population, vaccine hesitancy among the chronically ill has not been well explored. This study assesses COVID­19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake among individuals with chronic illness using nationwide survey data. We analyzed vaccine hesitancy prior to and after approval of the vaccines using multinomial logistic regression and binomial logistic regression, respectively. In the first survey, 39% reported they were unlikely or unsure about receiving the vaccine. In adjusted analyses, female sex, Black race, anti­vaccination attitudes, media mistrust, and not following the media were associated with vaccine hesitancy. Despite this hesitance, in the follow­up survey, 89% reported vaccine receipt, with those more fearful of COVID­19, with more trust in the media, and closely following the development of the vaccine were most likely to move from hesitance to acceptance. Vaccine hesitancy is a mutable characteristic, underscoring the need for high-quality public health messaging.

Determinants of telemedicine adoption among financially distressed patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from a nationwide study.

PURPOSE: Telemedicine use during the COVID-19 pandemic among financially distressed patients with cancer, with respect to the determinants of adoption and patterns of utilization, has yet to be delineated. We sought to systematically characterize telemedicine utilization in financially distressed patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of nationwide survey data assessing telemedicine use in patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic collected by Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) in December 2020. Patients were characterized as financially distressed by self-reporting limited financial resources to manage out-of-pocket costs, psychological distress, and/or adaptive coping behaviors. Primary study outcome was telemedicine utilization during the pandemic. Secondary outcomes were telemedicine utilization volume and modality preferences. Multivariable and Poisson regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with telemedicine use. RESULTS: A convenience sample of 627 patients with cancer responded to the PAF survey. Telemedicine adoption during the pandemic was reported by 67% of patients, with most (63%) preferring video visits. Younger age (19-35 age compared to ≥ 75 age) (OR, 6.07; 95% CI, 1.47-25.1) and more comorbidities (≥ 3 comorbidities compared to cancer only) (OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.13-2.65) were factors associated with telemedicine adoption. Younger age (19-35 years) (incidence rate ratios [IRR], 1.78; 95% CI, 24-115%) and higher comorbidities (≥ 3) (IRR; 1.36; 95% CI, 20-55%) were factors associated with higher utilization volume. As area deprivation index increased by 10 units, the number of visits decreased by 3% (IRR 1.03, 95% CI, 1.03-1.05). CONCLUSIONS: The rapid adoption of telemedicine may exacerbate existing inequities, particularly among vulnerable financially distressed patients with cancer. Policy-level interventions are needed for the equitable and efficient provision of this service.