"I'm Doing This for Me:” Gendered Reasons for Enrolling in Postsecondary Education During a Time of Economic Uncertainty

This study examines the gendered experiences of working class, nontraditional postsecondary students in the context of the Great Recession. Based on in-depth interviews with 75 students, and a longitudinal analysis of their academic transcripts 6 to 8 years later, we find that both men and women emphasized the importance of providing for their families. In the context of an economic downturn, interviewees were concerned about improving their job prospects with educational credentials to ensure greater financial stability. Yet whereas men focused primarily on financially providing for their families as their reason for enrolling in college, women emphasized both providing for their families and self-development. This blending of the perceived purposes of education suggests that women expressed a more complex, multifaceted understanding of their reasons for enrolling in education. This study has implications for not only the Great Recession but motivations for enrolling during other recessions, including the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2023 North Central Sociological Association.

Micro-eliminating HCV in 8 diverse prisons that serve a general population of 3.7 million in the Yorkshire region of England

Background: National Health Service England (NHSE) plans to eliminate Hepatitis C (HCV) by 2025. With a reported HCV prevalence of about 6% in male prisons, and about 12% in female prisons, secure environments are an essential component of this elimination plan. Yorkshire is a region in England with a general population of about 3.7 M. PPG is the provider of healthcare to 9 prisons in Yorkshire, with approximately 6,000 residents, many of whom are current, or previous, substance users. Description of model of care/intervention: To support NHSE in the elimination of HCV, a partnership between Gilead Sciences, Practice Plus Group (PPG) and the Hepatitis C Trust (HCT) was formed in 2019. This partnership works with prison and hospital teams to optimise test and treat pathways for new prison admissions. In addition, whole prison HCV Intensive Test and Treat events (HITT programmes) were run in targeted prisons to ensure testing of residents who were incarcerated before these optimisations were implemented. Effectiveness: HCV screening, within 7 days of prison entry, increased from 27% in May 2019 to 93% in January 2022. This increase was achieved despite COVID-19 restrictions remaining in place since March 2020 across all English prisons. In addition, HITT programmes were used to test residents who were missed at prison entry. The overall result is that 8/9 prisons have achieved microelimination status, as defined by: >= 95% of prison residents tested within the previous 12 months, >= 90% of RNA positive patients treated or initiated on treatment and presence of a robust system to review ongoing testing and treatment performance to ensure these targets are maintained. Conclusion and next steps: Micro-elimination of HCV will now need to be maintained in these prisons by ensuring the uptake of HCV testing remains>95%. Plans are in place to micro-eliminate the final prison-which is a high-security prison presenting unique challenges to HCV micro-elimination.

The digital move for psychological appointments during and beyond the Covid-Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought much unpredictability, uncertainty, and created huge disruption in society. This has posed challenges to the provision of mental health services and seen unprecedented changes to standard clinical practice. This article, based on survey data from both clients and clinicians, reflects on the implementation of remote appointments in an adult psychological therapy service. © 2022, British Psychological Society. All rights reserved.

EXPECTATIONS OF RECOGNITION AND BENEFITS OF CREATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR MIDDLE AND OLDER ADULTS

Creative hobbies have been found to be beneficial for mental health, especially if an individual considers their hobby an important part of their identity (Adams-Price & Morse, 2018). Although receiving recognition from friends or family for one's creative abilities has been seen to decrease depressive symptoms for adults, these benefits may depend on expectations and type of recognition desired (Israel et al, 2020). Those who participate in creative activities as a career compared to those who participate as hobbyist may not receive the same benefits due to the stress artists endure trying to earn a living (Barker et al, 2009). This study aimed to explore the relationships between hobby recognition, hobby's impact on identity, and mental well-being. A sample of 279 primarily white (88%) female (95.3%) adults aged 40 to 84 (M = 59.9-years-old) were interviewed during the Covid-19 Pandemic. A structural equation model was developed in AMOS 28.0 to correlate these variables and do a multiple groups analysis, comparing 100 older adults (65+) and 179 middle aged adults (40-64) who all reported at least one creative hobby. Results found a negative relationship between identifying with a creative hobby and receiving recognition for the hobby, a negative relationship between mental well-being and recognition, and a positive relationship between identifying with one's hobby and mental well-being. The results suggest that recognition from others may have mixed effects on mental health but identifying with one's creative hobby may be a protective factor. Implications expectations of recognition will be discussed.

Disruptions and delays: Lecturers’ experiences of moving an information systems module online

Literature on innovative online teaching in higher education (HE) considers factors influencing use (or nonuse) of technologies. The underlying dynamics that drive teaching and learning (T&L) systems however, receive limited attention. The challenges of moving online are exacerbated during disruptions, such as student protests or a pandemic. This discussion presents the innovations in teaching in a Systems Analysis and Design module as influenced by both student protests and the COVID-19 pandemic. Process bottle-necks and stoppages experienced by lecturers are compared to the ‘Circuit of HE Teaching Power’ framework to determine if it explains these delays. This framework is based on the voluntary, partial movement online of teaching after institutional disruption and change. Numerous delays experienced are identified by the framework. Not identified are the delays experienced due to the need for pedagogical review and waiting for clarity from institutional management. It is also clear that the nuances of the context, nature of the disruption, and the nature of the module, play a role in the teaching experience. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and Evaluation of an eLearning Training Module to Improve United Kingdom Secondary School Teachers' Knowledge and Confidence in Supporting Young People Who Self-Harm

BackgroundSelf-harm is a major public health concern with evidence suggesting that the rates are higher in the United Kingdom than anywhere else in Europe. Increasingly, policy highlights the role of school staff in supporting young people (YP) who are self-harming, yet research indicates that school staff often feel ill-equipped to provide support and address self-harm behaviors. Here, we assess the impact of a bespoke eLearning module for United Kingdom secondary school teachers on teacher's actual and perceived knowledge of self-harm, and their self-reported confidence in supporting and talking to YP who self-harm. MethodsTwenty-one secondary schools across the West Midlands and South East of England were invited to complete a 30-min web-based eLearning module on self-harm in schools. Participants completed pre-and post-intervention measures. ResultsOne-hundred and seventy-three teachers completed the eLearning, and pre-and post-measures. The eLearning significantly enhanced participants' perceived knowledge, actual knowledge, and confidence in talking to and supporting YP who self-harm. The majority of participants (90.7%) felt that eLearning was a good way to receive training. ConclusionThe 30-min eLearning module was rated highly and may be an effective way to increase secondary school teachers' knowledge of self-harm, and confidence in supporting and talking to YP who self-harm.

Process improvement for emergent ECMO cannulation of critically ill COVID-19 and MIS-C pediatric patients

Introduction: Children diagnosed with COVID-19 or Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) can have rapid clinical deterioration and may require emergent hemodynamic and respiratory support with Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO). Wolfson Children's Hospital (WCH) is the only free standing children's hospital in Northeast Florida. The 20 bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) averages 1100 admissions per year and is a level 1 trauma center. During the most recent wave of COVID, our hospital saw significantly increased numbers of children with COVID-19 and MIS-C requiring hospitalization and medical treatment in the PICU. The ECMO team at WCH was consulted for initiation of ECMO on several critically ill children with COVID-19 and MIS-C. Some children required extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR). Many of these patients had significant obesity and other co-morbidities complicating patient management including emergent cannulation for ECMO. Cannulating a patient for ECMO during active CPR has poor outcomes that can be further impacted by obesity and an inability to generate adequate blood flow through smaller vessels in obese children. Therefore, our center sought to evaluate patients earlier for ECMO and attempt to avoid ECPR or emergent cannulation. A daily rounding checklist for COVID-19 and MIS-C patients was developed and implemented with a goal of preventing delayed care and enhancing efficient communication among all members of the healthcare team. Purpose: The ECMO team and physician leadership developed a daily rounding checklist to enhance communication with the interdisciplinary team for all COVID-19 and MIS-C patients admitted to the PICU. The checklist is completed by the ECMO Coordinator upon admission for children requiring respiratory and hemodynamic support with daily updates by the ECMO team coordinators, pediatric intensivist, and pediatric surgeon. The checklist ensures that each patient admitted to the PICU with COVID-19 or MIS-C has the following patient information, laboratory and imaging studies documented in the event the patient rapidly deteriorates and requires emergent cannulation for ECMO. Checklist information includes: patient weight, BMI, co-morbidities, cardiac echocardiogram to evaluate cardiac function, ultrasound of neck and femoral vessels to determine cannula size, head ultrasound (if applicable), patient's current condition (improving, unchanged, or deteriorating), type and cross, and candidacy for ECMO. The checklist allows all members of the healthcare team to have pertinent patient information readily available allowing expedited initiation of ECMO if needed. Implementation: The ECMO Coordinator consults with the attending pediatric intensivist and pediatric surgeon daily. Once the rounding checklist is completed, it is updated daily. If any items have not been completed, the ECMO coordinator recommends completion of missing testing or laboratory studies to the ICU team. Information gained from the ECMO Coordinator rounds is then added to the checklist and distributed to physician leadership, the PICU attending, ECMO medical directors, and the pediatric surgical team. If candidacy of a patient for ECMO is questionable, discussion occurs with the pediatric intensivist, pediatric surgeon, and ECMO medical directors to determine ECMO suitability. For high-risk patients, a primed circuit and catheters are available at the bedside with the ECMO team on standby. Outcomes: The implementation and utilization of this checklist has streamlined the process to determine suitability of children with COVID-19 and MIS-C that may require ECMO support at WCH. The process has enhanced patient care allowing a primed circuit, appropriate sized catheters, and discussion with the cardiovascular team in the event that thoracic cannulation may be required. This checklist is now being utilized for all patients that may require ECMO support allowing improved communication and collaboration between the pediatric intensivists, surgical group, and ECMO team.

Exploring trauma responsive educational practices in a museum. (Special Issue: Radical reimaginings in museum education.)

Trauma infiltrates all of society - including museums. For guests, the trauma may lie in the context of the visit or what they bring with them from their everyday lives. Staff can develop trauma through daily interaction with stressful content or secondary trauma through interaction with traumatized guests. During the COVID19 pandemic, trauma also developed from workplace issues regarding personal health safety and job security. This is a case study about how one museum educated itself about the presence and impact of trauma through exploration of a framework developed by the Trauma Responsive Educational Practices (TREP) Project. We present results of a staff-wide evaluation around initial implementation of the framework. Results show staff found the framework to be relevant and useful, but they need more support adapting it to the unique environment of museums. It also triggered memories of personal trauma in some staff, requiring a rethinking about how to implement it.

Exploring Trauma Responsive Educational Practices in a Museum

Trauma infiltrates all of society – including museums. For guests, the trauma may lie in the context of the visit or what they bring with them from their everyday lives. Staff can develop trauma through daily interaction with stressful content or secondary trauma through interaction with traumatized guests. During the COVID19 pandemic, trauma also developed from workplace issues regarding personal health safety and job security. This is a case study about how one museum educated itself about the presence and impact of trauma through exploration of a framework developed by the Trauma Responsive Educational Practices (TREP) Project. We present results of a staff-wide evaluation around initial implementation of the framework. Results show staff found the framework to be relevant and useful, but they need more support adapting it to the unique environment of museums. It also triggered memories of personal trauma in some staff, requiring a rethinking about how to implement it. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Museum Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

High Performance Agent-Based Modeling to Study Realistic Contact Tracing Protocols

Contact tracing (CT) is an important and effective intervention strategy for controlling an epidemic. Its role becomes critical when pharmaceutical interventions are unavailable. CT is resource intensive, and multiple protocols are possible, therefore the ability to evaluate strategies is important. We describe a high-performance, agent-based simulation model for studying CT during an ongoing pandemic. This work was motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic, however framework and design are generic and can be applied in other settings. This work extends our HPC-oriented ABM framework EpiHiper to efficiently represent contact tracing. The main contributions are: (i) Extension of EpiHiper to represent realistic CT processes. (ii) Realistic case study using the VA network motivated by our collaboration with the Virginia Department of Health. © 2021 IEEE.

Neonatal morbidity after the start of the pandemic: Disparate outcomes across two sites

Objective: During the early months of the pandemic, policies were implemented that sought to reduce in-person office visits. We sought to evaluate the neonatal outcomes associated with those policy changes across two disparate clinical sites. Study Design: We performed a cohort study of patients obtaining prenatal care at two clinics that were disparate in patient population and resources during two different 6 month intervals (Time I: July 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019 and Time II: March 23, 2020 - September 23, 2020). Both sites shared identical policies and leadership. Patients with known SARS-CoV-2 infection were excluded from the analysis. Medical records were reviewed for clinical and demographic characteristics. Neonatal morbidity was defined as any of the following: stillbirth, neonatal death, preterm birth, NICU admission, low birthweight. Data was analyzed using chi square and Cochran Q test where appropriate. P< 0.05 was significant. Results: Site A’s prenatal visits decreased (Time I= 9,782 and Time II= 8,694) while Site B’s prenatal visits increased (Time I= 4,144 and Time II= 6,644). At baseline, Site A compared to Site B was more likely to have patients with commercial insurance (88.7 vs 12.9%, p< 0.001) and who self-identified as White race (66.6 vs 29.9%, p< 0.001). Patients from Site A were less likely to be Hispanic (18 vs 39.1%, p< 0.001) and had a lower neonatal morbidity rate (19 vs 26%, p< 0.001). In Time I, neither site was using telehealth. In Time II, Site A conducted 21.5% of prenatal visits by telehealth. Site B conducted 1.8% of visits by telehealth but experienced net transfer of patients whose physician offices were closed. In Time II, the neonatal morbidity disparity between the two sites persisted (18.7 vs 28%, p< 0.001), with Site B experiencing a slight increase in neonatal morbidity. Cochran's Q test indicates a statistically significant difference in the proportion of perinatal morbidity over time, χ2 (2) = 740.7, p< 0.001. Conclusion: Policies to reduce in-person visits are associated with an increased neonatal morbidity in lower resourced settings and higher risk populations.

Testing and tracking in the UK: A dynamic causal modelling study [version 1;peer review: 1 approved with reservations, 1 not approved]

By equipping a previously reported dynamic causal modelling of COVID-19 with an isolation state, we were able to model the effects of self-isolation consequent on testing and tracking. Specifically, we included a quarantine or isolation state occupied by people who believe they might be infected but are asymptomatic—and could only leave if they test negative. We recovered maximum posteriori estimates of the model parameters using time series of new cases, daily deaths, and tests for the UK. These parameters were used to simulate the trajectory of the outbreak in the UK over an 18-month period. Several clear-cut conclusions emerged from these simulations. For example, under plausible (graded) relaxations of social distancing, a rebound of infections is highly unlikely. The emergence of a second wave depends almost exclusively on the rate at which we lose immunity, inherited from the first wave. There exists no testing strategy that can attenuate mortality rates, other than by deferring or delaying a second wave. A testing and tracking policy—implemented at the present time—will defer any second wave beyond a time horizon of 18 months. Crucially, this deferment is within current testing capabilities (requiring an efficacy of tracing and tracking of about 20% of asymptomatic infected cases, with 50,000 tests per day). These conclusions are based upon a dynamic causal model for which we provide some construct and face validation—using a comparative analysis of the United Kingdom and Germany, supplemented with recent serological studies. © 2020. Friston KJ et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Students' Use of On-Campus Wireless Networks: Analysis by Residence Type

Universities supply free Wi-Fi to registered students on campus to access learning materials. Many issues could reduce the quality of students' Wi-Fi use, e.g., devices using different Wi-Fi standards than those used on campus, and numerous students accessing Wi-Fi through a single access point simultaneously. Understanding where, when and how students use Wi-Fi on campus can help IT administrators to provide an adequate Wi-Fi service. This pre-COVID study adopted a mixed method approach. Questionnaires were completed by a representative sample of 373 students on the Westville campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Two Information Communication Services (ICS) staff members were interviewed to gain insights into how the Wi-Fi was set up, and their perspectives on how students utilise the Wi-Fi. The questionnaire data were analysed statistically, and interview results were used to explain results. The students' most used venues, and the places they encountered poor and best Wi-Fi signal quality, are presented, along with the durations of use and problems encountered. When analysing these results by students' residence type, each category showed a different pattern of use. These results can help IT administrators understand where to improve the Wi-Fi quality, if necessary. It is particularly useful if some categories of students return to campus, while others do not, e.g. as COVID-19 lockdowns ease. © 2021 IEEE.

Ten strategies for research quality in distance research during COVID-19 and future food system shocks. (Program Brief: FISH-2020-11.)

Food systems are faced with increasingly difficult challenges from COVID-19 and future climate,socioeconomic, health and other shocks. This calls for effective responses that rely on accurate and timely data and evidence on the multifaceted effects of the pandemic or other shocks to food systems and on the diverse women and men affected. The report provides a detailed discussion on ten (10) strategies for research quality during COVID-19 social distancing and other food system shocks in terms of relevance, legitimacy, scientific credibility, and effectiveness. Applying research quality strategies, including gender integration as well as systems and interdisciplinary thinking, creates a strong foundation for research and data collection during COVID-19 and other food system shocks. Careful research along the lines of the 10 strategies (from partnerships through design, implementation, analysis and use) are a critical part of generating a strong evidence base and effective use.

COVID-19 impacts and adaptations in Asia and Africa's aquatic food value chains. (Working Paper: FISH-2021-02.)

The COVID-19 pandemic is a systemic shock that affects all areas of the global food system. A growing range of impacts on aquatic food producers, value chain actors and consumers is evident. In response, the report provides the impacts of COVID-19 on aquatic food value chains in Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Myanmar and Nigeria. Results show that: (1) COVID-19 and associated containment measures severely disrupted aquatic food value chains, but effects on supply were relatively short-lived;(2)Demand for aquatic foods has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels;(3) prices of aquatic foods have downward trend while prices of manufactured feeds have risen;and (4) COVID-19 has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities. As COVID-19 pandemic reversed years of progress on key human development indicators, it is important to revitalize aquatic food value chains to protect livelihoods and human nutrition. The paper also provides policy recommendations for both supply and demand sides.

Second waves, social distancing, and the spread of COVID-19 across America

We recently described a dynamic causal model of a COVID-19 outbreak within a single region. Here, we combine several of these (epidemic) models to create a (pandemic) model of viral spread among regions. Our focus is on a second wave of new cases that may result from loss of immunity-and the exchange of people between regions-and how mortality rates can be ameliorated under different strategic responses. In particular, we consider hard or soft social distancing strategies predicated on national (Federal) or regional (State) estimates of the prevalence of infection in the population. The modelling is demonstrated using timeseries of new cases and deaths from the United States to estimate the parameters of a factorial (compartmental) epidemiological model of each State and, crucially, coupling between States. Using Bayesian model reduction, we identify the effective connectivity between States that best explains the initial phases of the outbreak in the United States. Using the ensuing posterior parameter estimates, we then evaluate the likely outcomes of different policies in terms of mortality, working days lost due to lockdown and demands upon critical care. The provisional results of this modelling suggest that social distancing and loss of immunity are the two key factors that underwrite a return to endemic equilibrium.