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The ongoing effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic have changed the very makeup of the American experience down to the acute onset of mental health care involvement for children and families. According to a recent systematic review of 35 survey studies of children and adolescents from 4 to 19 years of age (Theberath et al., 2022), the global pandemic has exacerbated the prevalence of mental health issues among youth for disorders ranging from depression and anxiety to post‐traumatic stress disorder and suicidality. However, innumerable disparities exist which have simultaneously increased mental health‐related visits for youth as well as decrease the likelihood of them accessing proper mental health care in this country to below 20% within the past three years (Abramson, 2022).
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This article is a 12-year retrospective of the Fukushima nuclear disaster with a 7-year revisitation of our publication, "Implications of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Man-Made Hazards, Vulnerability Factors, and Risk to Environmental Health" (Eddy & Sase, 2015). We shed light on early and erroneous assumptions made about the global environmental health impact, as well as follow up on prolonged site remediation difficulties and controversial scheduled discharges of containerized wastewater. As we developed a refreshed vision of the triple nuclear reactor meltdown, we incorporated lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in a novel and universally applicable Public Health, Healthcare, and Emergency Management Command and Support Supersystem Model. The model addresses all-hazards readiness needs, which is a core component of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency, and U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines and law. The model and associated narrative is intended to guide future global and international public health threat planning and response and provide a decision support tool for state and local public health, emergency management, and homeland security practitioners. The model integrates core aspects of U.S. emergency preparedness and response federal doctrine and CMS regulations--representing multiple agencies, professions, and healthcare facility guidelines--with an integrated foundation of practical concepts from One Health, public health, and all-hazards approaches. Although internationally coordinated public health threat prevention and containment is the primary point of emphasis, our model can be applied at all jurisdictional levels.
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The aim of this study was to explore the experience of family care-givers of people with dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Veneto region of Italy to understand how and to what extent the emergency has affected care-givers' lives and care routines. Twenty adult children of an ill person were interviewed via phone and video call, in adherence with the restrictions against COVID-19. Thematic analysis showed five main themes: the care-giver's experience, the care recipient's experience, relationships with care recipients, changes in the care routine and resources. Results pointed out that the time needed in the care routine and everyday activities increased during the pandemic, together with the need to find alternatives to physical activity at home. Depending on one's personal experience of COVID-19 and approach to preventive rules, the availability of resources, and formal and informal support, three main approaches to care were identified: apprehensive, mindful and fatalistic ones. The pandemic amplified the differences among these already-existing approaches to care as well as the typical challenges and difficulties experienced by family care-givers, and it resulted in an increased burden connected to practical difficulties, emotional stress and difficulties in reaching for help. These results underline the importance of strengthening the external support network for older people to help family care-givers, especially during emergencies.
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Objective: This study was conducted to examine the effects of the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the anxiety and sleep levels of university students. Materials and Methods: The population of this descriptive study consisted of students who studied in health departments. The data were collected with a questionnaire that consisted of the descriptive characteristics form, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results: A total of 70.5% of the students who participated in the study were female. 9.0% of the students use drugs and 38.4% of them smoke. The difference between anxiety score averages and having a chronic disease, continuous drug use, smoking, and being a disabled person in the living environment is significant. Sleep quality scores were found to be "elevated" and significant for those who constantly used drugs, had a family member with a disability and/or a person over the age of 65, and those who smoked. It also affected the sleep quality scores of those who were infected with the Coronavirus, those who had family members with Coronavirus in their family, and/or students who had a relative who died from the Coronavirus. Conclusion: It can be argued that the anxiety frequency of the students increased and their sleep quality deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Having a family member over the age of 65, having a disabled person, being infected with the Coronavirus and/or losing one of their relatives to the Coronavirus affected the anxiety and sleep quality scores of the students. Amaç: Bu çalışma, Koronavirüs hastalığı-2019 (COVID-19) pandemisinin üniversite öğrencilerinin anksiyete ve uyku düzeyleri üzerine etkilerini incelemek amacıyla yapılmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Tanımlayıcı tipte olan araştırmanın evrenini sağlık bölümlerinde okuyan öğrenciler oluşturmuştur. Veriler öğrencilerin tanımlayıcı özellikleri ile Beck Anksiyete Ölçeği ve Pittsburg Uyku Kalitesi Ölçeği'nden oluşan bir anket aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Bulgular: Araştırmaya katılan öğrencilerin %70,5'i kadındı. Öğrencilerin %9,0'ı ilaç, %38,4'ü sigara kullanmakta idi. Anksiyete puan ortalamaları ile kronik hastalık öyküsü, sürekli ilaç kullanımı, sigara, yaşadığı ortamda engelli birey olması durumları arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı fark saptandı. Sürekli ilaç kullananların, ailesinde engelli birey ve/veya 65 yaş üstü birey olanların ve sigara kullananların uyku kalitesi puanları "yüksek" ve anlamlı bulunmuştur. Koronavirüse yakalananların, ailesinde koronavirüse yakalananların ve/veya koronavirüsten vefat eden yakını olan öğrencilerin uyku kalitesi puanları "yüksek" ve anlamlı bulunmuştur. Sonuç: Öğrencilerin COVID-19 pandemisi döneminde anksiyete sıklığının arttığı ve uyku kalitesinin bozulduğu söylenebilir. Ailede 65 yaş üzeri bireyin olması, engelli bireyin olması, koronavirüse yakalanmış olması ve/veya yakınlarından birini koronavirüsten kaybetmiş olması, öğrencilerin anksiyete ve uyku kalitesi puanını etkilemiştir.
ABSTRACT
The growing digital divide issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic are critical to widening disparities and inequalities. Yet, only a few studies have explored the impacts of the digital divide on the education sector. In particular, there is a research gap related to younger students of primary and secondary schools. This study addresses this research gap by providing an overview of the digital divide's impacts on social exclusion and education equality issues. In doing so, the study argues the effects of COVID-19 on the growing digital divide. Such influence is then studied based on the increasing education inequalities due to the digital divide and the eventual social exclusion increase among primary and secondary school children. The study explores the nexus between social exclusion and the digital divide before reflecting on EI as a type of social exclusion. While the main target groups of the study, i.e., primary and secondary school children, are not surveyed, the survey is conducted from two associated stakeholder group, i.e., (1) educators/teachers/managerial members of primary and secondary schools, and (2) parents/guardians of students. A total of 30 schools are surveyed to evaluate the digital divide correlation with "education inequality dimensions" and "social exclusion variables." The vulnerability of schoolchildren from primary and secondary schools is multifaceted as we are yet to witness future psychological and emotional/behavioral impacts of the ongoing pandemic on those affected at a younger age. The paper's findings help verify correlations between DD and social exclusion and education inequality.
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This case review focuses on a male patient who had fallen and was found to be profoundly hypothermic, with an altered level of consciousness and evidence of seizure activity. With multiple time-critical features, this clinical presentation was made particularly challenging by the presence of several human factors. A reflective model that considered these human factors in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when this incident occurred, was employed. Reflecting on this incident revealed how some subconscious (intuitive) thinking led to a degree of unconscious bias compounded by availability heuristics and human factors present. This meant that the author encountered difficulty when trying to obtain peripheral vascular access and, although several alternative interventions were identified, the majority of these were unavailable at the time and some would require a change to standard clinical practice for many paramedics. The only intervention that could have been used earlier in the management of this patient was rectal diazepam, but the need for this was removed by the patient's seizure activity self-terminating. Given the increasing prevalence of falls, social isolation, mental health problems, alcohol and substance misuse, especially in the pandemic, this type of case was unlikely to be an isolated event, strengthening the argument that the range of clinical interventions available to paramedics should be increased.
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The article discusses a binational, cross-sectional survey assessing wellness of physicians who worked in the intensive care unit (ICU) during the COVID-19 pandemic. It mentions that the study was conducted by Diversity-Related Research Committee of the Women in Critical Care (WICC) Interest Group of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), where it was found that that physicians experienced moderate intrapandemic distress and burnout and they also experienced professional fulfillment.
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The article discuses the suggestions by various leading scientists to remain healthy during pandemic. It is reported by Eric Feigl Ding, chief of the Covid risk task force at the New England Complex Systems Institute that Vitamin D plays a crucial role in immune health. It is further reported that to prevent chronic illnesses one should eat well, be active, should avoid tobacco, and be moderate with alcohol.
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The article offers a look at the advances in obstetrics and gynecology in 2022 along with some impactful articles that were important to women's health care providers. It includes an article on addressing physician burnout published in the January 2021 issue, another on a study on the treatment for mild chronic hypertension in pregnancy, and another study which evaluated whether the addition of lenvatinib and pembrolizumab improved outcome in women with recurrent advanced endometrial cancer.
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The study addressed the relationship between loneliness and sleep deficits after the COVID-19 outbreak. We tested associations between patterns of loneliness before and after the outbreak [stable, improved, and worsened] and sleep quality outcomes: 1) having a sleep problem after the initial outbreak, and 2) change in sleep quality. Data were drawn from two data collection points in the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (Wave 8 and the SHARE-COVID telephone survey). The sample included 35,878 respondents from 27 countries who participated in both of the data collection points and had full information on the relevant variables. Having a sleep problem was measured on a single-item indicator. Five loneliness patterns were identified. These included three stable patterns: (1) 'little or no loneliness' (2) 'mild persistent loneliness,' (3) 'intense persistent loneliness,' and two patterns of change in loneliness status after the outbreak: (4) 'improved' and (5) 'worsened.' In the adjusted models, all of the loneliness patterns were associated with having a sleep problem after the initial outbreak, compared to those with a stable pattern of no loneliness. Moreover, intensive persistent loneliness almost doubled the risk of experiencing a sleep problem after the outbreak and was a robust predictor of a negative change in sleep quality. Among older adults, intense loneliness experienced both before and after the initial outbreak of COVID-19 emerged as the most deleterious loneliness status in terms of post-outbreak sleep quality.
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The article presents results of an employment survey on trends and the state of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in 2022. Findings reveal COVID-19 measures that are important to daily operations, stagnation of wage growth and decline in overall salary satisfaction, job security changes and drop in job satisfaction, and business concerns including corporate performance and industry growth.
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An excerpt from the article "Nursing Shortages and the Tragedy of the Commons: The Demand for a Morally Just Global Response" by M-J. Johnston, that was published in the "Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing," is presented.
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An introduction is presented in which the author discusses articles within the issue on topics including children's perspectives and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in various aspects such as education, health and child care, challenges facing children and their families across different cultural and geographical contexts, and empowerment of children and young people through innovative methods.
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This section offers news briefs in the U.S. healthcare industry as of January 2, 2023. Topics include a slowdown in healthcare spending growth in 2021 based on data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the proposal from MEDICARE CMS to raise Medicare Advantage marketing, rating stakes, and the value-based arrangements made by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts with four health systems that offer financial incentives for eliminating health disparities in outpatient care.
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This commentary refers to the article "A Recirculation System to Reduce the Consumption of Oxygen During CPAP" by A. Coppadoro, L. Paratico, G. Bellani and colleagues, that was published within the issue. Topics discussed include oxygen therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic, partial rebreathing, and oxygen conservation and efficient use of limited oxygen supplies.
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The article offers a look at the advances in obstetrics and gynecology in 2022 along with some impactful articles that were important to women's health care providers. It includes an article on addressing physician burnout published in the January 2021 issue, another on a study on the treatment for mild chronic hypertension in pregnancy, and another study which evaluated whether the addition of lenvatinib and pembrolizumab improved outcome in women with recurrent advanced endometrial cancer.
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Measles remains a risk for international travellers. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted many routine childhood vaccine schedules worldwide, resulting in an upsurge in measles cases. A travel consultation is an opportunity to offer measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine for both personal protection of individual travellers and as a public health intervention.