Health-related Misinformation Harm during the COVID- 19 Pandemic: An Investigation of Non-comparative and Comparative Harm Perceptions

Misinformation about the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis has been widespread on social media and caused various types of harms in society. While some researchers have investigated the way in which people perceive misinformation harm in crises, little research has systematically examined harms from health-related misinformation. In order to address this gap, we focus on non-comparative and comparative harm perceptions of the affected community in the COVID-19 pandemic context. We examine non-comparative harms (which component harms and contextual harms reflect) and comparative harms (which counter-contextual harms reflect) in order to understand harm perceptions. We also investigate how harm perception varies based on COVID-19 victimization experience. We used a professional survey company named Cint to collect data using a scenario-based survey with 343 participants. We extract various findings such as how contextual features shape perceived harms and reveal the scenarios in which COVID-19 victims perceive higher contextual harms but lower counter-contextual harms. We also examine how corrective actions of social media shape harm perceptions.

Restarting COVID-19-Affected Economies

During our road through life, the economy accompanies us, showing us that it cannot be controlled, only understood and, in a way, predictable. This could be applicable for cyclical crisis. But how could we say the same about non-cyclical crises? Did the history show us patterns? Did the history give us predictive instruments? Could we say that we could act predictively, not just correctively upon this kind of crisis, as economists and economic agents who use economics as a component of our life? The actual crisis, the non-cyclical crisis caused by the COVID-19 uncontrollable spreading, showed us, once again, that its kind of crisis cannot be predicted. A non-cyclical crisis, such as the COVID-19 crisis, involves fast and precise corrective instruments, but, paradoxically, also gentle and diffuse corrective instruments. The analysis of the best mix of policies and actions, in the current context, has the potency to exploit the socio-economic mechanism in its true beauty. On the other hand, predictive instruments cannot be put in place in such a context. Taking into consideration two important hypotheses, this study will seek to identify, propose and debate possible directions for restarting the economy, with a special focus on actions related to human capital. The target of the study will further bring in discussion the potency of socio-economic actions, in the entire new world mindset, considering especially the actions related to Human Capital. The study will consider the Romanian context, but not separated from international / global/European effects.

Overcrowding in emergency department: A comparison between indexes

The overcrowding of the Emergency Department (ED) represents one of the main problems to be faced with the aim to enhance the services offered in emergency situations and their quality. As a consequence, to assist the patients and the professionals involved, the hospital structures must put in place corrective and preventive actions. Overcrowding has a variety of effects, including poor care and longer hospital stays;consequently, mortality rises and so does the average length of hospitalization in intensive care units. A variety of indices have been exploited in the literature to assess the ED congestion. In this work a comparison between the EDWIN Index and the NEDOCS one was made in order to evaluate their effectiveness. © 2021 ACM.

Let's fight the infodemic: the third-person effect process of misinformation during public health emergencies

Purpose: Drawing on the third-person effect (TPE) theory and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a theoretical framework, the current study aims to explore the cognitive mechanisms behind how third-person perception (TPP) of misinformation about public health emergencies affects intention to engage in corrective actions via attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 1,063 participants in China were recruited via a professional survey company (Sojump) to complete an online national survey during the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) in China. Structural equation modeling using Mplus 7.0 was used to address the research hypotheses. Findings: The results reveal that attention to online information about public health emergencies significantly predicted TPP. In addition, TPP positively influenced attitude and perceived behavioral control, which, in turn, positively encouraged individuals to take corrective actions to debunk online misinformation. However, TPP did not significantly influence subjective norms. A potential explanation is provided in the discussion section. Research limitations/implications: The research extends the TPE theory by providing empirical evidence for corrective actions and uncovers the underlying cognitive mechanism behind the TPE by exploring key variables of the TPB as mediating constructs. These are all significant theoretical contributions to the TPE and offer practical contributions to combating online misinformation. Originality/value: The research extends the TPE theory by providing empirical evidence for a novel behavioral outcome (i.e. corrective actions in response to misinformation) and uncovers the cognitive mechanism underlying the TPE by exploring key variables of the TPB as mediating constructs. These are all significant theoretical contributions to the TPE and offer practical contributions to combating online misinformation. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.