Social Support Expectations of Managers and Employees from Croatia, Thailand, and the United States Amid COVID-19: An Organizational Support Theory Perspective

Social support can help buffer against stressors and build employees' resilience. However, workers of different cultures may vary in their expectation of support. Drawing on organizational support theory (OST), this qualitative study explored the types of support managers and employees (n = 668) from Croatia, Thailand, and the United States expected from each other amid COVID-19. A cluster analysis showed US workers expected more understanding and transparent communication from their supervisors while Thai workers desired stronger leadership and more protective gear. US supervisors expected employees to proactively ask for help while Thai supervisors encouraged their employees to adapt to change. Both Croatian supervisors and employees expected each other to maintain business as usual. Overall, the results resonate with previous OST research that expectations of support vary by cultures and highlight how leaders across countries can enhance the efficacy of social support and promote both supervisors' and subordinates' well-being during future crises.

Imagining Online Exhibition in the Pandemic: A Translational Perspective

The lockdowns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have rendered many people unable or reluctant to go to museums, so online exhibitions with texts in more than one language and with visitor-friendly arrangement are in high demand. Translation functions in online exhibitions to convey one heritage to an audience that belongs to culturally and linguistically different communities. In order to create a satisfactory online visiting experience, the design of webpages, the aesthetics conveyed, the ways artefacts are presented, and the audiovisual devices installed, are obviously more important than ever before. Using the concept of multimodal translation as the theoretical underpinning, this study examines four offline museums in Singapore, London, Hong Kong and Vienna, with the aim of providing insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic can potentially inspire effective visiting experiences online. It reveals how elements of translation are embedded yet largely hidden in offline museum spaces, which are closely related to online ones. Connections are made between physical and online exhibitions, and the relevance and inspiration of the former to the latter is what this chapter attempts to demonstrate, thus this research is more deductive and analytical than empirical. From the perspective of multimodal translation, there is an integration of textual, visual, audio and digital information, as applied to online exhibitions. This perspective affords cross-cultural understanding of how to create a satisfactory online visiting experience. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.

Business English for international working professionals: A virtual training focusing on intercultural communication skills

Without intercultural communication skills, an unbalanced power-dynamic will continue to affect the success of individuals, organizations, and societies in the global market. The COVID-19 crisis has revealed an urgent demand for virtual learning opportunities for working professionals. This instrumental qualitative case study documented the experiences of a group of international working professionals participating in a virtual international business English training. Drawing on intercultural communicative competence and experiential e-learning models, the study documented innovative practices designing and implementing the training, the experiences of the working professionals who participated in the training, and how the training enhanced the working professionals' intercultural communication skills. Data collected included online questionnaires, artifacts, videoconference interviews, and the research journal. Data analysis for the study followed Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis process. As a result, dissertation findings identified innovative practices for designing and implementing a virtual international business English training program for working professionals centering attention on intercultural communication. The study bridged the gap between existing knowledge and instructional practices in teaching English to speakers of other languages. Incorporating experiential learning was a novel insight into improving the theoretical models utilized in the study. Learner confidence as an important factor in improving language and intercultural communication was another notable finding. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Development of 21st century skills through virtual exchange

This study investigates what skills university teacher candidates from the United States developed from their participation in a virtual exchange with Turkey that aided in their ability to cope with a critical situation such as the COVID-19 epidemic. To trace the impact of the crisis on teacher candidates' perceptions as well as the evidence of development of these skills, the qualitative data, reflection questionnaires and video recordings, of interactions were analyzed. The findings include commentary on virtual collaboration, virtual interaction, social impact, and social responsibility that occurred during the six-week exchange. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Addressing racial/ethnic inequities in vaccine hesitancy and uptake: lessons learned from the California alliance against COVID-19.

Lack of trust in biomedical research, government, and health care systems, especially among racial/ethnic minorities and under-resourced communities, is a longstanding issue rooted in social injustice. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted existing health and socioeconomic inequities and increased the urgency for solutions to provide access to timely, culturally, and linguistically appropriate evidence-based information about COVID-19; and ultimately to promote vaccine uptake. California's statewide alliance STOP COVID-19 CA (comprising eleven sites), leverages long standing community partnerships to better understand concerns, misinformation, and address racial/ethnic inequities in vaccine hesitancy and uptake. Using data from the California CEAL Communication Working Group, we demonstrate the wide range of strategies, communication methods, languages, and trusted messengers that have been effective in reaching diverse communities across the state. We also showcase challenges and lessons learned, such as the importance of including trusted community partners to share information or provide vaccines. These approaches, rooted in community engagement, are crucial for addressing inequities and responding to future public health emergencies.

Relatives' perspectives on encounters and communication in nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative interview study.

BACKGROUND: Relatives of nursing home (NH) residents have experienced national or local restrictions on visiting their elderly family member during the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, many NHs have a multicultural environment, as staff, residents and their relatives speak different languages. Thus far, studies of remote communication with staff with limited language skills during the Covid-19 pandemic are lacking. AIM: The aim of the present study was to explore relatives' experiences of encounters and communication with staff and residents in NHs during the Covid-19 pandemic. METHOD: An explorative qualitative study using semi-structured telephone interviews with 17 relatives of NH residents (12 women and 5 men). Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis to identify four main categories and nine sub-categories. RESULTS: Communicating during visiting restrictions was challenging, and relatives experienced ups and downs when trying to stay in contact with NH residents and staff. Relatives received general information, but desired information about residents' everyday life without having to ask for it. Moreover, remote communication was difficult for residents with hearing impairment or dementia. Even relatives who understood different languages had to develop strategies to communicate with staff with limited language skills in Swedish and English. Relatives did not mention using translating applications to facilitate communication. CONCLUSION: During visiting restrictions, relatives lacked information about residents' everyday life and found communication with staff with limited language skills challenging. For this reason, and to enable communication with staff with limited language skills, there is a need to find practical and technical solutions for facilitating remote communication between relatives, residents and staff at NHs.

Attitudes Toward Euthanasia: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Role of Economic, Cultural, and Health-Related Factors.

CONTEXT: It is crucial that physicians understand differing attitudes toward euthanasia and which factors to consider when discussing end-of-life decisions with patients and families from diverse backgrounds. OBJECTIVES: To investigate how attitudes toward euthanasia differ among countries, how they change, and how economic, religious, and health-related factors affect these attitudes. METHODS: We analyzed attitudes toward euthanasia and economic, religious, and health-related indicators using longitudinal (1981-2018) World Values Survey (WVS) data. They included 62 countries with at least a 15-year, three-wave, time series (total n = 389,243 participants). Each national survey interviewed representative samples of adults (mean = 1405). RESULTS: In the latest wave, The Netherlands had the most favorable views of euthanasia (10-point scale with 1 = least justifiable: mean = 7.47) and Jordan the least (mean = 1.50). Residents of 23 of 24 high-income countries came to view euthanasia as more justifiable, while residents of 12 of 38 middle- and low-income countries came to view it as less justifiable over time. The higher GDP per-capita at the time of survey, the more euthanasia was accepted (r = 0.703; P< 0.0001); the more important respondents viewed religion as being, the less euthanasia was accepted (r = -0.834; P< 0.0001); the higher life expectancy and the lower infant mortality were, the more euthanasia was accepted (r = 0.669; P< 0.0001/r = -0.716; P< 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Euthanasia-related attitudes differ widely depending on the cultural context; changes over time varied in both directions; euthanasia-related attitudes were associated with economic, religious and health-related factors. With globalization increasing cultural diversity, these findings can inform physicians' communication about end-of-life decisions with patients and families from diverse backgrounds.