Strategies for Developing a Culturally Inclusive Online Learning Environment During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australian Universities: A Case Study

This chapter presents a qualitative case study in Australian universities on the effective strategies for creating a culturally inclusive online learning environment with the use of IT governance. While examining the online learning experiences of the university students, the researchers identified features in synchronous and asynchronous online learning platforms, such as language support and meaningful and structured online activities, are the effective strategies to cater for the learning needs of the linguistically and culturally diverse students and let their voices be heard. The findings of this study are useful for university management, teaching and learning unit, and IT resources auditing and steering committees to utilise IT resources to attain the learning goals of university students and the organisational goals of the universities in maintaining academic excellence and embracing cultural diversity. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Taking on the "new normal”: emerging psychologists' reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeCoronavirus (COVID-19) rapidly became the "new normal” with profound implications for everyone's daily life. In this paper, emerging psychologists from diverse cultural backgrounds discuss four main ways in which COVID-19 impacted diverse psychological populations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper was written as a reflection on how COVID-19 has impacted diverse psychological populations using authors' academic and personal experiences.FindingsFirst, the authors explore inaccessible populations with a focus on domestic violence victims living in rural areas. Second, the authors consider consequences of social isolation with a focus on remote workers. Third, the authors investigate the consequences of public (dis)trust in the pandemic with a focus on migrant worker communities. Finally, the authors discuss pandemic-relevant subcultures with a focus on "anti-vaxxers”.Social implicationsThe paper concludes with a discussion of negative implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on diverse psychological populations, both for the present and the future, and ends with an action plan of possible interventions to overcome these limitations.Originality/valueOverall, the current paper provides a broad overview of how the pandemic has shaped and will continue to shape diverse psychological populations.

Strengthening critical allyship in social work education: opportunities in the context of #BlackLivesMatter and COVID-19

COVID-19 has shifted social work education and widened the gaps in services for historically marginalised communities, including people of diverse cultural, sexual and gender identities and social classes. Existing inequities based on cultural differences have been magnified, perhaps most recently evident in George Floyd's slaying and the subsequent #BlackLivesMatter demonstrations across the globe. Learning to be an ally for diverse communities and working towards the betterment of all people is a goal of social work education. We argue that simple allyship is not enough given the structural inequities present in North America and Australia the civil unrest amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Social work education's focus should trend towards allegiance with disadvantaged communities or critical allyship and include a commitment to undertake decisive actions to redress the entrenched colonial, capitalist, systemic and structural inequities that oppress many and provide unearned privilege and advantage to others. We explore strategies used in classrooms to promote allegiance and make recommendations for social work education, policy, and practice in this time of change.

Games as Mediating Platforms in an Open and Digital World

The complexity of social interactions has been pointed out as challenges in studies on social development, education, cultural diversity, behavior change, and innovation. The COVID-19 pandemics highlighted important issues of our modern society, especially regarding emotional and psychological issues: humans as artificial beings disconnected from the planet, anxious for socialization, mainly through virtual worlds. Stress, anxiety, hopelessness and depression are sources of concern, while pleasure - a fundamental aspect for human life - loses space. We argue that our society needs to recover the pleasure which relies on the learning aspects of life situations as well as to rebuild the way we interact for social or work purposes. In this chapter, we propose as a challenge for the games research community, to face the sophistication that encompasses how to conceptualize, model, design, evaluate, and play games which can turn our actions in the world more playful. We primarily approach games as enablers and agents for work relations, social change and innovation in organizations, with a special look to the Brazilian context. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Can Customers Affect Racial Discrimination in Hiring?

While significant scholarship has documented the prevalence of racial discrimination in hiring, less is known about the forces that exacerbate or mitigate it. In this article, we develop a theoretical argument about the ability of customers to influence racial discrimination in hiring, highlighting the role of direct customer communication and its intersection with online review systems. We deploy a novel method to test our argument. Specifically, we draw on original data from a two-part field experiment that first randomly assigned restaurants to receive one of three different email messages from customers and then audited the restaurants to test for racial discrimination in hiring. While our data collection effort was cut short and disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, making our findings more exploratory than initially anticipated, our data provide evidence that customer communication can reduce racial discrimination under certain conditions. We discuss the implications of these findings for scholarship on organizational decision-making, discrimination, and methodological approaches for studying these topics.

Games as Mediating Platforms in an Open and Digital World

The complexity of social interactions has been pointed out as challenges in studies on social development, education, cultural diversity, behavior change, and innovation. The COVID-19 pandemics highlighted important issues of our modern society, especially regarding emotional and psychological issues: humans as artificial beings disconnected from the planet, anxious for socialization, mainly through virtual worlds. Stress, anxiety, hopelessness and depression are sources of concern, while pleasure - a fundamental aspect for human life - loses space. We argue that our society needs to recover the pleasure which relies on the learning aspects of life situations as well as to rebuild the way we interact for social or work purposes. In this chapter, we propose as a challenge for the games research community, to face the sophistication that encompasses how to conceptualize, model, design, evaluate, and play games which can turn our actions in the world more playful. We primarily approach games as enablers and agents for work relations, social change and innovation in organizations, with a special look to the Brazilian context. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Adapting parent‐focused interventions for diverse caregivers of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Lessons learned during global crises

Parent‐focused interventions have been designed to provide training and support to caregivers who are essential in achieving positive outcomes for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In 2020, significant crises, including the COVID‐19 pandemic and continued racial tensions, profoundly impacted the livelihood of children with IDD and their families. Many ongoing efforts to address disparities among this population were halted temporarily and required further adaptations. Researchers adapted interventions and support to address the disparities impacting children with IDD and their families with limited guidance. We provide a descriptive case analysis of four parent‐focused interventions that responded to the global crises to continue serving children with IDD and their families. The four distinct programs were based on applied behavior analysis and naturalistic, developmental‐behavioral paradigms that were culturally adapted for families of young children with IDD from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. We present the qualitative reports on the challenges and benefits that arose with adapting the four parent‐focused interventions for telehealth implementation. We focused specifically on adaptations made in recruitment and retention, instrumentation and measurement, research staff training, and intervention delivery. We synthesize our experience with challenges and solutions in adapting parent‐focused interventions for racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse children with IDD and their families. We conclude with recommendations for researchers and practitioners on methods for adapting parent‐focused interventions to address the significant health disparities that impact racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse children with IDD and their families.

School counselors' perceived school climate, leadership practice, psychological empowerment, and multicultural competence before and during COVID‐19

Following a population‐based randomized design, we investigated changes of school counselors' psychological empowerment, multicultural competence, and leadership practice, as well as their perception of school climate from before to during COVID‐19. Specifically, school counselors were randomized into two conditions: (a) the pre‐COVID‐19 condition (n = 506) and (b) the current‐COVID‐19 condition (n = 542). Participants in the pre‐COVID condition responded to survey items following a retrospective manner based on their experiences between September 2019 and March 2020. We found that participants in the current COVID‐19 condition scored significantly higher in psychological empowerment and perceived school climate and lower in multicultural competence and leadership practices compared to the participants in the pre‐COVID‐19 condition. Regardless of directionality of changes, results supported the significant impacts that the pandemic had on school counselors' roles related to addressing systemic issues. We discussed implications of the results to school counseling practice and school counselor training.

3. Adolescents' Perceptions of Mental Health around the World: Key Findings from a 13-Country Qualitative Study

Purpose: Adolescence (ages 10-19) is a sensitive developmental period for the emergence of mental and behavioral health problems, but there is a lack of multi-country qualitative studies that explore how adolescents themselves understand these critical challenges. As part of UNICEF's 2021 State of the World's Children Report, the Global Early Adolescent Study collaborated with organizations in 13 countries to hold a series of focus group discussions (FGDs) with adolescents focused on mental health. These FGDs aimed to (1) understand adolescents' perspectives on significant mental health challenges in their age group, (2) understand adolescents' perspectives on the key risk and protective factors driving these challenges, and (3) understand the ways in which adolescents cope with these challenges, including barriers and facilitators to help-seeking. Methods: A total of 71 FGDs were conducted across 13 countries between February and June of 2021. Countries were selected to ensure geographic, economic, and cultural diversity, and included: Belgium, Chile, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Within each country, FGDs were stratified by sex and age such that there were at least two younger (ages 10-14) and two older (ages 15-19) focus groups. Depending on the COVID-19 restrictions at the time, FGDs were either held in-person or online. All FGDs were held in local languages and lasted between 60 and 90 minutes. FGDs were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and translated into English when necessary. These English translations were then coded and analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. Results: Across diverse cross-cultural settings, a number of consistent findings emerged from the voices of adolescents. In particular, adolescents around the world emphasized the many contexts that drive mental health challenges, including family adversity, community violence, unsupportive school environments, poverty, social media culture, and restrictive gender norms. They also discussed significant barriers to seeking help for mental health challenges, such as community stigma, lack of social support, and fears of invalidation. These barriers frequently resulted in adolescents coping with these challenges without support, often using maladaptive strategies. Importantly, adolescents generally described and understood mental health in terms of distress (e.g., sadness, loneliness, shame, anger) rather than disorder (e.g., depression, anxiety). Conclusions: Above all, it was clear that adolescents around the world need much better formal and informal supports to adequately address mental and behavioral health problems, and that these responses must take into account the many contexts that contribute to these problems. Further, the non-clinical terminology frequently used by adolescents suggests that taking a purely diagnostic approach in addressing mental health challenges may exclude many adolescents in need of assistance. Sources of Support: Wellcome Trust.

ON THE CULTURAL AUTHORITY OF SCIENCE IN PANDEMIC TIMES AND THE CULTURAL POST-NORMALITY OF MEXICO

Recent national surveys in Mexico show an in-crease in acceptance of pseudo-scientific beliefs and practices, as well as a negative public perception of the social visibility of scientists. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a post-normal context that allows us to analyse the relevance that Mexican citizens confer upon science and scientists in times of crisis. This paper presents the results of two 2020 studies on public perception of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the role of science in fighting it, done on two very different population groups in Mexico: the rural (mostly indigenous) population and the urban population. We compare the results from these studies with other national studies on public understanding of science conducted before the pandemic. In this comparison, we use the indicators Progress, Reserves, Knowledge and Engage-ment, as recently proposed by Bauer et al., as a way of ana-lysing science's so-called cultural authority. Our study indicates that in this post-normal sociosanitary situation most citizens, as a general rule, show trust in science and recognize its social legitimacy. Finally, in light of some specific results, we ar-gue that the cultural disparities prevalent in Mexico should be considered especially significant in trying to take advantage of science's current social prestige in order to improve the social appropriation of scientific culture in Mexico in general, that is, beyond specific post-normal contexts. © 2022, CSIC Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. All rights reserved.

Social Listening to Enhance Access to Appropriate Pandemic Information Among Culturally Diverse Populations: Case Study From Finland.

Background: Social listening, the process of monitoring and analyzing conversations to inform communication activities, is an essential component of infodemic management. It helps inform context-specific communication strategies that are culturally acceptable and appropriate for various subpopulations. Social listening is based on the notion that target audiences themselves can best define their own information needs and messages. Objective: This study aimed to describe the development of systematic social listening training for crisis communication and community outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic through a series of web-based workshops and to report the experiences of the workshop participants implementing the projects. Methods: A multidisciplinary team of experts developed a series of web-based training sessions for individuals responsible for community outreach or communication among linguistically diverse populations. The participants had no previous training in systematic data collection or monitoring. This training aimed to provide participants with sufficient knowledge and skills to develop a social listening system based on their specific needs and available resources. The workshop design took into consideration the pandemic context and focused on qualitative data collection. Information on the experiences of the participants in the training was gathered based on participant feedback and their assignments and through in-depth interviews with each team. Results: A series of 6 web-based workshops was conducted between May and September 2021. The workshops followed a systematic approach to social listening and included listening to web-based and offline sources; rapid qualitative analysis and synthesis; and developing communication recommendations, messages, and products. Follow-up meetings were organized between the workshops during which participants could share their achievements and challenges. Approximately 67% (4/6) of the participating teams established social listening systems by the end of the training. The teams tailored the knowledge provided during the training to their specific needs. As a result, the social systems developed by the teams had slightly different structures, target audiences, and aims. All resulting social listening systems followed the taught key principles of systematic social listening to collect and analyze data and used these new insights for further development of communication strategies. Conclusions: This paper describes an infodemic management system and workflow based on qualitative inquiry and adapted to local priorities and resources. The implementation of these projects resulted in content development for targeted risk communication, addressing linguistically diverse populations. These systems can be adapted for future epidemics and pandemics.

Reducing Health Inequities Through Telehealth

In March 2020, the United States responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this response of quarantining, social distancing, and other precautions, a need to ensure that access to healthcare occurred. Technology in the form of telemedicine and virtual visits addresses this need. Patients can use telemedicine and virtual healthcare services to improve convenience, improve access, and reduce other healthcare and pharmacy service barriers. The continuation and expansion of telemedicine and virtual visits in the practice of pharmacy provide more equitable access to healthcare and offer solutions to health disparities concerning language barriers and cultural differences, provided practitioners utilize effective communication. Copyright © 2022, Jobson Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.

Increasing Representation of Epidemiologists From Around the World in the Society for Epidemiologic Research: The Case of Mexico.

Mexico has a population of 129 million and is considered one of the most unequal countries in the world, suffering from widespread health disparities. There is a pressing need to strengthen epidemiologic capacity in Mexico, to help solve the complex health problems the country faces and to reduce health inequities. However, the representation of Mexican epidemiologists in the largest epidemiologic society in North America is low, despite the short distance to the United States. In this commentary, we discuss the barriers to higher representation of Mexican epidemiologists within the Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER), including language barriers, costs, and regional necessities. We also discuss opportunities to expand Mexican SER representation and collaboration. Overall, we hope that this is a call towards expanding SER global participation and starting a conversation on a common agenda for epidemiologic research.

How Cultural Diversity Influences Students' Online Learning Engagement with Online Technologies - A Narrative Analysis

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic early in 2020, it had versed the learning mode of offline into online teaching and learning in many parts of the world, while students from different cultural backgrounds may have different perceptions and responses toward online learning. Students' engagement, particularly the emotional dimension is discussed in this study to evaluate different students' perceptions about online learning to represent how culture impact on students' online learning by using Bamberg (1997)'s narrative analysis. 48 interviews were held and 2 interviews of their participants from Macau and Mainland China were particularly picked out to represent how students from different cultural backgrounds are going to position themselves in the discourse of online learning engagement with the involvement of online technologies. Through this study, it was found that students from the high-context cultural learning background (Macau) would hold a more positive attitude with online learning activities compared to students from the low-context learning context, position themselves as relaxed online capabilities. While students from a relatively low-context cultural background (Mainland China) eager to pursue high-efficiency of learning, with a negative attitude towards online learning, position themselves as positive efficiency seekers, underestimate the high-ambiguity and low-efficiency of online learning. Hence, after the rough understanding of students' different perceptions of online learning from different cultural backgrounds, this study further proved the influence of different cultures on learning engagement and provided some implications from different perspectives for pedagogical implementation and instructors to improve online curriculum design. © 2022 ACM.

Multicultural Sensitivity and Related Factors in Nursing Students of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background & Objective: Holistic care is provided by the ability to communicate effectively with patients from different cultures. In this respect, multicultural sensitivity helps communicate effectively with the patient. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the multicultural sensitivity of nursing students and the factors affecting it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional correlation study was conducted on 245 nursing students of the Zanjan University of Medical Sciences in 2021. Data were collected using two questionnaires of demographic information and multicultural sensitivity. The multicultural questionnaire scored multicultural sensitivity on a Likert scale in the range of 1 to 5. Scores ≤ 3 were unfavorable multicultural sensitivities > 3 were desirable cultural sensitivities. Data analysis was performed using an independent t-test, analysis of variance, and logistic regression in the SPSS statistical software. Results: The mean total score of multicultural sensitivity was 3.64 ± 0.48. Also, the mean of multicultural sensitivity based on gender, residence, religion, bilingualism, semester, and field of study did not show a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). The logistic regression model showed that gender and field of study could predict 3 to 6% of changes in multicultural sensitivity. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that the multicultural sensitivity of students is favorable, despite their distance from the university environment. However, it is recommended to conduct training to make them more familiar with the cultural habits and health of Iranian ethnic groups. © The Authors.

PALLIATIVE AND END OF LIFE CARE EXPERIENCES OF PEOPLE OF AFRICAN AND CARIBBEAN DESCENT (PEACE) DURING COVID-19

Background and Aims People of African and Caribbean descent experienced the highest mortality rates during the pandemic, yet often have the poorest access to palliative care. This study aims to identify how palliative care services can better meet the needs of people of African and Caribbean descent, by exploring patients' (by proxy), families' and health, social care and community workers' experiences of end-of-life-care during the pandemic. Methods Bereaved relatives, and professionals were recruited using social media, community networks and direct advertising to over 100 organisations. Semi-structured interviews explored experiences of end-of-life-care using a topic guide, developed with patient and public involvement partners. Participants' suggestions for care improvement were foregrounded throughout. The theoretical framework combined Critical Race Theory and Saurman's model of access. Thematic analysis was used. Results Over 40 participants were recruited. Results indicate that people of African and Caribbean descent are poorly served by current services. Interviewees identified distinct differences between the culture of care, and that of the patent. Participants reported institutional racism. Processes were insensitive to diversity in family and community support structures in different cultures. Themes describing end of life care services included: Unavailable: spiritual support, paid carers, specialist care, visitation and choice Inadequate: advertisement of services, cultural diversity and the appreciation of the importance of extended families Unacceptable: communication surrounding death and bereavement (upstream/proactive early discussions would improve engagement) and mental health and bereavement support. Conclusions People of African and Caribbean descent are often termed a 'hard to reach' group. Yet our study suggests that current configuration mean it is services that are hard to reach. Prioritisation of person-centred, culturally competent spiritual, psychological and social interventions remains an aspiration for palliative care. A focus on cultural sensitivity and communication may be a good start to enhance palliative and end of life care for all.

Factors contributing to the sharing of COVID-19 health information amongst refugee communities in a regional area of Australia: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups worldwide. Newly emerging CALD populations formed by recently arrived refugees are predisposed to even greater health disadvantages due to complexities of the refugee experience. The aim of this study was to explore how culture, refugee experiences and existing relationships shaped what COVID-19 messages were listened to and shared during the early-mid phases of the pandemic. The work focused on three newly emerging refugee groups in the Hunter New England region, Australia: Afghan, Congolese and Syrian communities. METHODS: Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the experiences and stories of 15 adult community members, nine influential members and six service providers. All community members arrived in Australia on or after January 2014. Interpreter-assisted interviews were conducted with small groups or individuals, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim in English. Three levels of thematic data analysis were employed to uncover the important issues and experiences of the participants. RESULTS: Three key themes and several subthemes were identified. The themes were: 1) Experience as a refugee uniquely influences COVID-19 message communication; 2) Refugee groups use diverse practices when accessing and sharing COVID-19 messages; and 3) Official government messages could be improved by listening and tailoring to community needs. CONCLUSIONS: Effective health messaging relies on reaching communities in a culturally acceptable and meaningful way. Official COVID-19 messages can be tailored to engage newly emerging communities by improving the quality of the content, delivery and format whilst working collaboratively with communities and trusted service providers. Further mutual research is needed to understand emerging communities' viewpoints. The use of culturally informed approaches is recommended.