Mapping the riskscape of using privately-owned short-term lets for specialist family violence crisis accommodation

COVID-19 has generated many problems and some opportunities in the housing market. The potential role of privately-owned short-term lets meeting specialist family violence crisis accommodation demand is one such opportunity. This paper engages with an important and increasing practice in the Australian context, of the utilisation of private housing stock as a component part of a public housing crisis response system, in this case explored in relation to domestic and family violence. In seeking to gain insights into the feasibility of this practice, this article will first frame mixed public/private accommodation provision as potentially overlapping relations between a thin territory of insufficient crisis infrastructure and a thick territory of commodified short-term let infrastructure. Second, this paper situates the potential of this intersection of mixed private/public responses in terms of riskscapes by unpacking how risk is perceived within these contested territories. The findings highlight tensions between both real and perceived understandings of safety, housing, wellbeing, economic and political risks. While there was some support for utilising short-term lets for crisis accommodation, barriers were revealed to adding thickness to the crisis accommodation space. Given increasing homelessness in Australia, diversifying crisis models could offer increased violence-prevention infrastructure to support women.

Influence of Revitalization on the Social and Economic Well-Being of Residents: Case Study of Lithuania

The lack of public spaces, recreational areas, and sports facilities in older city neighborhoods, as well as the importance of people's social and economic well-being, have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Revitalization is used to update the physical environment of old neighborhoods;it improves not only the physical environment of the neighborhood, but also contributes to ensuring the social and economic well-being of the residents. The article aims to identify which typical revitalization project solutions, only referring to physical environmental improvement projects, improve the social and economic well-being of the residents. To achieve this goal, a statistical analysis of the Žirmūnai triangle residents was performed with obtained survey data. The hypothesized connections between typical revitalization solutions and changes in the social and economic well-being of the population were verified using Pearson's Chi-Square test. The results showed that the public spaces, sports, and playgrounds provided by revitalization were directly related to the social and economic well-being of the residents. As a result of this typical revitalization solution, 17% of the residents experienced an improvement in their economic well-being, 17% of the residents got to know their neighbors, and 95% of the residents indicated that they enjoy living in the neighborhood.

Economic and Psychological Well-being in Pandemic Times

-The pervasive role of the COVID-19 pandemic in the economy and subjective well-being is the focus of this research study. There is extensive evidence suggesting a relationship between psychological well-being and income. In this study, we make use of data collected during the pandemic in the fall of 2021 from a cross-sectional online survey of Albanian adults living and working in the country. This study examines the association between average income level, age, civil status, and level of education with psychological well-being during the pandemic. We examined the data through descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests. We synthesize a wide range of information from the literature on well-being and economy and use the Wellbeing Index as a standardized scale. According to the study's findings, income level is relatively related to happiness. The general well-being of the population under investigation is below average. Young and single people have a higher quality of life. In conclusion, economic and social variables are essential and related to psychological well-being. © 2023, World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society. All rights reserved.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on burden of dog bite cases at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Kashmir

Background: Dog bite is a public health problem in Kashmir incurring huge cost of treatment. Objective(s): To see the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the burden of dog bite cases and the profile of patients, comparing with that of the years before the three peak waves of COVID-19 and after that at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital. Methodology: This is a retrospective record review of the dog bite cases in the year 2018 to 2022 in Anti Rabies Clinic, SMHS Hospital Srinagar. The target population of the study were people living in Srinagar city. Proportion of dog bite according to demographic and clinical variables were calculated. Univariate and multivariate analysis were done to look for risk factors responsible for dog bite in COVID infection waves compared to pre and post pandemic times. Results and Conclusion(s): The dog bite cases in the prepandemic time period and during the three waves of COVID 19 infection were recorded at 3.3% and 2.4% respectively. There was male predominance and highest incidence of the dog bite was in age group of 20-59 years. The commonest site of bite were lower limbs and stray dog bites were highest risk exposure. Less dog bite cases reported in 2020, 2021 which may be due to the impact of pandemic. Majority of the cases were stray dog bites and high incidence of dog bites can be a major concern for health, social and economic wellbeing of the nation which needs urgent intervention.

Potential mechanisms by which cash transfer programmes could improve the mental health and life chances of young people: A conceptual framework and lines of enquiry for research and policy

Mental health is inextricably linked to both poverty and future life chances such as education, skills, labour market attachment and social function. Poverty can lead to poorer mental health, which reduces opportunities and increases the risk of lifetime poverty. Cash transfer programmes are one of the most common strategies to reduce poverty and now reach substantial proportions of populations living in low- and middle-income countries. Because of their rapid expansion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have recently gained even more importance. Recently, there have been suggestions that these cash transfers might improve youth mental health, disrupting the cycle of disadvantage at a critical period of life. Here, we present a conceptual framework describing potential mechanisms by which cash transfer programmes could improve the mental health and life chances of young people. Furthermore, we explore how theories from behavioural economics and cognitive psychology could be used to more specifically target these mechanisms and optimise the impact of cash transfers on youth mental health and life chances. Based on this, we identify several lines of enquiry and action for future research and policy.Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press.

COVID-19 Booster Vaccine: is it an absolute need?

Booster vaccine doses are meant to revive the fading immunity created by prior exposure to an immunizing antigen. They stabilize the antibody response ultimately leading to longer and higher protection against pathogens. Immunological studies done for COVID-19 vaccines have documented a steady decrease in antibody levels among vaccinated individuals and evidence of breakthrough infections over a course of time. With an emerging science behind the need for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, there equally is a contrasting idea regarding its absolute necessity. Copyright © 2021, Kathmandu University. All rights reserved.

For better or worse: Economic strain, furlough, and relationship quality during the Covid‐19 lockdown

Objective Background Method Results Conclusion and Implications This study evaluates the role of objective and subjective measures of economic uncertainty, as well as furlough schemes, on changes in couples' relationships during the first lockdown in the UK.Most theories of relationship quality argue that economic uncertainty strains intimate relationships, leading to a deterioration in relationship quality. Few studies capture such an intense period of economic uncertainty, and the role of government policy to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis.The study employs the UK Household Longitudinal Covid‐19 surveys conducted in April–June 2020. Using multinomial logit regression models (N = 5792), we examine how self‐reported change in relationship quality is associated with socioeconomic status, subjective financial uncertainty, and change in employment situation, especially for those furloughed through the UK government's Employment Protection Scheme.The study finds that 8% of individuals reported a decline in their couple relationship quality, but 19% reported improvements. Those with higher education and household earnings were more likely to experience improvements in relationship quality. Reduced work hours or job loss was not associated with changes in relationship, although expecting a worse future financial situation was. Furlough was strongly associated with improvements in relationships, and furloughed men were slightly more likely to report an improvement in their relationships than women.Although prior research has found that economic uncertainty is detrimental to relationships, employment protection schemes seem to have mitigated some of the worst effects on families. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Single-Parent Families and Public Policy in High-Income Countries: Introduction to the Volume

For the last 100 years, single-parent families in the United States have captured the attention of policy-makers, political actors, and social reformers. Although the national discourse has shifted over time, one theme has been constant: the absence of the second parent, nearly always the father, places single-parent families at risk of economic insecurity and material hardship. Before the Second World War, it was widely assumed that mothers did not, and should not, work outside the home. Thus, the absent father implied the loss of the main or only family breadwinner, leaving the single mother and her children deserving of various forms of support, including the public provision of income. In subsequent years, a crucial change unfolded: single mothers were increasingly expected, and eventually pushed, into paid work. Their status as deserving of publicly provided supports diminished over time. Nevertheless, it remained understood, and it still does today, that a single breadwinner's earnings are often not sufficient to secure a family's economic well-being, especially when that single breadwinner is a woman.Indeed, in the United States, it is well documented that single-parent families are much more likely to be poor than are families headed by couples;likewise, single-parent families headed by women are at greater risk of poverty than those headed by men. Today, about one in three single-mother families in the United States lives in income poverty (Wimer et al. 2021);and for many of these families, income poverty is compounded by food insecurity (Sheely 2022) and precarious housing (Edin and Shaefer 2015;Desmond 2016). Recently, it has been documented that single-parent families have been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to both unexpected earnings losses and heightened demands on parents' time.The difficulties faced by many single-parent families raise a multitude of concerns, perhaps none more salient or more compelling than child poverty. While poverty is evident throughout the lifecycle—affecting children, prime-age adults, and the elderly—poverty among children has particular resonance. Child poverty captures our collective attention for several reasons: it is widely held that children need and deserve protection from hardship, most children have no control over their economic circumstances, deprivation during childhood can have lifelong consequences, and some of the effects of child poverty have spillover effects. Child poverty in rich countries is especially compelling, because it is rooted not so much in scarce aggregate resources but mainly in distributional arrangements, both private and public.

COVID-19 related life changes for family caregivers of persons with Lewy body disease

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected individuals' physical and mental health. Protective measures such as closures, social-distancing, masking, and isolation resulted in increased feelings of loneliness and isolation. This study aimed to investigate life changes associated with COVID-19 for family caregivers of persons with Lewy body disease (LBD). Method(s): Data were analyzed from an existing LBD caregiver needs and concerns study that took place between January 2021 and February 2021. A mixed methods approach was used to describe how 20 caregivers' lives changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Items from the Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale (BCOS) were adapted for COVID-19 and rated on a response scale ranging from 1 = changed for the worst to 7 = changed for the best, with 4 = did not change. Qualitative data were collected as participants expanded upon their responses to the scale items. Result(s): Caregivers experienced both positive and negative life changes as a result of COVID-19. On average, positive changes included increased use of the internet to order items (Mean = 4.35), videoconferencing to connect with others (Mean = 4.55), and improved financial well-being (Mean = 4.35). Negative changes included reduced social (Mean = 1.7) and family (Mean = 2.05) activities and decreased ability to cope with stress (Mean = 2.60). Most responses ranged from 1 to 4, with some items having wider ranges from 1 to 7 showing that individual caregivers were impacted differently by the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative comments were consistent with quantitative responses. Some caregivers expressed concerns that limited family and social contact contributed to a more rapid decline in the person with LBD. Caregiver health and well-being were negatively affected as well, with caregivers noting decreased level of energy and worsened physical health. Conclusion(s): Family caregivers of persons with LBD experienced both positive and negative life changes as a result of COVID-19. Responses indicated that caregivers were affected in a variety of ways and an individualized approach is recommended in dealing with caregiver life changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Copyright © 2022 the Alzheimer's Association.

COVID-19 Booster Vaccine: is it an absolute need?

Booster vaccine doses are meant to revive the fading immunity created by prior exposure to an immunizing antigen. They stabilize the antibody response ultimately leading to longer and higher protection against pathogens. Immunological studies done for COVID-19 vaccines have documented a steady decrease in antibody levels among vaccinated individuals and evidence of breakthrough infections over a course of time. With an emerging science behind the need for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, there equally is a contrasting idea regarding its absolute necessity. Copyright © 2021, Kathmandu University. All rights reserved.

Effective Policies for Single-Parent Families and Prospects for Policy Reforms in the United States: Concluding Reflections

This conclusion engages two questions catalyzed by the articles in this volume. First, which policies are effective in reducing economic hardship among single-parent families overall and minimizing disparities across subgroups? Second, what are the prospects for related reforms in the United States? We draw four lessons from the articles in this volume and from prior research about effective policy design: (1) work-family reconciliation policies are crucial;(2) strengthening and stabilizing employment is necessary, but not sufficient;(3) it is important to support the accumulation of wealth in addition to shoring up income;and (4) policies can be designed to include and protect those single parents and their children who are especially at risk. Turning to the feasibility of policy change in the United States, we conclude that some factors—especially policy elements that encourage self-reliance, shifting public opinion, the COVID-19 crisis, and federalism itself—may enhance opportunities for policy development in support of single parents.

Traditional Knowledge of Marine Resources and Their Relations to the Coastal Community's Economic Well-Being in Peninsular Malaysia

This study was conducted to analyse the practice of associated use of traditional knowledge (TK) on marine resources as new sources of wealth to enhance the economic well-being of the coastal communities. This study employed a qualitative research approach with a total of 117 respondents in Peninsular Malaysia. Convenience and purposive sampling methods were used to identify potential respondents and thematic analysis for the data analysis. The data was gathered through telephone interviews during the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study reveal that the associated use of traditional knowledge on marine resources does play an essential role in the economic well-being of coastal communities. This was assessed through the perspective of living standards and livelihood improvement. The potential of TK based on marine resources illustrates the opportunity for this practice to become a valuable economic resource and create employment opportunities among coastal communities to generate a sustainable source of income. This study can also change modern society's perception of the importance and benefits of TK based on marine resources. The implications of this study can be viewed from the theory, practice, and policy. Future studies could be expanded to the Borneo region of Malaysia to gather different perspectives, and a quantitative approach could be used to gather more extensive opinions. © 2022 WITPress. All rights reserved.

Predicting politicians’ misconduct: Evidence from Colombia

Corruption has pervasive effects on economic development and the well-being of the population. Despite being crucial and necessary, fighting corruption is not an easy task because it is a difficult phenomenon to measure and detect. However, recent advances in the field of artificial intelligence may help in this quest. In this article, we propose the use of machine-learning models to predict municipality-level corruption in a developing country. Using data from disciplinary prosecutions conducted by an anti-corruption agency in Colombia, we trained four canonical models (Random Forests, Gradient Boosting Machine, Lasso, and Neural Networks), and ensemble their predictions, to predict whether or not a mayor will commit acts of corruption. Our models achieve acceptable levels of performance, based on metrics such as the precision and the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve, demonstrating that these tools are useful in predicting where misbehavior is most likely to occur. Moreover, our feature-importance analysis shows us which groups of variables are most important in predicting corruption.

Conducting mobile phone interviews with women in Tanzania: lessons from the MAISHA COVID-19 IPV study

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions of people worldwide. This made it difficult for face-to-face data collection in ongoing research studies. Hence, innovative data collection methods are critical to avoid interruptions in critical research studies with vulnerable population to inform interventions and policy. The study was nested in the MAISHA cohort, a four-wave longitudinal study of 445 women on intimate partner violence in Mwanza, Tanzania. Objective(s): To explore the impact of COVID-19 on women's physical, psychological, and economic well-being. We also investigated their experiences of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Method(s): We conducted 18 phone based in-depth interviews with purposively sampled women. The interviews were audio-recorded and transferred to computers for analysis. In addition, we conducted longitudinal phone-based interviews with 445 women using a structured questionnaire. 443 (97%) of the women were re-interviewed after 3 months. Result(s): Participants reported no different experience of being interviewed by phone compared with face-to-face interviews. They were free to report sensitive information including their experience of COVID-19, IPV, and relationships with their intimate partners. The phone interview methodology was considered more private and time efficient. Interview lasted for 30-40 minutes. The method has additional advantages as it is reduces research costs from travel and ensures safety of both researchers and study participants. Challenges included audibility, unstable network, and unreachable phones. Conclusion(s): It is feasible to conduct mixed methods phone interviews in the Tanzanian setting. Researchers should explore using this method frequently to conduct longitudinal studies in the country. Training of research teams is crucial for the successful use of such methods.

Factors associated with increased financial toxicity after the completion of radiation treatment for gynecologic cancer (512)

Objectives: Financial toxicity (FT) impacts approximately 50% of patients with gynecologic malignancies. Still, little is known about factors that predispose patients receiving radiation therapy to financial distress or what impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on their financial well-being. We evaluated FT in patients with gynecologic cancer treated with radiation before and after the start of the COVID- 19 pandemic. Methods: Patients from an urban, academic gynecologic radiation oncology practice completed a survey one month after completing radiation from August 2019-March 2020 and November 2020-June 2021. The survey included demographic questions, the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST) tool, and the EQ-5D to measure the quality of life (QOL). Pandemic-related questions were added during the second survey period (pandemic cohort). As with our prior work, high FT was defined as a COST score of ≤23. We assessed the correlation of COST scores with QOL. We used logbinomial regression to examine associations between FT and costcoping strategies, adjusting for age and insurance. Results: Of 97 respondents (92% response rate), 49% completed the survey before, and 51% completed it after the pandemic started. Among the participants, 76% identified as White, 11% as Black, and 8% as Asian. Most patients had uterine (64%), followed by cervical (24%) and vaginal (6%) cancer. Two-thirds (60%) received external beam radiation with or without brachytherapy;the remaining 40% had brachytherapy alone. The median COST score was 15 (IQR: 7-19) in the high FT group (n=27) and 33 (IQR: 28-36) in the low FT group (n=70). High FT correlated with worse QOL (r=-0.37, p<0.01) and was associated with younger age and type of insurance (both p <0.03). Patients with high FT were more likely to move from full- to parttime employment (22% vs 1%, p<0.01), six (95% CI: 1.0-36) times more likely to delay/avoid medical care, 14 (95% CI: 3-64) times more likely to borrow money, and seven (95% CI: 2-27) times as likely to reduce spending on basic goods. Patients with high FT were more likely to report that decreased ability to work (48% vs 13%), medical bills (41% vs 13%), and transportation or parking (15% vs 3%) mostly contributed to their financial stress (p<0.05 for all). The pandemic cohort had fewer patients with high FT than the pre-pandemic cohort (20% vs 35%, p=0.10) and a higher median COST score (32 [IQR: 25-35] vs 27 [IQR: 19-34], p=0.07). The use of cost-coping strategies did not differ between cohorts. Conclusions: Privately insured, younger patients who received radiation for gynecologic cancer were at risk for FT. High FT correlated with worse QOL and was associated with delays or avoidance of medical care and other cost-coping strategies. The prevalence of high FT was not statistically different before and during the pandemic, though we observed less FT in the pandemic cohort. More work is needed regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial well-being of patients with cancer.

Do governance capacity and legitimacy affect citizens' satisfaction with COVID-19 management? Some evidence from South Asia

Purpose>Theoretically, both democ/ratic legitimacy and government capacity are necessary for successful crisis management, like the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors argue that there are important variations for pandemic management in the developed and democratic world. However, are these equally needed in the developing world where democracy and capacity are present in varying degrees and in some countries with a vast deficit? This article analyzes how legitimacy and capacity affect citizens' satisfaction with the pandemic management in South Asia.Design/methodology/approach>The study is based on a survey of 3,423 randomly selected respondents from Facebook users in South Asia. The survey data are presented and discussed along with information derived from secondary sources to put the data in the broader context of the South Asian countries. The authors apply ordinary linear regression for statistical analysis.Findings>The findings suggest that citizens are content with the performance of government institutions in COVID-19 management. They emphasize material well-being, such as relief provisions and financial incentives during the crisis period. They are, however, less concerned about the legitimacy dimension, although democracy in South Asia is flawed with excessive restrictions on public freedom during the pandemic. The contradictory findings may be due to the public orientation towards authoritarian culture and their preference for strongman rule in crisis management.Practical implications>The governments in South Asia may systematically use army and police forces to manage crises as people are more satisfied with their performance during COVID-19 management.Originality/value>This is the first time data across South Asia have been collected and analyzed about crisis management.

Covid-19 and Spousal Violence against Women in Pakistan: A Web based Cross Sectional Study on Financial Anxieties and Rising Levels of Intimate Partner Violence during the Pandemic

Objectives: Spousal violence against women has emerged as a ‘Shadow Pandemic’ during these times (Covid-19).This study was designed to investigate the interplay of socio-demographic factors and economic distress with spousal violence during the lockdown in Pakistan. Methods: A web based cross-sectional study was carried out to test the assumptions. 200 participants (100 women and 100 men) were selected through snowball sampling technique. A questionnaire containing demographic information, a composite abuse scale, and financial stress scale were adapted. Data was collected through Google Forms. Results: The results of Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis revealed a significant positive relationship among partner violence against women, financial anxiety (r=.60, p<0.001), job insecurity (r=.48, p<0.001), and preserving of financial wellbeing (r=.32, p<0.001). Hierarchal Regression analysis revealed that financial anxiety and efforts to maintain financial wellbeing to be positive predictors of partner violence against women. The results of the study revealed maintaining financial wellbeing to be a significant positive mediator between partner violence and financial anxiety;whereas, life satisfaction was found to be a non-significant mediator. Conclusion: The findings of the study conclude that financial anxiety and assuring financial wellbeing tend to increase partner violence during pandemics and beyond.

LETTER TO THE READERS

Latin America, thanks to a strong culture of vaccination created in the last century, has been able to start, belatedly, a successful campaign of vaccine application, mobilizing the social right to health.8 In addition to the lack of access to vaccines and the delays in the vaccination process, poor countries have felt the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially the people whose access to rights is more restricted: women and girls, migrants and the black and indigenous population, among others. The authors highlight the creation of a Working Group on Covid-19 and the efforts of the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council to urge governments to urgently follow the recommendations and take concrete measures to mitigate the pandemic's impacts on the migrant population. Yara Pinho de Lima, an indigenous woman from the Macuxi people (Brazil) and one of the four authors who received grants for this edition, reports on the experience of the indigenous peoples of the Boca da Mata village (state of Roraima) during the pandemic. By incorporating a differential approach that takes race into account and a methodology that speaks directly to the specificities of the territory, the project was able to bring improvements to the communities' material well-being and consolidate their existing capacity by generating processes that enable them to adapt and respond to similar situations in the future.

Association between economic wellbeing and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and remoteness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to explore the association between economic wellbeing and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and remoteness during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study via SurveyMonkey was conducted in Australia between August 2020 and October 2020. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: A total of 1211 individuals responded to the survey. Income loss was significantly associated with those from low socioeconomic status (OR = 1.65; 95% CI 1.01-2.68). Access of superannuation was significantly associated with those in outer regional (OR = 3.61; 95% CI 0.81-16.03) and low socioeconomic status (OR = 2.72; 95% CI 1.34-5.53). Financial inability to pay for services was significantly associated with living in remote areas (OR = 2.26; 95% CI 0.88-5.80). CONCLUSIONS: The economic wellbeing of people who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, live in regional or remote areas, and reside in low socioeconomic areas have been substantially impacted during the pandemic. Findings call for policies to address the underlying social determinants of health.

Stakeholder perceptions of the impacts of aviation subsidies in the South Pacific Region

This study examines the impacts of aviation subsidy programmes in the South Pacific Region (SPR). Interviews and thematic analysis were conducted to understand the perspectives of key stakeholders of aviation subsidies in the SPR. It was found that SPR countries are heavily reliant on aviation subsidies for the development and sustainability of their aviation industries. Aviation subsidy programmes are nevertheless subject to political influence and misuse. It is well recognised that aviation subsidy programmes in the SPR facilitate airfare affordability, flight accessibility and service sustainability. They may also positively impact tourism development, social wellbeing and economic wellbeing in SPR countries, but adversely impact the region's environmental wellbeing. Our findings suggest that formal aviation subsidy frameworks (i.e. customized, environmentally friendly) should be established for SPR countries, possibly in a similar vein to those used in developed markets. Generally, the adverse impacts of COVID-19 on aviation, tourism and economic development in the SPR call for a collective, regional and cross-sectional approach to help SPR countries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.