Can Digital Communication Protect Against Depression for Older Adults With Hearing and Vision Impairment During COVID-19?

OBJECTIVES: During social isolation imposed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, older adults with impaired hearing and vision potentially experienced more communication challenges, increasing their risk for poor mental health. Digital communication (e.g., video calls, e-mail/text/social media) may alleviate in-person isolation and protect against depression. We addressed this question using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, a nationally representative panel study of community-dwelling older adults. METHOD: Two thousand five hundred fifty-eight adults aged 55 and older comprised the analytic sample. Interviewer rating at baseline (2015-2016) classified those with vision impairment (VI) or hearing impairment (HI). Olfactory impairment (OI) was measured by objective testing. During COVID-19 (2020-2021), respondents reported how often they contacted nonhousehold family or friends and whether this was by phone, e-mail/text/social media, video, or in-person. They also quantified the frequency of depressive feelings. RESULTS: Older adults with VI or HI but not OI at baseline were significantly less likely to report regular use of video calling and e-mail/text/social media during the pandemic compared to those without impairment. Sensory impairments did not affect the frequency of phone or in-person communication. Adults with VI or HI were more likely to experience frequent depressive feelings during COVID-19. Video calls mitigated this negative effect of VI- and HI-associated depressive feelings in a dose-dependent manner. DISCUSSION: Among communication modalities, video calling had a protective effect against depressive feelings for people with sensory impairment during social isolation. Improving access to and usability of video communication for older adults with sensory impairment could be a strategy to improve their mental health.

Which mediated social interactions satisfy the need to belong?

This investigation uses the two-process model of needs to explore differences between face-To-face communication and interpersonal media in terms of belongingness need satisfaction. Using experience sampling methods, Study 1 (N = 117) explored change in feelings of loneliness and connection from interpersonal media use within a day. Study 2 (N = 1,747) examined the association between loneliness and life satisfaction as mediated by patterns of interpersonal media use in the year following the COVID-19 outbreak. Study 3 (N = 303) experimentally manipulated social belonging to examine changes in interpersonal media use and resulting feelings of connection and disconnection. Overall, when individuals were more connected, their behaviors were more consistent with the two-process model, compared to when they felt disconnected. Additionally, although some interpersonal media use was better than no social contact at all, interpersonal media are not equally capable of satisfying belongingness needs. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of International Communication Association.

Which mediated social interactions satisfy the need to belong?

This investigation uses the two-process model of needs to explore differences between face-to-face communication and interpersonal media in terms of belongingness need satisfaction. Using experience sampling methods, Study 1 (N = 117) explored change in feelings of loneliness and connection from interpersonal media use within a day. Study 2 (N = 1,747) examined the association between loneliness and life satisfaction as mediated by patterns of interpersonal media use in the year following the COVID-19 outbreak. Study 3 (N = 303) experimentally manipulated social belonging to examine changes in interpersonal media use and resulting feelings of connection and disconnection. Overall, when individuals were more connected, their behaviors were more consistent with the two-process model, compared to when they felt disconnected. Additionally, although some interpersonal media use was better than no social contact at all, interpersonal media are not equally capable of satisfying belongingness needs. Lay Summary This study looks at whether face-to-face communication, telephone calls, video calls (like Zoom, FaceTime), texting/DM, email, and social media make people feel more connected to one another and less lonely. The three studies compare each way of communicating at different time periods-within a day, over a year following the pandemic, and at a particularly lonely or connected time of life. The study finds that face-to-face communication makes people feel connected and less lonely. It also finds that voice calls are connecting. Texting and video calls were less beneficial in general;video calls may have been beneficial in the year following the pandemic. Social media and email did not promote connection or decrease loneliness.

Doom and zoom: How the tsunami of distractions from the rapid collision of home and work floods video call interactions

The world flipped to remote work overnight with the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, current literature on the pandemic video call work environment is limited and is mainly trade articles. Previous literature used many terms, with one term per study, to evaluate deliberate behaviors where one engaged in an unrelated task with or without a conversation partner. Therefore, this study identified divided presence as the umbrella term to aggregate these behaviors. At this point, divided presence is defined as one's deliberate behavioral choice to divide one's presence between a live conversation partner and at least one other unrelated task simultaneously. This narrative study examined how 21 pharmaceutical or biotechnology professionals who worked remotely at least two days per week and experienced receiving divided presence from colleagues on work video calls in the COVID-19 remote work environment made sense of this experience. This research used real-life scenarios in video calls with 3 participants per call and a follow-up survey to validate themes. Psychological meaningfulness, safety, and availability served as this study's theoretical framework. Ten themes emerged across the call groupings. Findings suggest that when participants received divided presence, they experienced negative, empathetic, and variable emotional impact. The nature of the colleague relationship and the unrelated task were potential mitigating or compounding factors. Power dynamics had an impact and, repeat engagers in divided presence were detrimental to working relationships. Lastly, poorly organized meetings increased undesirable impact from a participant's receiving and propensity to engage in divided presence. This study's findings validated pre-COVID-19 literature, showed that the theoretical framework still works today, and provided challenges to literature with siloed lenses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

WebRTC-based real-time non-face-to-face visual assistance system design and research for the visually impaired using glasses-type assistive devices

This paper discusses the system for visual assistance assistant non-face-to-face activity assistance services to help blind and blind people with visual information during their daily lives. We would like to provide a limited number of helpers to help more people through non-face-to-face services. In addition, we would like to minimize the mutual anxiety between the blind and the helper in offline face-to-face activities due to pandemics such as COVID-19. The proposed system uses raspberry pie-based optician aids and WebRTC streaming technology to help visually impaired people check videos taken through aids in real time through streaming and translate videos. In addition, by allowing voice calls to be made so that visually impaired people can communicate well in situations where they ask for help, the visually impaired can only receive help at the moment they need it in real time. This is expected to contribute to the efficient use of time and manpower to assist more visually impaired people. As a follow-up study, we would like to study how the function of spectacle-type aids can be added to assist blind people in doing more activities independently.

Ballance - Social media for teenagers

With present social networking it's simple to communicate with anyone who is already know (e.g., Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc...) while other applications like tinder, bumble, etc. allows users to meet new individuals with similar interests but are solely based on dating. Even among children, the use of devices such as mobile phones are becoming more common. Most of the above-mentioned applications are meant for adults for socializing and dating. These applications also struggle with regulating adult content and thus, another red flag for parents allowing kids to maintain any online social life. Most teenagers spend their time playing in their neighborhood, and it may be their sole opportunity to meet new people [1]. During demanding time like COVID-19 it has becomes difficult, especially for teenagers to make new friends to play with. Face-to-face social interactions for adolescents are important and Ballance help towards solving this problem. The app displays all the people in the area, as well as the sport they are interested in. Users can add each other to one's friends list. Video call, chat and get to know each other online. Once users like each other as friends, they can now decide whether to meet or not and thus avoiding unnecessary human contact. A model is trained for adult / NSFW image detection, no user can upload any adult photos on the app and thus assuring all the parents that the app is safe and appropriate for children. © 2022 IEEE.

Operationalizing and Evaluating Synchronous Virtual Group Health Interventions: Wide-Scale Implementation at a Tertiary Care Academic Hospital.

Group-based health interventions are an important component of health promotion and management. To provide continuity of care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our institution undertook a rapid pivot to delivering group-based health interventions via a videoconferencing service which was securely embedded into both the electronic medical record and the patient portal to sustainably address immediate health service delivery needs during the pandemic and beyond. In this paper, we (1) describe the institutionally driven operationalization of a system to provide integrated synchronous video group visits across our hospital and (2) present a proposed strategy to comprehensively evaluate outcomes regarding their implementation, quality, and impact. Lessons for other institutions and the potential future role of synchronous video group visits to enhance how care can be scaled for delivery are discussed.

Videoconference Fatigue: A Conceptual Analysis.

Videoconferencing (VC) is a type of online meeting that allows two or more participants from different locations to engage in live multi-directional audio-visual communication and collaboration (e.g., via screen sharing). The COVID-19 pandemic has induced a boom in both private and professional videoconferencing in the early 2020s that elicited controversial public and academic debates about its pros and cons. One main concern has been the phenomenon of videoconference fatigue. The aim of this conceptual review article is to contribute to the conceptual clarification of VC fatigue. We use the popular and succinct label "Zoom fatigue" interchangeably with the more generic label "videoconference fatigue" and define it as the experience of fatigue during and/or after a videoconference, regardless of the specific VC system used. We followed a structured eight-phase process of conceptual analysis that led to a conceptual model of VC fatigue with four key causal dimensions: (1) personal factors, (2) organizational factors, (3) technological factors, and (4) environmental factors. We present this 4D model describing the respective dimensions with their sub-dimensions based on theories, available evidence, and media coverage. The 4D-model is meant to help researchers advance empirical research on videoconference fatigue.

Mobile Application Based Teli-nutrition System for Covid-19 Pandemic

In Bangladesh, there is a shortage of legitimate nourishment data frameworks that can give fitting sustenance messages dependent on various rules for pregnant ladies and newborn children. Lack of healthy sustenance devastatingly affects people's wellbeing and prosperity and the monetary improvement of nations. Conversely, essential or tertiary health laborers couldn't offer vital assistance to them. With so many people becoming ill from the (COVID-19), poor weight control plans exacerbate pre-existing conditions, putting them at greater risk. Individuals living with chronic illnesses who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 must improve their mental health and count calories to ensure that they remain in good health. Look for direct and psychosocial support from suitably prepared wellbeing care experts, including community-based lay and peer guides. Venturing into nourishment counsel, advancing breastfeeding, and battling deception around COVID-19 transmission will offer assistance to protect the role of nutritious nourishment as a partner against sickness. Any health worker in Bangladesh can easily use this application. Our health laborers regularly neglect to convey legitimate nourishment data to moms. Such an instrument can be helpful in giving a proper method to show particular nourishment messages to mothers dependent on their wellbeing stages and dependent on their baby's age. The design of this application can provide a legitimate office for conveying sustenance messages to mothers and workers. This framework may have to be examined occasionally to meet the progression of client prerequisites and be applied properly. © 2021 IEEE.

Improving Care in Neonatal Intensive Units During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey on Electronic Health Communication.

Background: A novel virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) started spreading through Italy and the world from February 2020, and the pandemic threatened the family-centred care (FCC) model used in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Teleconferences and video calls were employed to keep parents in contact with their babies. This study aimed to evaluate satisfaction and stress levels between parents in the telematic family-centred care group (T-FCC) versus the FCC group and the no Family-Centred Care (N-FCC) group. Methods A prospective cohort pilot study was carried out from April to May 2020. A parental stressor scale and the NICU satisfaction questionnaire were administered to parents at the time of discharge of their newborns. Parents in T-FCC group could see their newborns via video calls, while those in the FCC and N-FCC groups were extracted from our previously published database. Results Parents in the T-FCC group were more satisfied and less stressed than those in the N-FCC group. Experiences of the mothers and fathers in the T-FCC group were similar. However, the FCC group showed the best results. Conclusion The T-FCC group showed satisfaction with the quality of information received about their babies and felt that their privacy was considered and respected by the medical staff. Parents were also less stressed because they could monitor what happens to the baby through a video, however, they could not intervene if there was a problem. Data support the use of video calls to improve insight into clinical conditions and communication between doctors, nurses, and parents during the pandemic.

Implementing a video call visit system in a coronavirus disease 2019 unit.

The lockdown and physical distancing strategies imposed to combat COVID-19 have caused seismic shifts at all levels of society. Hospitals have been particularly affected. Healthcare workers (HCW's) wore PPE during all patient interactions and visitors were prohibited. Life for a patient became lonelier and for those with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) measures were even more severe. HCW's must treat patients following a biopsychosocial approach and promote communication between patients and loved ones. We implemented a low cost Video Call Visit system at Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town. In this article we discuss the elements of a successful implementation and potential pitfalls in the context of a pandemic, notably cross-infection and privacy. Rapid but responsible innovation using 21st century tools was required to address the many challenges of the pandemic, including improving the lived experience for patients and families. These should be intended to last after the pandemic has passed.

Social Isolation and Loneliness of Older Adults in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Can Use of Online Social Media Sites and Video Chats Assist in Mitigating Social Isolation and Loneliness?

The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global burden. Epidemiological data suggest that the severity of COVID-19, in particular its case fatality rate, rises strongly with age. It is possible that neither a vaccine nor an effective treatment will be available for >1 year. Thus, it may be necessary for older adults to protect themselves by avoiding direct social contact and practicing social distancing for a rather long period of time. This may result in loneliness and social isolation because, for example, grandchildren cannot visit their grandparents. In turn, both loneliness and social isolation can have serious deleterious consequences (e.g., in terms of morbidity and mortality). Thus, the question arises: are there ways to mitigate loneliness and social isolation? One way to stay in contact is to use online social media such as Facebook or using video calling software such as Skype. However, there are very few studies examining whether the use of online social media or video chats are associated with loneliness and social isolation in older adults. We sum up some preliminary findings and make a call for further research on the link between online social media use/video chat and loneliness, as well as social isolation, in older adults.