Virtual Engagement of Families in the Intensive Care Unit During COVID-19: A Descriptive Survey of Family Members of Patients and Health Care Workers.

Introduction: Traditional face-to-face family member visits in the intensive care unit (ICU) are challenged during the coronavirus disease pandemic with time-critical visiting of the ICU patient being impossible. Objective: This study aimed to explore reported experiences and satisfaction surrounding the use of technology for virtual visits and virtual family meetings in the ICU setting. Two groups were surveyed: (1) family members of critically ill patients in the ICU and (2) health care workers caring for these patients. Design: The study, conducted in the 36-bed ICU of a speciality metropolitan acute care facility in Australia, used a pragmatic post-test survey design. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results: Of health care worker subjects, 106 completed the survey and the majority of communication episodes favored virtual visits (79.2%, n = 84). Of family member subjects, 69 completed the survey, with the majority participating in virtual family meetings (40.6%, n = 28). Both groups indicated satisfaction with virtual communication. Conclusions: We found virtual communication was positively received.

Research on the Application of Virtual Reality Technology in IELTS Teaching Under the COVID-19

As a cutting-edge information technology, virtual reality technology has good senses of multi-perception, immersion, interaction and imagination. It has been widely used in the fields of education, architecture, aerospace and so on. Now in the process of IELTS teaching, VR technology brings students a new learning experience and is a powerful helper to improve students' foreign language application ability and communication ability. The COVID-19 is rampant, and the teaching mode has changed accordingly. How to innovate the IELTS English teaching mode with the help of virtual technology is the focus of this topic. Based on the analysis of the research background of IELTS teaching, this paper explores the application of VR technology, constructs a three-level open IELTS English teaching system, investigates students' acceptance and feedback on the system, reflects on the current situation of IELTS English teaching, puts forward the future prospect, and provides enlightenment for IELTS English Teaching Innovation and the cultivation of high-quality international talents. © 2022 IEEE.

Confronting a post-pandemic new-normal-threats and opportunities to trust-based relationships in natural resource science and management.

Natural resource governance is inherently complex owing to the socio-ecological systems in which it is embedded. Working arrangements have been fundamentally transformed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with potential negative impacts on trust-based social networks foundational to resource management and transboundary governance. To inform development of a post-pandemic new-normal in resource management, we examined trust relationships using the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America as a case study. 82.9% (n = 97/117) of Great Lakes fishery managers and scientists surveyed indicated that virtual engagement was effective for maintaining well-established relationships during the pandemic; however, 76.7% (n = 89/116) of respondents indicated in-person engagement to be more effective than virtual engagement for building and maintaining trust. Despite some shortcomings, virtual or remote engagement presents opportunities, such as: (1) care and nurturing of well-established long-term relationships; (2) short-term (1-3 years) trust maintenance; (3) peer-peer or mentor-mentee coordination; (4) supplemental communications; (5) producer-push knowledge dissemination; and, if done thoughtfully, (6) enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Without change, pre-pandemic trust-based relationships foundational to cooperative, multinational, resource management are under threat.

Immersive Virtual Walking System Using an Avatar Robot

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has enforced governments across the world to impose social restrictions on the movement of people and confined them to their homes to avoid the spread of the disease. This not only forbids them from leaving their homes but also greatly reduces their physical activities. This situation has brought attention to virtual technologies such as virtual tours or telepresence robots. While these technologies allow people to remotely participate in activities, it does not address the problem of reduction in physical activities due to the pandemic. In this paper, we propose a telepresence robotic system driven by the user's gait to provide an immersive virtual walking experience in remote locations. To this end, we developed a control interface consisting of an automated treadmill that adjusts its speed to the user's pace automatically. This interface is used to control an avatar robot that sends a 360-degree live image back to the user for visual feedback. We conducted an evaluation experiment to compare the experience using the proposed system in two different conditions to that of regular walking. The results indicated that the proposed system gives an immersive and realistic virtual walking experience while demanding physical effort from the user. © 2022 IEEE.

Virtual Technology's Critical Role in Sustaining Coordinated Specialty Care in Texas During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: This report examined challenges and adaptations to sustaining multidisciplinary team-based coordinated specialty care (CSC) for early-onset psychosis during the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas. METHODS: In June 2020, team leaders from 23 Texas CSC sites participated in semistructured phone interviews about CSC implementation barriers and adaptations. Transcripts were analyzed with thematic analysis. RESULTS: CSC implementation barriers included difficulty delivering critical CSC components (i.e., community education and vocational exploration) and client recruitment limitations. Virtual technology integration (i.e., texting and videoconferencing) largely sustained CSC outreach, service delivery, and client engagement. However, sites faced virtual competency and accessibility issues, exhaustion from virtual technology use, lack of structural support, and unanticipated disengagement. CONCLUSIONS: The surveyed sites rapidly integrated virtual technology into CSC delivery. This integration promoted CSC engagement during the pandemic, especially in rural areas, and increased insight into what resources and policies are needed to sustain virtual technology use among community mental health providers.

Do we need more technology?: Chinese teachers' experiences and opinions on technology usages in distance education

During the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of Chinese teachers went on teaching online. What are their thoughts and experiences after teaching online? What is the implication for implementing online teaching worldwide? This study explored 42 Chinese middle school and high school teachers' online teaching experience during the Covid-19 outbreak. The result shows a conflict between Chinese teachers' needs for educational technology and the available technology. On the one hand, teachers expressed the need to effectively "manage students"during online teaching and to communicate with students emotionally. The simple 3G network and "one-size fit all"software and apps are ineffective for their instruction. On the other hand, while more updated technology like 5G network and virtual reality might provide answers for the teachers, those technology is not available to the teachers. Such results have implications for future technology development, such as 5G technology and virtual reality that can effectively facilitate instant and emotional communications for future online teaching. After the online teaching experiences, Chinese teachers showed generally optimistic attitudes towards applying updated technology in schools. The study also implies that teacher education and teacher training should focus on changing teachers' philosophy of education and educational technology. © 2021 ACM.

Teaching Toolbox: Breaking Bad News with Virtual Technology in the Time of COVID.

Breaking bad news is a key component of the physicians' work. Traditionally, breaking bad news has been encouraged to be performed in person whenever possible (Monden et al. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent) 29(1):101-102, 2016; Nickson 2019). The common practice prior to the pandemic can be summarized by "The first rule of breaking bad news is: do not do it over the phone." It is important to be present with the family and provide support through compassion and empathy. Until recently, virtual communication technology for serious medical discussions was rare and primarily used when compelled by circumstances such as distance. The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our ability to deliver news in person and has required the medical community to increase the utilization of telephone and video conferencing to communicate with patients and their family members. Breaking bad news through virtual media is a new skill in need of further guidance and education regarding how to set up the conversation, provide empathy, and lend support (Wolf et al., Oncologist 25(6):e879-e880, 2020). Therefore, we have created a teaching toolbox to help educate healthcare providers on how to deliver bad news by phone or video.