Forecasting of COVID-19 Pandemic Using ARIMA and Fb-Prophet Models: UK Case Study

This study aims to provide insights into predicting future cases of COVID-19 infection and rates of virus transmission in the UK by critically analyzing and visualizing historical COVID-19 data, so that healthcare providers can prepare ahead of time. In order to achieve this goal, the study invested in the existing studies and selected ARIMA and Fb-Prophet time series models as the methods to predict confirmed and death cases in the following year. In a comparison of both models using values of their evaluation metrics, root-mean-square error, mean absolute error and mean absolute percentage error show that ARIMA performs better than Fb-Prophet. The study also discusses the reasons for the dramatic spike in mortality and the large drop in deaths shown in the results, contributing to the literature on health analytics and COVID-19 by validating the results of related studies. Copyright © 2023 by SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Emerging fields of practice in American social work

Since its beginnings, American social work has evolved in response to social injustices and human needs confronting our society. Social workers have assisted immigrants in resettlement and developed policy for financial assistance and alleviation of poverty for millions of Americans. They engaged in the fight for civil rights;worked to combat stigma;and gained services for many disenfranchised groups, including those afflicted with HIV, the mentally ill, the addicted, the homeless, and survivors of violence. Increasingly, social workers are moving into spaces where they can provide help and support more readily and with less stigma than more traditional practice settings have afforded. And although social workers have long been involved in disasters as first responders, the COVID-19 pandemic is a strong impetus for the profession to reconceptualize the practice of social work in the face of a health crisis that requires a multidimensional response to needed social care. On the micro level, social workers who are skilled in trauma-based work will also find their skills and expertise in greater demand as many first responders, health care providers, and families who experienced the loss of loved ones will require mental health services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Psychological Resilience, Anxiety, and Well-Being of Health Care Providers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: On the frontlines of the pandemic, healthcare providers (HCPs) are overworked, anxious, and fearful. Yet, despite all the fear and anxiety, the facilitation of protective resilience and psychological well-being has become crucial to ensure that minimal intangible psychological losses are incurred due to the pandemic. Aim: The present study aimed to examine the psychological resiliency, state anxiety, trait anxiety, and psychological well-being of frontline HCPs during the COVID-19 and to determine the association among resiliency, state-trait anxiety, and psychological well-being and their links with demographic and workplace factors. Design and Settings: A cross-sectional study concerning frontline HCPs was conducted at two of the largest hospitals in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Results: A significant inverse correlation was determined between resilience and state anxiety (r=-0.417, p<0.05) and between resilience and trait anxiety (r=-0.536, p<0.05). Likewise, a positive intermediate correlation between resilience and the age of the individual (r=0.263, p<0.05) and a weak positive correlation with years of experience (r=0.211, p<0.05) were established. Also, the resilience score of volunteer workers (50.9) was lower than that of regular staff (66.8) (p=0.028). Conclusion: Resilience is a crucial factor affecting the training of individuals, which will further promote their work output and mental health capacity, thus improving their overall concept of survival in adversity.

Fishing for Validation: Understanding Promises and Challenges of a Private Social Media Group for COVID-19 Long-Hauler Patients

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than 301 million people worldwide so far. Many communities (such as minority communities) suffered disproportionately more difficulties throughout the pandemic. In this paper, we would like to focus on one such community: COVID-19 long-haulers community. Long-hauler community consists of people affected by Coronavirus, but their symptoms do not cure in a couple of weeks;instead, they experience lingering symptoms for months. The concerns of this community were initially ignored by health care providers primarily because of limited information. In this paper, we have analyzed the social media discussion of a private Facebook group dedicated to the long-hauler community. In addition, we interviewed the community members to investigate their motivations for joining the group and how the group has impacted their lives as long-hauler patients. Our analyses revealed the primary discussion topics of this community. It also showed how a minority community could stand by each other using social media groups during a crisis. We concluded the paper with long-term implications of our findings for health care systems, policies, and existing literature on cooperative AI. © 2023 ACM.

Impact of COVID-19 on Health Care Service Provider Practices in Saudi Arabia

Background: Both healthcare personnel and patients have been impacted negatively by the COVID-19 epidemic, which has had a substantial effect on the healthcare sector. The healthcare workforce consists of physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Objective(s): To assess the psychological impact of COVID19 pandemic among different healthcare providers by assessing the depression, stress level, and anxiety related to COVID19 pandemic and the effect it had on their practice and psychological well-being. Methodology: To learn more about the experiences of healthcare professionals and to ascertain the effects of COVID-19 on their practice, a cross-sectional observational study including 311 practicing physicians, pharmacists, nurses, dentists, lab technicians, and other hospital staff members was carried out across Saudi Arabia. A pretested semi-structured QuestionPro questionnaire that was sent electronically via social media, email, and phones was used to collect responses from study participants. It was cleaned up before being examined with SPSS program 28. Frequency and percentage displays were used to illustrate quantitative data. Spearman's correlation was used to calculate the association between stress score, anxiety score, and depression score. Appropriate statistical tests of significance were used to determine the association between stress scores and various background characteristics. Statistical significance was set at the 0.05 level for P-value. Result(s): Over half of the medical staff had expertise in caring for COVID-19 patients, and approximately two out of every five trial participants had a history of COVID-19 infection previous to immunisation. The vaccine could minimise the infection, according to 3/4 of them. Among those surveyed, just 33% had a history of chronic diseases. The majority of participants believed they had dealt with difficult events at some time in the preceding week for all of the categories. Similar to this, depression was sometimes experienced for 4 items but never for 3 when there were the most participants. It could be deduced that the majority of participants had normal Anxiety (33.8%), Stress (36%), and Depression (38.6%) scores. The median psychological assessments were considerably higher among those who were between the ages of 35 and 56, divorced, were already infected with the COVID-19 virus previous to immunisation, and had a history of chronic disease. Conclusion(s): The study's findings led to the conclusion that stress and anxiety are significant COVID-19 effects on both healthcare professionals and patients. The epidemic has also highlighted the significance of the need for appropriate safety equipment, practices, and support for the physical and mental well-being of medical personnel.Copyright © 2023, Codon Publications. All rights reserved.

Supporting US healthcare providers for successful vaccine communication.

BACKGROUND: While many healthcare providers (HCPs) have navigated patients' vaccine concerns and questions prior to the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, sentiments surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines have presented new and distinct challenges. OBJECTIVE: To understand the provider experience of counseling patients about COVID-19 vaccinations, aspects of the pandemic environment that impacted vaccine trust, and communication strategies providers found supportive of patient vaccine education. METHODS: 7 focus groups of healthcare providers were conducted and recorded during December 2021 and January 2022, at the height of the Omicron wave in the United States. Recordings were transcribed, and iterative coding and analysis was applied. RESULTS: 44 focus group participants representing 24 US states with the majority (80%) fully vaccinated at the time of data collection. Most participants were doctors (34%) or physician's assistants and nurse practitioners (34%). The negative impact of COVID-19 misinformation on patient-provider communication at both intrapersonal and interpersonal levels as well as barriers and facilitators to patient vaccine uptake are reported. People or sources that play a role in health communication ("messengers") and persuasive messages that impact behavior or attitudes towards vaccination ("messages") are described. Providers expressed frustration in the need to continuously address vaccine misinformation in clinical appointments among patients who remained unvaccinated. Many providers found value in resources that provided up-to-date and evidence-based information as COVID-19 guidelines continued to change. Additionally, providers indicated that patient-facing materials designed to support vaccination education were not frequently available, but they were the most valuable to providers in a changing information environment. CONCLUSIONS: While vaccine decision-making is complex and hinges on diverse factors such as health care access (i.e., convenience, expense) and individual knowledge, providers can play a major role in navigating these factors with their patients. But to strengthen provider vaccine communication and promote vaccine uptake, a comprehensive communication infrastructure must be sustained to support the patient-provider dyad. The findings provide recommendations to maintain an environment that facilitates effective provider-patient communication at the community, organizational and policy levels. There is a need for a unified multisectoral response to reinforce the recommendations in patient settings.

Understanding the Factors Influencing Health Care Provider Recommendations about Adolescent Vaccines: A Proposed Framework.

Health care provider recommendations are among the most important factors influencing parents' decisions to vaccinate their adolescents. However, delivery of high-quality health care provider recommendations for vaccination is not universal. There is wide variation in the strength, timeliness and consistency of the delivery of recommendations for all adolescent vaccines. The factors that influence health care providers' recommendations are multi-level and can be conceptualized in much the same way as vaccine acceptance among parents. Health care providers are influenced by their own attitudes and beliefs about a vaccine and also by the patient they are treating and by the community in which they practice as well as state and national level vaccine policy. We propose a multi-level framework for understanding the factors that influence health care providers' recommendations at the individual, interpersonal and community level to both develop and adapt interventions to improve providers' recommendations.

Healthcare Diagnostics Service Using Federated Learning

Healthcare systems around the world rely on powerful computational prediction tools in order to make accurate diagnostics with regard to the human body. In order to estimate the severity of lung damage post-COVID infection, healthcare providers rely on AI prediction tools to perform diagnosis. While such tools exist at a rudimentary level, there is a growing demand for more reliable and democratised systems that train models over a diverse data-set. To that end, the focus of this research paper turns to federated learning, a distributed machine learning paradigm. The system proposed consists of a central server that pools features and weights across various nodes, thereby cutting bias in the prediction models. This also achieves data decentralisation which ensures patient privacy. An end-to-end application is realised that facilitates distributed training of batch data that is visualised in real-time with the help of sockets. The application also features an inference service, classifying chest x-rays based on whether the image displays damage in case of Pneumonia. © 2023 IEEE.

Attendance and Distribution Patterns of Patients in a Private Dental Clinic During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: To investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the patients' attendance/distribution patterns within different departments and the perception of the dental team providing dental services during the COVID-19 outbreak in a private dental clinic. Moreover, the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on dental professionals next to the role of personal protective equipment in the prevention of infection in the corresponding teams was simultaneously investigated. Methods: A clinic located in the northern part of Tehran was selected. Forty-four dentists with 48 staff members were involved in treatment teams. Preventive strategies, i.e., personnel/operator/patient management comprising full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), high-volume evacuation suctions, primary screening questions, pulse oximetry, the patient's body temperature measurement as well as administrative controls, e.g. disinfection of surfaces and using stairs instead of lifts, were implemented to manage the prevalence of disease and analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the distribution/attendance patterns of patients. Results: During 6 months, a 26% reduction in the number of patients was observed after the pandemic;however, men's and women's distributions were not affected. The department of orthodontics reported a 6% increase in new cases whereas the department of pediatric dentistry revealed the least changes in the number of patients. In the departments of operative dentistry, prosthodontics, oral/maxillofacial surgery, and periodontics, the number of patients was reduced by 10-30%. In addition, three dentists and four staff members were affected by COVID-19 during the mentioned period. Conclusion: It seems that the potential for COVID-19 transmission in dental clinics is relatively low. Copyright 2023, Journal of Iranian Medical Council. All rights reserved.

Investigation of Healthcare Security Using Blockchain Technology: A review

Telemedicine and telehealth care system show the revolutionary and modern way to deal with the coronavirus 2019 pandemic. However, such systems are facing increased security risks. As a result, healthcare providers and academic institutions must be well-informed, safe, and prepared to respond to any cyber-attack. The aim of this paper is to conduct a review of healthcare information systems together with how security can be provided for such systems. The paper main focus is on the adoption of blockchain technology to support the security of the healthcare system. This adoption has been investigated and assessed to show its benefits compared with other conventional technologies. Finally, a recommendation was pointed out for the security of healthcare with the usage of blockchain technology. © 2022 IEEE.

Lessons Learnt From Health Care Providers In The Crisis Management Situation -Covid-19

Crisis management is the highest talent which an individual demonstrates especially in the situation of pandemic COVID-19. Human resource managers globally have struggled to change their strategies to manage their employees in different fields of work with the outburst of the pandemic. It is interesting to understand how healthcare providers (HCPs) who are in the front, managing the resources to the optimum and helping the people affected by the deadly virus - Corona. The authors were interested to conduct qualitative study to understand how the Health Care Providersin the government hospitals (GHs) are executing and optimizing their existing Human Resources. Onlinein-depth interviews were conducted with 25 Health care providers. The State, Tamil Nadu has 1421 Primary Health Cares, 21 State run Hospitals, and 16 Medical Colleges which were designated for treating the patients. Snow ball technique was used to access the HCPs working in the government hospitals. The study has documented the experiences of the HCPs using different strategies to manage their human resources in the crisis situation. The medical emergency and lock down of the country came suddenly with the virus spreading in India. Panic and threat were the reactions of the people. Human resource management in all the sectors had alternative strategies to ensure personal safety and continue the work.However,the HCPs who were in the front to combat the pandemic had to face the crisis situation very efficiently.Some of the main challenges which they faced werethat they did not have admission guidelines, treatment protocol, hospital space not prepared for the COVID patients, fear gribbed supportive staff, fear of personal safety etc. They had to motivate their team, ensure safety of the medical team, reduce fear and anxiety, address the team's emotions,and generate timely data and network with other stake holders for follow-up. The HCPs had good psychological well-being and they were able to manage the challenges posed by the health crisis and ensured competent functioning of the government facilities. The authors conclude that HCPs in the front to combat the epidemic as heroes of crisis management.Copyright © 2020 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.

Knowledge of health care providers about Covid-19 disease in pregnancy and lactation in Ardabil

Healthcare workers and healthcare providers need sufficient knowledge and awareness about disease to provide high quality health services to pregnant and breastfeeding women during the Covid 19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate the knowledge of healthcare providers about Covid-19 disease in pregnancy and lactation in Ardabil.This descriptive study was conducted in 2020-2021. The study's statistical population consisted of all healthcare workers working in health centers in Ardabil who care for pregnant and lactating mothers. The census calculated the sample size. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire to assess health care providers' knowledge, which was designed using a review of texts, related articles, and instructions of the Ministry of Health, and the validity and reliability of the questionnaire have been confirmed. Data were analyzed using SPSS20 by descriptive statistics, chi-square, and ANOVA statistical tests. Mean age of the participants was 35.51±5.74. In this study, most participants scored more than 33 and had a good level of knowledge about Covid 19 disease in pregnancy and lactation. The study's results showed that participants had higher knowledge about Covid 19 during pregnancy and lactation. The knowledge gained about Covid 19 during pregnancy and lactation is not absolute and may get updated with the reporting of newer studies. Healthcare providers must be trained in person and online during the Covid 19 virus epidemic to receive up-to-date information regularly from the healthcare system. © 2023 Ondokuz Mayis Universitesi. All rights reserved.

Determinants of quality of life in frontline healthcare providers caring for COVID-19 patients.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the factors affecting quality of life in healthcare providers who care for patients with COVID-19. BACKGROUND: Healthcare providers caring for COVID-19 patients during the pandemic suffered a deterioration in their quality of life. Several studies have explored their psychological impact of working with COVID patients, but none have examined the causes of this deterioration. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: In the current study, the authors investigated the factors affecting quality of life in 293 healthcare providers recruited from a medical centre in northern Taiwan who had recently cared for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 by analysing their responses to an online self-report questionnaire, using bivariate correlations and structural equation modelling. Reporting of this research adheres to the STROBE guideline. RESULTS: The study identified an important sequence of factors that mediated the effects of perceived success of epidemic prevention policies, family relations problems and education level on quality of life in a sample of healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients. The mediators were use of approach-oriented coping strategies and current mental health status. Specifically, use of approach-oriented coping strategies was found to directly cause improved quality of life and indirectly cause improved mental health, whereas use of avoidant coping strategies was found to directly cause worsening of mental health. Poor mental health predicted poor quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that implementation of sound epidemic prevention policies that promote adoption of approach-oriented coping behaviour should lead to a better quality of life in the future for healthcare providers working in challenging circumstances. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Assessment of these policies as well as the providers' family relations are necessary first steps to improving the success of approach-oriented coping behaviour in this population, which in turn can improve their mental health and quality of life. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Neither patients nor members of the public were involved in the design or execution of the study.

Pandemic and Natural Disasters Driving the Need for AI Driven NEXTGen Medical Services

Our pre-pandemic Medical services were primarily focused on providing health services in person and less on using the virtual methods. The pandemic has changed the landscape of medical services, as a greater number of patients are using alternate methods for medical services such as telemedicine, Virtual Assistance and video conferencing to communicate with the physicians and healthcare providers. As a result, there is a shift in the paradigm on how these services are being catered to different age groups. IT has played a vital role in keeping up with the increasing demands during the pandemic and natural disaster. There has been a constant effort from the business, healthcare providers and IT industry to provide simplicity and ease in usage of alternative methods so that all age groups can communicate to physicians, healthcare workers and healthcare providers easily. This change has brought in new ways of providing services to patients of all age groups. During the pandemic there was little hope of finding the vaccination for Covid-19. Medical researchers and Scientists were constantly working on finding breakthroughs. In this period the IT services, Artificial intelligence, Hybrid Cloud, Security and Compliance, automation and cognitive analysis paved a way for researchers and scientists to reach a breakthrough in finding a vaccine. In this paper we study the importance of Medicine, Technology and Energy for mankind. © 2022 IEEE.

The Palestinian health-care providers' perceptions, challenges and human rights-related concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: One of the most affected groups during the COVID-19 pandemic was health-care providers due to the direct and continuous exposure to the virus and a lack of sufficient medical equipment. Palestinian health-care providers were exposed to several challenges related to their work environment as they worked in war-like conditions;therefore, this study aims to explore health-care providers' perceptions, perspectives, challenges and human rights-related concerns during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Palestine. Design/methodology/approach: The sample comprised 30 health-care providers 26-35 years, who were purposively selected from among health-care providers in two Palestinian cities, Nablus and Tulkarm, located in the north of the West Bank. Thematic content analysis was applied to transcripts of interviews with the practitioners to identify key themes. Findings: The thematic content analysis showed that the pandemic and quarantine negatively affect the mental health outcomes, daily routine and social relations of health-care providers. The main challenges related to human rights violations and faced by the health-care providers include a lack of sufficient infrastructure, lack of medical equipment's and protective gear, military occupation and a shortage of health-care providers in general, especially those who practice in speciality fields such as neurology, oncology, pediatric surgery and clinical psychology. Practical implications: Further investigations are recommended to test different variables related to health-care providers' work during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper also recommends conducting studies targeting Palestinian health-care providers' training and supervision services to improve their skills and resiliency in dealing with future crises. Originality/value: The present work is the first to examine health-care providers' perceptions, perspectives, challenges and human rights concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Palestine. This novel sample resides in a political and social environment characterized by high environmental stressors due to decades of military and political violence (e.g. militarization, poverty, lack of employment opportunities, cultural pressures, human rights violations, etc.) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

COVID-19 Supply Chain Planning: A Simulation-Optimization Approach

Healthcare providers' preparedness and response plans are crucial to effectively cope with infectious disease outbreaks such as COVID-19. These plans need to provide strategic and operational actionable insights to guarantee the availability of essential resources when needed. This study uses a simulation-optimization approach to (i) determine an optimal replenishment policy to restock personal protective equipment (PPE) items, and (ii) determine proactive demand planning for critical resources such as the number of beds, and ventilators. This model leverages a Simio-MATLAB integration to complete simulation and optimization tasks. © 2022 IEEE.

Exploring the perspectives of older adults and health care providers on patient participation in transitional care from hospital to cardiac rehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Older adults who transition from hospital to cardiac rehabilitation settings often are vulnerable and at risk of experiencing adverse health care outcomes. Given the complexities of transitional care, it is crucial to engage older adults in the clinical decision-making process and to promote their active participation in their medical care. Older adults have unique ways of understanding their participation in the transitional care process. Gaining an in-depth understanding of their specific needs during this process can help inform clinical practice and interventions aiming to improve care for older adults living with cardiovascular disease. Focused ethnography methodology was used to explore the perspectives of older adults and health care providers on patient participation in transitional care from hospital to cardiac rehabilitation. The study also sought to identify and to gain a better and more in-depth understanding of the challenges and opportunities that shape participation for older adults during transitional care from hospital to cardiac rehabilitation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 older adults and 6 healthcare providers from cardiac rehabilitation and cardiology units. Additional methods included document analysis and reflexive journaling. Thematic analysis revealed six themes and fifteen subthemes. Themes included: Follow-up from Healthcare Provides, Interactions with Healthcare Providers, Support from Family Members, Information about Medical Care and Rehabilitation, Decision-Making and Participation, and Healthcare Journey during COVID-19. Older adults reported gaps in follow-up and insufficient spaces or opportunities for participation in decision-making. Healthcare provider's support was reported as essential for a smooth transition, particularly nurses' support. The COVID-19 pandemic was mostly reported as a major barrier for participants, especially in terms of delayed medical procedures and difficult hospitalization experiences. Some participants, particularly those who seek social connection, viewed technology and virtual care negatively. However, virtual care delivery also was reported as a fruitful strategy to engage older adults in their care and to overcome transportation barriers. The results of this study can help inform the implementation of strategies that will engage older adults more actively in their care, as they transition from hospital to cardiac rehabilitation settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The Association Between Korean American Nurse and Primary Care Provider Burnout, Areas of Worklife, and Perceptions of Pandemic Experience: Cross-sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Korean immigrants are among the fastest-growing ethnic minority groups and make up the fifth-largest Asian group in the United States. A better understanding of the work environment factors and its impact on Korean American nurse and primary care provider (PCP) burnout may guide the development of targeted strategies to help mitigate burnout and workplace stressors, which is critical for the retention of Korean American nurses and PCPs to promote better alignment of national demographic trends and meet patients' preference for cultural congruence with their health care providers (HCPs). Although there is a growing number of studies on HCP burnout, a limited number of studies specifically focus on the experience of ethnic minority HCPs, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: In light of these gaps in literature, the aim of this study was to assess burnout among Korean American HCPs and to identify work conditions during a pandemic that may be associated with Korean American nurse and PCP burnout. METHODS: A total of 184 Korean American HCPs (registered nurses [RNs]: n=97; PCPs: n=87) practicing in Southern California responded to a web-based survey between February and April 2021. The Maslach Burnout Inventory, Areas of Worklife Survey, and Pandemic Experience & Perceptions Survey were used to measure burnout and work environment factors during the pandemic. A multivariate linear regression analysis was used to assess work environment factors associated with the 3 subcategories of burnout. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in the level of burnout experienced by Korean American nurses and PCPs. For RNs, greater workload (P<.001), lower resource availability (P=.04), and higher risk perception (P=.02) were associated with higher emotional exhaustion. Greater workload was also associated with higher depersonalization (P=.003), whereas a greater (professional) community (P=.03) and higher risk perception (P=.006) were associated with higher personal accomplishment. For PCPs, greater workload and poor work-life balance were associated with higher emotional exhaustion (workload: P<.001; worklife: P=.005) and depersonalization (workload: P=.01; worklife: P<.001), whereas only reward was associated with personal accomplishment (P=.006). CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study underscore the importance of strategies to promote a healthy work environment across multiple levels that recognize demographic variation among Korean American RNs and PCPs, potentially influencing their burnout mitigation needs. A growing recognition of identity-informed burnout experiences across frontline Korean American RNs and PCPs argues for future explorations that capture nuance both across and within this and other ethnic minority nurse and PCP groups. By recognizing and capturing these variations, we may better support the creation of targeted, burnout-mitigating strategies for all.

Exploration of how primary care models influence job satisfaction among primary care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Brunswick: a descriptive and comparative study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted human resource gaps and physician shortages in healthcare systems in New Brunswick (NB), as evidenced by multiple healthcare service interruptions. In addition, the New Brunswick Health Council gathered data from citizens on the type of primary care models (i.e. physicians in solo practice, physicians in collaborative practice, and collaborative practice with physicians and nurse practitioners) they use as their usual place of care. To add to their survey's findings, our study aims to see how these different primary care models were associated with job satisfaction as reported by primary care providers. METHODS: In total, 120 primary care providers responded to an online survey about their primary care models and job satisfaction levels. We used IBM's "SPSS Statistics" software to run Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests to compare job satisfaction levels between variable groups to determine if there were statistically significant variations. RESULTS: Overall, 77% of participants declared being satisfied at work. The reported job satisfaction levels did not appear to be influenced by the primary care model. Participants reported similar job satisfaction levels regardless of if they practiced alone or in collaboration. Although 50% of primary care providers reported having symptoms of burnout and experienced a decline in job satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary care model was not associated with these experiences. Therefore, participants who reported burnout or a decline in job satisfaction were similar in all primary care models. Our study's results suggest that the autonomy to choose a preferred model was important, since 45.8% of participants reported choosing their primary care models, based on preference. Proximity to family and friends and balancing work and family emerged as critical factors that influence choosing a job and staying in that job. CONCLUSION: Primary care providers' staffing recruitment and retention strategies should include the factors reported as determinants in our study. Primary care models do not appear to influence job satisfaction levels, although having the autonomy to choose a preferred model was reported as highly important. Consequently, it may be counterproductive to impose specific primary care models if one aims to prioritize primary care providers' job satisfaction and wellness.

Convolutional neural networks for imbalanced chest X-ray images classification

The COVID-19 epidemic has spread throughout the world and poses a serious threat to human health. Any technical device that provides the accurate and rapid automated diagnosis of COVID-19 can be extremely beneficial to healthcare providers. A new workflow for performing automated diagnosis is proposed in this paper. The proposed methods are built on a well-designed framework, two kinds of CNN architectures including a custom CNN and a pre-trained CNN are utilized to verify the effectiveness of the focal loss function. According to the experimental findings, both CNNs that were enhanced with the focal loss function converged faster and achieved higher accuracy on the test set, outperformed the models that utilized cross-entropy loss that does not consider the class-imbalanced issue in the multi-class image classification with imbalanced Chest X-ray(CXR) image datasets. In addition, image enhancement techniques turned out to be very helpful for enhancing the CXR image signatures to achieve better performance in our work. © 2023 SPIE.