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The influenza epidemic of 1918 afflicted millions of people in the United States, among them Orthodox Christians. These included thousands of Carpatho-Rusyn believers who predominantly comprised what leaders of the Russian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America called American Orthodox Rus'. For these working-class Orthodox Christians, influenza laid bare the critical vulnerabilities and insecurities of immigrant life. During the epidemic, believers turned to their church for spiritual comfort, and to religious newspapers for practical health advice. They also relied upon parachurch institutions like mutual-aid societies for fraternity and material support. Taken together, these aspects portray the influenza epidemic as an interwoven medical, spiritual, and social crisis that threatened lives, strained community resources, and disrupted the complex religious worlds of American Orthodox Rus'. Contrasted against the COVID-19 pandemic a century later, the long-overlooked influenza epidemic illustrates the changing role of the Orthodox Church in believers' social and material lives in North America.
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In the wake of 9/11, for instance, the Union for Reform Judaism rapidly posted a "Survivor Tree Planting Ceremony," a memorial service for religious schools, an interfaith dialogue guide, and readings and prayers for congregations and individuals. [...]for many Jewish Americans, the virtual Passover of 2020 was the gateway experience for so many other online forms of Judaism that followed: live-streamed prayer services attended by thousands across time zones, Zoom gatherings for weddings, brisses, baby namings, funerals, and shivas. [...]first I copied down the last stanza of "Passover Love Poem" (147), a poem by Rabbi Person, knowing it was just right to contribute to my second (and hopefully last) Zoom Seder: "This is more than a recipe for nostalgia.
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The book was written with the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop and discusses the ways in which virtual ministry has impacted how priests do their work, and the Catholic community as whole. The editor, Peter Lah an associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, devotes several pages to a historical overview of how new technologies have been used in the church over the decades, allowing for lasting change and globalization opportunities. Unlike other chapters in this book, here we see a deeper explanation of social media concepts and an explanation for this overarching study, before diving into the case study. In the final case study, Researcher Olivier Gangola focused on the Archdiocese of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is quite large.
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Data from the Coronavirus, Church & You Survey indicated that retired clergy were feeling less comfortable with the Church's responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and more disaffected from the institutional Church. The subsequent project, Through the eyes of retired clergy, listened in greater depth to how retired clergy felt about the ways in which the Church had responded to the pandemic and to how they saw the future for the Church. In terms of the Church's response to the pandemic, retired clergy were not only realistic and affirming, but also engaged and critical. In terms of the future for the church, retired clergy were realistic and pessimistic. The general view was that the pandemic had accelerated the effect of trends evident before the pandemic. Some would argue that, while the pandemic could have reinforced the visibility of the Church in the local community, such opportunities were largely missed. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Gbule examines the implications of fake news spread by pastors in the midst of the COVID pandemic and how some church leaders used it to advance the narrative that COVID was a health challenge requiring sound scientific solutions. However, he demurs that most Pentecostals and their members seem to have a besieged mentality that is susceptible to fake news and mis/disinformation, in which everything is constructed within the framework apocalypticism. Hence, COVID is likely to be perceived as a sign of the end times. The use of the "God hypothesis" to explain and predict time-space events then becomes a stable diet for these leaders. For these leaders, the spiritual and political have collapsed, and it would be difficult to convince their congregations that the COVID pandemic is a health challenge and not an apocalypse;and that science rather than faith should guide public health measures. Knowing that Pentecostal and charismatic churches make use of the press and social media, as well as other forms of digital media, to share messages with their faith communities, it becomes difficult to track whether their messages reflect real news or a distortion of information.
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The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study research was to explore and discover the stressors in the lives of nondenominational Protestant pastors in a major metropolitan area in the upper Midwest United States and how they perceived the effects of those stressors on their self-regulatory functions. In this study, three data sources were used to interpret the social reality of the phenomenon: questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group. Baumeister's theory of limited or diminished cognitive capacity resources of self-regulation and Selye's general adaptation syndrome (GAS) were the theoretical frameworks used to analyze the data. The findings showed that the pastors self-regulated their behaviors when stressed by withdrawing or refocusing themselves to complete tasks. The findings also showed that the pastors did not perceive stress as a deterrent to completing their tasks or activities. The findings and conclusions presented a significant view about each pastoral leader's attitude toward task completion not previously considered. The pastors did not feel concerned about completing tasks that required them to extend themselves beyond their mental or physical limitations because their tasks were obligations-duties given to them by God. Pastoral leaders perform a vital role in church development. There has been a continued exodus of nondenominational pastoral leaders from church ministry before an accelerated number of permanent church closures occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, sustaining this leadership role is critical to the church's organizational survival. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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The long-term effects of the COVID-19 crisis among helping professionals such as physicians, law enforcement officers, and clergy remain unknown. The strain and enormous stress encountered by these professionals are profound and concerning (Benham et al., 2020;Greene et al., 2020;Stogner et al., 2020). In this study, the researcher explored the effects of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) on career commitment among helping professionals including physicians, law enforcement officers, and clergy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the findings provided insight on the general causes and effects of burnout including possible solutions to counter its effects. Additionally, the researcher examined the causes, effects, and potential solutions regarding burnout for each of the participating helping professions. The data for this quantitative study were collected through a survey completed by 484 participants located in two southwestern states in the United States. This study contributes to the body of literature by confirming a relationship between burnout and low career commitment for the aggregate sample, and by confirming that the three factors of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) significantly predicted scores of low career commitment. Further, the findings revealed that there are statistically significant differences in levels of the three factors of burnout and career commitment between the three professions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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Weaver examines the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on worship in Baptist churches and the new liturgical realities that have profoundly altered worship in irreversible ways. She engages how technological changes alter understandings about church authority in light of the priesthood of all believers. She also envisions active engagement of lay persons, integrating worship with social realities and concerns, and the need for mutual respect among clergy over the next fifty years of liturgical change.
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Introduction: The pandemic of COVID-19 infection is the worst public health problem worldwide. Globally, most of cases are among working population. The aims of this study are to describe the situation of work-related disease in Thailand and currently implemented preventive and control measures. Method(s): The data from the Situation Awareness Team under the Department of Disease Control (DDC) were collected and analysed in September 2020. The Monitoring and Evaluation Team under DDC also conducted a rapid survey to identify any measures enterprises had implemented to protect their employees from the disease. The checklists were applied from the ILO guideline. The survey was conducted via an online questionnaire using Google Form and sent to enterprises and the network of safety officers during 13th-17th April 2020. Fisher's Exact test with p-value was used to compare the percentage of enterprises reported implementation of measures. Result(s): Until the end of September, total cumulative number of COVID-19 infection in Thailand were 3,519 cases (approximately 5.29 per 100,000 populations) and 2,445 cases (69.5%) were domestic infection. Among this group, 2,258 persons (92.4%) were working population, aged 18-60 years. 484 domestic cases (21.4%) were classified as work-related COVID-19 infection. The highest number of work-related infection (122 cases) were among workers who worked in entertainment sector. Regarding the calculation for proportions of number of work-related infection and total number of infected cases in each occupation, almost drivers got infection from their jobs. Other high risk occupations included masseurs (90.9%), flight attendants (87.5%), priests (all religions) (80.0%), and airport staff (78.6%). Regarding the rapid survey, 101 samples responded. Almost all enterprises reported having a policy and implementation of preventive and control measures. Implemented measures included health screening of their workers (97%), work arrangement, e.g., work from home (75.2%), area arrangement for work/social distancing (81.2%), ventilation improvement (59.4%), and provision of masks (100%). Conclusion(s): Most of domestic COVID-19 infection were among working age. Approximately one-fifth of them got infection from work. Occupations, especially working with or contact with foreigners and working in a high density of people, were high-risk factors. Several enterprises had implemented preventive and control measures. Prompt policy advocacy, knowledge-based recommendations and communication with target groups were essential.Copyright © 2022, Mattioli 1885. All rights reserved.
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Aim: As a brief psychotherapy for individuals facing mortal threat, Dignity Therapy (DT) effects on spiritual outcomes are unknown, especially as an intervention to support cancer health equity for racial minority patients. Our study aim was to compare usual outpatient palliative care and such care along with nurse-led or chaplain-led DT groups for main effects on dignity impact and the interaction of DT with race. Method(s): We conducted the 4-step, stepped-wedge randomized control trial at 4 NCI designated cancer centers and 2 academic cancer centers across the United States. Half of the sites were randomized to chaplain-led DT and half to nurse-led DT. Of the 645 recruited cancer patients (age >= 55 years) receiving outpatient palliative care, 579 (59% female, mean age 66.4+/-7.4 years, 78% White, 77% Christian religion, 62% stage 4 cancer) provided data for intent-totreat analysis. Over 6 weeks, patients completed pretest/posttest measures including the Dignity Impact Scale (DIS, primary outcome) ranging from low impact of 7 to highest impact of 35. In step 1-3, study procedures were completed in person. In step 4 (during the COVID-19 pandemic), when all sites were providing the intervention, study procedures were completed via Zoom. We used multiple imputation and regression analysis adjusting for pretest DIS, study site, and study step. Result(s): Of the 579 patients, 317 were in the DT group and 262 in the usual care group. The vast majority of the sample was White (n=448) along with 103 Blacks, 5 Asians, 2 Pacific Islanders, 1 Native American, 13 other races (all minorities were combined as Other Race), and 7 were missing race data. At pretest, the mean DIS score was 24.3+/-4.3 in the DT group and 25.9+/-4.3 in the usual care group. Adjusting for pretest DIS scores, study site, and study step, the chaplain-led (beta=1.7, p=.02) and nurse-led (beta=2.1, p=.005) groups reported significantly higher posttest DIS scores than the usual care groups. Adjusting for age, gender, race, education, and income, the effect on DIS scores remained significant for both DT groups. We then examined the interaction between race and DT with the entire sample and observed that the interaction was not significant (p=.73) and the sizes of DT effects were similar for White (beta=1.9, p=.005) and the Other Race (beta=1.6, p=.055) patients. Conclusion(s): Whether led by chaplains or nurses, DT was effective in improving dignity impact for older adult outpatient palliative care patients with cancer. DT, a patient-centered approach, has promise as an intervention to improve health equity in support of dignity for racial minorities. This rigorous trial of DT is a landmark step in gero-oncology palliative care and spiritual health services research focused on cancer health equity.
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ESSENCE Hand washing is an easy and inexpensive way to prevent infection, one of which is to prevent the spread of SarsCov2. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral control on behavioral intentions to wash hands in the elderly during the covid 19 pandemic in the Telagasari Health Center work area in 2020. This study is a quantitative study with a cross-sectional approach and with an analytical descriptive method. using primary data obtained by filling out a questionnaire. The population of this study was the elderly aged 60-74 years, totaling 8920 in the working area of the Telagasari Health Center in 2020, and obtained a sample of 382 people were obtained by the stratified random sampling method. The results of data processing show that there is a significant effect between attitudes and intentions with a value of r = 0.419 and p = 0.000, there is a significant influence between subjective norms and intentions with a value of r = 0.419, p-value = 0.000 and there is a significant effect between behavioral control and intentions. with a value of r = 0.448 and p = 0.000. The conclusion is that there is an influence of attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral control on behavioral intentions to wash hands in the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.
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Background. Black Americans have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, with systemic inequities contributing to increased incidence and mortality. In Chicago, access to COVID-19 testing was scarce in many predominantly Black neighborhoods early in the pandemic, exacerbating inequities. We aimed to assess uptake and yield of a COVID-19 testing campaign to increase access in high-risk, underserved Chicago communities. Methods. The Alive Church Network (ACN) is a community-driven coalition of Black pastors and public health researchers developed to address health inequities in Chicago. For this initiative, ACN implemented two strategies to improve access to COVID-19 testing in underserved neighborhoods: 1) church-based testing, with nurses and community health workers (CHWs) stationed in churches to perform PCR testing for community members and church staff (Dec 2020-Dec 2021) and 2) community site testing, with nurses and CHWs deployed to 8 local sites (e.g., Salvation Army) to conduct weekly PCR testing for employees and clients (May 2021-Mar 2022). We assessed characteristics of individuals undergoing testing;symptom and exposure history;and COVID-19 positivity. In addition, we compared positivity for ACN sites with Chicago citywide positivity over time. Results. A total of 3420 tests were performed for 1703 individuals. Of those tested, 931 (54.7%) were tested at churches and 772 (45.3%) were tested at community partner sites. Those presenting to churches were older (mean 44.8 vs. 39.1 years), more likely to be female (56.5% vs. 48.5%), and more likely to have a chronic medical condition (37.1% vs. 22.5%, Table). Prevalence of COVID-19 symptoms and exposure history were similar for those presenting to church and community sites (Table). Overall, ACN test positivity was similar to Chicago citywide positivity;however, ACN test positivity was much higher during the Omicron surge (24% vs. 11%, Figure). Characteristics of individuals tested for COVID-19 at church and community sites COVID-19 test positivity, ACN sites vs. Chicago citywide Conclusion. The ACN testing campaign increased access to COVID-19 testing in underserved neighborhoods in Chicago and had high yield during the Omicron surge. Church-based testing was successful for reaching older, medically vulnerable individuals. Ensuring widespread access to testing is essential for health equity and to reduce COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.
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The Governing Body of the Church in Wales met at the International Conference Centre, Newport on 27–28 April 2022 and 6–7 September 2022. The April session began with the formal notification to the Governing Body of the election of the Most Reverend Andrew John, Bishop of Bangor, as Archbishop of Wales and therefore President of the Governing Body. His inaugural Presidential address called for the Russian Orthodox Church to condemn the killing of civilians in Ukraine and press for an immediate ceasefire to hostilities. He praised the actions of churches across the Province in their continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic in their respective communities.
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This article is based on a paper delivered to the Ecclesiastical Law Society's day conference in 2022. It is a reflection on the workings of General Synod from the perspective of an author who has been a member of Synod for around 36 years. The article examines three discrete themes: (i) the problem of authority in the Church of England, (ii) the shortcomings of Synodical government, and (iii) the urgency of mission. It examines these themes by considering, among other things, the Church of England's response to a number of contemporary issues: its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, proposed reform of its governance structures, its ability to respond to issues concerning sexuality and racial justice, and the proposals for reforming the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011, as set out in GS 2222.
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Introduction: The WHO SAGE Vaccine Hesitancy Matrix provides vaccine hesitancy solutions based on contextual influences, individual and group influences, and vaccine/vaccination-specific issues. There are limited studies about the impact of using this matrix on high school students to improve their COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy rates. Research Question or Hypothesis: Can an interprofessional, interactive vaccine hesitancy program change high school student's knowledge of and attitudes for the COVID-19 vaccine? Study Design: Pre-post interventional study. Method(s): An panel of healthcare providers, public health workers, teachers, and religious leaders implemented an interactive curriculum about scientific findings on COVID-19 vaccines, recognizing misinformation, and overcoming COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy for underrepresented high school students using matrix principles. Afterwards, participants designed two videos featuring different topics to improve vaccine confidence. Students also applied the principles learned at a COVID-19 pharmacy vaccination clinic event to address vaccinerelated misconceptions in the community. Entry and exit surveys for the participants were collected on a 5-point Likert scale. The McNemar test was used to evaluate changes from non-preferred to preferred responses with an alpha of 0.05. Result(s): Forty-five students (38% 10th grade, 40% 11th grade, 48% Caucasian, 33% African-American) participated in the 4-month program. Significantly more students agreed in post-tests, chi2(1, N = 31) = 4.167, p = 0.0412, that: "I have adequate knowledge about SARSCoV- 2 disease." More students agreed in post-tests, chi2(1, N = 31) = 6.750, p = 0.0094, that: "I have adequate knowledge about the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine." Overall, 25 students (64%) agreed that "I have talked to my peers about information I learned during the program". Finally, 20 students (51%) agreed that "I am comfortable serving as a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine ambassador where I can promote the SARSCoV- 2 vaccine to my community." Conclusion(s): This program increased the knowledge and attitudes of underserved students in vaccine hesitancy while being actively engaged in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic that was disproportionately affecting their community.
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The long-term effects of the COVID-19 crisis among helping professionals such as physicians, law enforcement officers, and clergy remain unknown. The strain and enormous stress encountered by these professionals are profound and concerning (Benham et al., 2020;Greene et al., 2020;Stogner et al., 2020). In this study, the researcher explored the effects of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) on career commitment among helping professionals including physicians, law enforcement officers, and clergy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the findings provided insight on the general causes and effects of burnout including possible solutions to counter its effects. Additionally, the researcher examined the causes, effects, and potential solutions regarding burnout for each of the participating helping professions. The data for this quantitative study were collected through a survey completed by 484 participants located in two southwestern states in the United States. This study contributes to the body of literature by confirming a relationship between burnout and low career commitment for the aggregate sample, and by confirming that the three factors of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) significantly predicted scores of low career commitment. Further, the findings revealed that there are statistically significant differences in levels of the three factors of burnout and career commitment between the three professions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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Purpose: Law constitutes an effective instrument of society management and goods distribution. The law 's impact is verified in situations of threat to public policy and safety or citizens' health and life. In Poland the state of fight against pandemics connected with corona virus SARS-CoV-2 threat showed very low level of legal instruments management. Permanent institutional instability, and sometimes chaos in the implementation of particular law solutions, led to negation of rationality basics in administrative and judicial practice. The goal of the paper is to present Polish official authorities' legal actions. Design/Methodology/Approach: Social research methods (observation), study of documents and case study with regard to administrative and judicial practice. Findings: Shaping authorities ' tasks and competences. Practical implications: Research of actual influence of law institutions. Originality/value: The study has features of originality due to the general nature of the topic taken, the methods adopted and the results obtained. Skillfully refer to the normative state and previous knowledge. The value of the article lies in the analysis of detailed issues that take up not only theoretical and legal topics, but also those that are directly related to practice.
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This narrative review aims to highlight some of the factors contributing to challenges faced by many countries in controlling the spread of COVID-19 pandemic that continues to rage around the world, especially after stoppage of official prevention and control activities. A literature search was conducted on PubMed, and Google using search terms 'COVID-19', 'challenges', 'prevention', and 'control' in different combinations. COVID-19 prevention and control challenges are related to health-system, vaccines, administration, and society culture. Controlling the spread of COVID-19 necessitates cooperation between community leaders, healthcare professionals, religious leaders, and the public.
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Aims To assess if there is any temporal association between the sudden high incidence of newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) in children and the onset of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (CoviD19) in Harlow, Essex UK. Methods Design An observational study Setting Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAH), District General Hospital Over a period of 6 weeks between end April to start of June 2020, there were 10 cases of new onset T1DM who presented to our paediatric department. We reviewed the demographics, symptomatology and biochemical presentations of these patients (table 1). Bloods including SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody were taken at first presentation and patients had nasal swabs for SARS-COV-2 PCR. Families of patients provided written consent to take part in the project. Antibody testing with HSL Roche kit (sensitivity of 97% at D14-21 and 100% at D40) was processed at PAH microbiology laboratory. All data collators had updated training in Good Clinical Practice GCP and Consenting in paediatric e-learning modules on NIHR Learning Management Systems platform. Primary outcomes assessed the association of new onset T1DM with COVID-19 IgG positivity. Secondary outcomes assessed the degree of severity of T1DM at presentation through severity of acidosis and level of HbA1c. Clinical presentations were evaluated to assess any patterns through the cases. We also aimed to check for any demographic similarities. We derived interquartile ranges (IQR = Q3-Q1) between Q1 25% to Q3 75% to adjust for outliers in the dataset Results Only one case was detected to have IgG antibodies at the time of presentation (not in DKA). Median age of presentation was 9.5 years. The youngest being 11 months and oldest, 14 years. There were 7 males, and 3 females in the cohort. 50% of cases were not in DKA. Of those who presented with ketosis, 2 were in severe DKA (most severe at pH 6.94). None needed intensive care management. Median HbA1c at presentation was 123.5 mmol/mol. Median duration of symptoms was 23.8 days, with those not in DKA presenting on average 17 days and those in DKA (20%) presenting longer (30 days). Those in severe DKA had higher HbA1c values (143 and 151 mmol/mol). There were comorbidities of previously diagnosed autism and hypothyroidism at diagnosis of T1DM in one solitary case (not in DKA). Covid19 antibody positive patient had a history of parent succumbing to COVID-19. Demographics - 30% cases hailed from Harlow, 20% from Broxbourne and Bishops Stortford. 10% were from Waltham abbey, Waltham cross and Epping areas each. Conclusion Our small study represents an exponential rise (three-fold increase) in cases of new onset T1DM shortly following the first pandemic peak in April 2020. Only one case showed presence of past COVID-19 infection. The sampling of antibodies was limited by lack of widespread rollout of coronavirus testing at the time. Our findings support the observation that delay in diagnosis resulted in increasing patient numbers presenting in DKA. There was no association between CoVId-19 infection and new onset T1DM in children. We look forward to outcomes of larger scale studies examining this issue.