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Twenty-five percent of high school students have reported emotional and mental health issues during the pandemic. Many students have had to face illness, loss, food insecurity, and economic hardship resulting from the pandemic. They have experienced anxiety, fear, and depression attributable to long-term school closures, isolation, quarantines, and stay-at-home orders. School-based mental health (SMH) can be viewed as an emerging need in response to this increasing national health crisis. This chapter discusses the importance of SMH services for children in schools, highlights the use of tiered systems to prevent and respond to mental health concerns of students and provides specific considerations for school and community for creating integrated systems. Evidence-based practices (EBPs) have a strong scientific basis for their use, as they are supported by high-quality research that offers empirical demonstrations of effectiveness. As a response, schools across the United States are adopting tiered systems of support, consisting of EBPs, to address systematically the growing diversity of students' needs, particularly in light of Covid-19's effects on students' academic, behavioral, and social-emotional well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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The needs of volunteer community service providers (VCSPs), who are the main responders to community crises, have received significantly less attention for the contributions they have been making during the COVID‐19 crisis. A mixed‐method research framework was used in this study, which involved semi‐structured interviews with 13 NGOs and questionnaire responses from 430 VCSPs in Hubei, China to assess the VCSPs' personal needs based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It was found that the VCSPs had safety, love, belonging, self‐esteem, and self‐actualization personal needs, all of which were closely related to family, partners, organizations, society and the government. The discussions revealed that the more experienced VCSPs needed special attention and family support was extremely significant for VCSPs in crisis. Several recommendations to meet VCSPs' personal needs are proposed that could have valuable reference value for emergency managers when organizing and supporting VCSPs in contingencies. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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The changes in the fields of education, business administration, transportation, science and technology innovation, logistics and supply chain management, etc. caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the post-epidemic era are reviewed in this paper, with research topics such as China's management of medical and health institutions, public health emergency governance, community governance, and national governance being emphasized. The "resilient governance" which is more flexible and resilient has become the common choice both at the national governance level under the background of globalizaiton and at the emergency of public health governance level which pays more attention on the community governance. At the same time, building an institutional coordination and collaboration mechanism that is more adaptable to the post-epidemic era is also a major challenge to future governance. Based on the above analysis, this paper conducts an in-depth analysis of the vague definition of the concept of "post-epidemic era", and discusses the current problems of inadequate use of research methods, inadequate research design, and separation of theoretical and practical values of the research. Finally, from the perspective of restructuring, the future governance concepts and governance models in the post-epidemic era are prospected.
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Summary: Social workers in China have been involved significantly in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article introduces the innovative interdisciplinary remote networking framework which both provides a guide for medical and community social workers' involvement during the COVID-19 outbreaks, and also to support interdisciplinary collaboration with the aim of helping individuals and families in need during the pandemic. Findings: The implementation of interdisciplinary remote networking, developed by Chinese social workers, has effectively addressed the different domains of need experienced by the affected population and has established a new approach for social work in the field of health. The framework also provides an effective model for setting up a targeted and sustained service system that links social workers with psychological and medical resources, which capitalize on social resources to buffer the negative impacts of the disease. Social workers play an essential role during such a public health emergency, providing critical services for patients and families, medical workers, self-quarantined residents, and the general population. Applications: The service mode of interdisciplinary remote networking, based on the frontline experiences of social work interventions in China, may serve as a framework for combating COVID-19 in other countries. The framework is among the initiatives that provide transferrable skills to social work practitioners working in network-based social work services during public health emergencies. Thus, the framework presents implications for future practice development in both disaster social work and also public health social work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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LAY ABSTRACT: Autistic children and adolescents experience high rates of co-occurring mental health conditions, including depression and suicidality, which are frequently identified by stakeholders as treatment priorities. Unfortunately, accessing community-based mental health care is often difficult for autistic youth and their families. The first obstacle families confront is finding a provider that offers mental health treatment to autistic youth within the many service systems involved in supporting the autism community. The mental health and developmental disability systems are two of the most commonly accessed, and previous work has shown there is often confusion over which of these systems is responsible for providing mental health care to autistic individuals. In this study, we conducted a telephone survey to determine the availability of outpatient mental health services for autistic youth with depressive symptoms or suicidal thoughts or behaviors in New York City across the state's mental health and developmental disability systems. Results showed that while a greater percentage of clinics in the mental health system compared with in the developmental disability system offered outpatient mental health services to autistic youth (47.1% vs 25.0%), many more did not offer care to autistic youth and there were very few options overall. Therefore, it is important that changes to policy are made to increase the availability of services and that mental health care providers' knowledge and confidence in working with autistic youth are improved.
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Background: Monitoring differences in COVID-19 vaccination uptake in different groups is crucial to help inform the policy response to the pandemic. A key data gap is the absence of data on uptake by occupation. This study investigates differences in vaccination rates by occupation in England, using nationwide population-level data. Methods: We calculated the proportion of people who had received three COVID-19 vaccinations (assessed on 28 February 2022) by detailed occupational categories in adults aged 18-64 and estimated adjusted ORs to examine whether these differences were driven by occupation or other factors, such as education. We also examined whether vaccination rates differed by ability to work from home. Results: Our study population included 15 456 651 adults aged 18-64 years. Vaccination rates differed markedly by occupation, being higher in health professionals (84.7%) and teaching and other educational professionals (83.6%) and lowest in people working in elementary trades and related occupations (57.6%). We found substantial differences in vaccination rates looking at finer occupational groups. Adjusting for other factors likely to be linked to occupation and vaccination, such as education, did not substantially alter the results. Vaccination rates were associated with ability to work from home, the rate being higher in occupations which can be done from home. Many occupations with low vaccination rates also involved contact with the public or with vulnerable people Conclusions: Increasing vaccination coverage in occupations with low vaccination rates is crucial to help protecting the public and control infection. Efforts should be made to increase vaccination rates in occupations that cannot be done from home and involve contact with the public.
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Participatory research involves working "with" rather than "on" communities. This chapter provides a case study to provide illustration of how effective partnerships can improve health outcomes within community settings. The partnership described in this chapter was developed between the Pasifika community living across Sydney and a university-based research team. The primary aim of this partnership was to work collaboratively on strategies to prevent diabetes and its harms through churches. This partnership was also available to help expedite COVID-19 awareness through this at-risk community, as well as other health initiatives. The chapter illustrates how participatory research frameworks guided the development and maintenance of the relationship with the community throughout the research program and beyond. In particular, the chapter focuses on the church setting and how this came to be identified as being the best setting to reach the Sydney Pasifika community. It also describes the initial steps in the relationship building with key community leaders and the planning of a church-based program to reduce the impact of diabetes in Pasifika communities, guided by a Pasifika community reference group. Last, the chapter explains how a long-term relationship has been maintained with the community to deliver an effective program together, and how further opportunities have been established for the research team to support the Pasifika community outside of the primary research program. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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Objective: To explore emergent values for community-based peer support in three projects and use of peer research methodology. Background: Peer support refers to the support people with shared lived experiences provide to each other. Its roots are in the civil rights movement, providing alternatives to clinical treatments. This method of support is delivered in different settings, with varying degrees of structure. In this paper, it includes shared experience of mental health issues. Methods: We reviewed interview data from two evaluations and one development project - mental health (n = 69), women-only (n = 40), and maternal mental health (n = 24), respectively. Each project used peer research methods. Peer support values from each project were compared, along with reflections from mostly peer researchers who worked on them (n = 11). Results: Six peer support values emerged and were found to be identifiable and applicable in different contexts. Decisions on facilitation and leadership varied across projects and generated some concerns over professionalisation, including non-peer leadership. Frameworks were viewed as broadly useful, but peer support is heterogenous, and peer researchers were concerned about over-rigid application of guidance. Discussion: We propose caution applying frameworks for peer support. Values must remain flexible and peer-led, evolving in new contexts such as COVID-19. Evaluators have a responsibility to consider any potentially negative consequences of their work and mitigate them. This means ensuring research outputs are useful to the peer support community, and knowledge production is based upon methodologies, such as peer research, that complement and are consistent with the values of peer support itself. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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The community reinforcement and family training (CRAFT) program provides group support for families affected by substance use disorders. During the COVID-19 pandemic traditional in-person support groups were limited and moved to online formats out of necessity and safety. This negatively impacted both recipients of group interventions as well as group facilitators. Research on the feasibility and effectiveness of a free, online CRAFT approach was limited at the time of this current study. This study attempted to measure the feasibility of the continued online application of CRAFT groups that utilized Zoom video conferencing software. A quasi-experimental, one-group posttest-only, mixed methods design was utilized in this study to obtain findings to answer these research questions. The sample of this study included data from a free, 12-week online group. These data included surveys from group participants (n=9) and group facilitators (n=8). Participant surveys utilized quantitative and qualitative data to measure group participant satisfaction and the effectiveness of the online group format. Group facilitator surveys utilized quantitative and qualitative items to measure group facilitator satisfaction, ease of access and feasibility of ongoing online group format. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (charts) in IBM SPSS as well as analyses of qualitative data conducted by the researcher. The findings concerning the effectiveness and feasibility of the ongoing application of such online groups were largely inconclusive. However, the findings of this study could inform future studies intended to measure the effectiveness and feasibility of similar ongoing, free, online CRAFT programs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to qualitatively explore the views and opinions of service users accessing remote therapy through a community forensic personality disorder service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative exploratory approach was adopted. Nine community forensic service users accessing virtual/telephone therapy through a community forensic mental health service were interviewed using semi-structed interviews. Data was analysed using Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic analysis techniques. Findings: Analysis resulted in three overall themes: experience of communication in the therapeutic relationship;impacts of the change to remote working and making the best of what we have. A further seven subthemes were developed. A range of advantages and disadvantages to remote therapy were highlighted. Research limitations/implications: This study was based on a small sample of service users accessing one community forensic service in England, and therefore caution should be taken when generalising the findings. All interviews were conducted remotely and thus may have only supported those who are able to engage in this way. Practical implications: This paper has the potential to inform future remote therapy guidelines. Health services should consider keeping some elements of remote working and offering this as a choice to all service users. Originality/value: This study is, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first study that attempts to explore the experiences of individuals accessing remote therapy within a forensic population who have personality disorders or traits. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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In view of the spread of COVID-19 epidemic and many problems existing in the community, such as potential safety hazards, diluted interpersonal relationships, and out-of-place management, a system of one-stop intelligent environmental protection communities based on the Internet was proposed. It not only improves the ability of community staff, provides great convenience for residents and community workers, cares for vulnerable groups, and promotes a happy and harmonious neighborhood life, but also scores residents and staff while monitoring the community environment for safety with the technology application of thermal imaging recognition, PaddleHub-based face and mask recognition. This new system design is easy to implement at low cost and has a simple structure with many functions. The technologies for face and mask recognition proposed in this paper are based on PaddleHub. Experiments on MaskedFace-Net provided by Haute-Alsace University and the pretrained parameters loaded by PaddleHub showed that the accuracy rate with mask recognition was 94.3290 percent using this method. © 2022 ACM.
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To investigate the outcomes of men using a community-based suicide prevention service before and during COVID-19 and to understand experiences of therapists for the rapid adaptation and delivery of the service throughout the pandemic. A mixed-methods approach using quantitative and qualitative data to assess the delivery of the intervention before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CORE-34 and CORE-10 Clinical Outcome Measures (CORE-OM) were used pre and post intervention to measure clinical change in psychological distress for the men engaged with the service. Six therapist interviews were used to supplement this data for the purposes of understanding the delivery of the service remotely during the pandemic. Data was collected between 1 August 2018 and 1 November 2021 (n = 1115). Interview data were conducted between March and May 2021. Across the cohort, for men who received therapy before (n = 450) or during the pandemic (n = 665), there was a statistically significant reduction in mean psychological distress scores between assessment and end of treatment (p < 0.001). Therapists adapted to delivering the hybrid model and discussed the barriers and facilitators to working this way. This study highlighted the effectiveness of the James' Place suicide prevention model in saving lives and managing to adapt during a global pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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School-aged children, as a developmental stage, are a group at high risk for mental health issues, particularly during this pandemic of COVID-19. Children may be perpetrators, witnesses, or victims of violence or irregularities perpetrated directly or through social media. This community service activity is designed to improve the mental health of children during the COVID-19 pandemic through early detection, prevention and early treatment of mental health issues through parental and teacher empowerment programs. When children learn online and do more activities at home with their families, there are many factors that affect children's mental health. For instance, cyberbullying, addiction to gadgets and the Internet, withdrawing from family interactions, anxiety, dishonesty and discipline in the performance of duties and children as witnesses and victims of abuse by those closest to them. This is not widely known by the school, teachers, counsellors and parents clearly, which results in the state of the child getting worse. Through an empowerment program that was conducted with socialization and training on early detection, preventive efforts and early treatment of mental health problems among school-aged children, they can discover early deviations that occur and take preventive measures with early treatment efforts. Henceforth, through this empowerment program, teachers and parents work together to carry out counselling activities and reflection sessions to understand the issues faced by students so that they can intervene immediately. Teachers and parents can work as a team to help children improve physical and mental health through online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly challenged all public social services, particularly home-based community care services (HBCCS). Aberdeen Kai-fong Association (AKA) is a non-government organization (NGO) in Hong Kong that systematically manages the challenges to HBCCS. This paper presents a practical example of the implementation and evaluation of the risk management process for HBCCS. Methods: Mixed-method design was used to evaluate the implementation of the risk management process in encountering the challenges from existing and potential problems to maintain and enhance HBCCS in four major areas amidst the pandemic. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey and three qualitative focus group interviews were conducted by AKA from 30 December 2021 to 12 March 2022 to collect staff feedback on the institutional risk management process in four areas. Results: 109 HBCCS staff members (69% aged 40 years or above; 80% female) completed the questionnaire survey. For resource arrangement and staff training, over 90% of the participants agreed (including strongly agreed) that they had sufficient and reliable personal protective equipment and clear infection control guideline and effective training. Over 80% agreed they had safe working space and effective manpower allocation. However, only 75% agreed they had received emotional support from the organization. Over 90% agreed that the basic services were maintained for service continuation and enhancement, the service users and their families trusted the organization, and the provided services were adjusted according to users' needs. 88% agreed that the organization had obtained support from the neighborhood. For communication among stakeholders, over 80% agreed they had open discussions with the senior management team, and the senior management team was willing to listen. Twenty-six staff members joined the three focus group interviews. The qualitative findings corroborated the quantitative results. Staff appreciated the organisation's work to enhance staff safety and continue advancing services during this difficult period. Regular in-service training, updated information and guidelines to staff, and proactive phone calls to service users, especially the elderly, were suggested to enhance the quality of services. Conclusions: The paper could help NGOs and others encountering management challenges in community social services in diverse settings amidst the pandemic and beyond.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Home Care Services , Aged , Humans , Female , Male , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , Pandemics , Hong Kong/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional StudiesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The community environment plays a vital role in the health of older adults. During the COVID-19 epidemic, older adults, who were considered the most impacted and most vulnerable social group, were confined to their homes during the implementation of management and control measures for the epidemic. In such situations, older adults may have to contend with a lack of resources and experience anxiety. Therefore, identifying the environmental factors that are beneficial for their physical and mental health is critical. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the association between community cohesion and the physical and mental health of older adults and to identify the related community services and environmental factors that may promote community cohesion. METHODS: This community-based cross-sectional study was designed during the COVID-19 epidemic. A multistage sampling method was applied to this study. A total of 2036 participants aged ≥60 years were sampled from 27 locations in China. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews. The neighborhood cohesion instrument consisting of scales on 3 dimensions was used to assess community cohesion. Self-efficacy and life satisfaction, cognitive function and depression, and community services and environmental factors were also measured using standard instruments. Statistical analyses were restricted to 99.07% (2017/2036) of the participants. Separate logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the association among community cohesion and physical and mental health factors, related community services, and environmental factors among older adults. RESULTS: The results showed that high levels of community cohesion were associated with good self-perceived health status and life satisfaction (odds ratio [OR] 1.27, 95% CI 1.01-1.59 and OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.15-1.27, respectively) and high levels of self-efficacy and psychological resilience (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.05-1.13 and OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.03-1.06, respectively). The length of stay in the community and the level of physical activity were positively associated with community cohesion scores, whereas the education level was negatively associated with community cohesion scores (P=.009). Community cohesion was also associated with low levels of depression and high levels of cognitive function. Community cohesion was significantly associated with community services and environmental factors on 4 dimensions. High levels of community cohesion were associated with transportation services and rehabilitation equipment rental services as well as high levels of satisfaction with community physicians' technical expertise and community waste disposal (OR 3.14, 95% CI 1.87-5.28; OR 3.62, 95% CI 2.38-5.52; OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.08-1.73; and OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.01-1.50, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Community cohesion was found to be associated with the physical and mental health of older adults. Our research suggests that enhancing community services and environmental resources may be an effective strategy to increase community cohesion during major infectious disease epidemics.
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COVID-19 , Community Networks , Epidemics , Mental Health , Aged , Humans , COVID-19/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Health Status , Social Environment , Self EfficacyABSTRACT
Municipalities and nonprofit organizations play a major role in administrating services that support individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore how these organizations responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in regards to service delivery and programming for people with disabilities. This qualitative interpretative description study used semi-structured individual interviews for data collection. Recordings of the interviews were transcribed. Then the transcripts were analyzed qualitatively for themes following an inductive approach. Twenty-six individuals working for nonprofit organization or municipalities participated in the study. Six themes were identified: doing more with less; adapting rather than creating new services; ongoing consultation with stakeholders; feeling successful at adapting the services; being innovative with fundraising and embracing radical change. Flexibility and iterative user-centered approach appeared to be common coping strategies. Remote services were privileged to adapt service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The community reinforcement and family training (CRAFT) program provides group support for families affected by substance use disorders. During the COVID-19 pandemic traditional in-person support groups were limited and moved to online formats out of necessity and safety. This negatively impacted both recipients of group interventions as well as group facilitators. Research on the feasibility and effectiveness of a free, online CRAFT approach was limited at the time of this current study. This study attempted to measure the feasibility of the continued online application of CRAFT groups that utilized Zoom video conferencing software. A quasi-experimental, one-group posttest-only, mixed methods design was utilized in this study to obtain findings to answer these research questions. The sample of this study included data from a free, 12-week online group. These data included surveys from group participants (n=9) and group facilitators (n=8). Participant surveys utilized quantitative and qualitative data to measure group participant satisfaction and the effectiveness of the online group format. Group facilitator surveys utilized quantitative and qualitative items to measure group facilitator satisfaction, ease of access and feasibility of ongoing online group format. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (charts) in IBM SPSS as well as analyses of qualitative data conducted by the researcher. The findings concerning the effectiveness and feasibility of the ongoing application of such online groups were largely inconclusive. However, the findings of this study could inform future studies intended to measure the effectiveness and feasibility of similar ongoing, free, online CRAFT programs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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Community service has become an indispensable source of service in people's life, but the traditional way of service can't meet people's fast pace of life. Therefore, smart community (smart city) appears in people's vision, which can greatly improve the quality of our life and reduce the inconvenient factors that life may bring. The smart community designed and studied in this paper is divided into five functional modules: user login and registration function, function selection, personnel management, vehicle management, health management module. Among them, the login function, function selection, personnel management module is to interact with the database, to achieve the transmission of information. The health management module is based on the naive Bayes algorithm to classify the safety level of COVID-19, a currently popular influenza virus, to realize the health monitoring of community personnel and prevent the continuous spread of Novel Coronavirus. The intelligent community can ensure the integrity of data and information, simple operation, perfect function and superior performance. At the same time, the intelligent community combined with the naive Bayes algorithm for health management design, embodies the development principle of intelligent community, people-oriented. © 2022 IEEE.
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Research Objectives To describe community brain injury (BI) associations’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design Anonymous online survey study. Setting In January 2022 the project team, including community BI association co-investigators, collected responses from key stakeholders in the 70 eligible BI associations across Canada. Participants Respondents were from 45 associations, including associations in Pacific/Western (n=18;40%), Central (n=25;56%), and Atlantic Canada (n=2;4%). Respondents were primarily paid executive directors (n=35;78%) representing primarily associations employing 10 or less people (n=33;77%) but serving 100 or more different clients (n=31;69%) before the COVID-19 pandemic. Interventions None. Main Outcome Measures The online 26-item survey had quantitative and narrative questions about three main topics: association sustainability, meeting the needs of clients, and addressing public health. Results Thirty-four (76%) associations reported reductions in funding or financial resources during the pandemic which affected provision of programs or services, and only 14 (31%) received sufficient funds to a large or very large extent to cover additional pandemic-related expenses. Yet, twenty-eight (62%) associations reported increased demand for their programs or services, and 42 (93%) innovated their programs or services to meet varied and widespread client needs during the pandemic. Forty-two (93%) associations provided services or information to clients to explain public health guidelines, and forty-one (91%) associations reported clients experienced challenges in understanding and following public health guidelines. Narrative data provided further depth to the quantitative data. Conclusions Community BI associations have a vital role in the long-term rehabilitation and management of BI. However, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged BI associations to remain sustainable and meet the needs of their clients. Researchers and policy makers need to acknowledge and adequately support the indispensable work of associations in the BI rehabilitation continuum, as the loss of community BI associations could have vast ramifications. Author(s) Disclosures This survey study was funded in part by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR);the funder did not have a role in design, data collection, analysis, or reporting.
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The confluence of the two major challenges has combined to create special challenges for rural nonprofits serving victims of crime: the fluctuation of federal funding, and the Covid-19 pandemic. We discuss the challenges faced by Child Advocacy Centers in northwestern South Carolina in the context of these shifting challenges. From qualitative interviews conducted at 14 centers in this primarily rural region, we explain the challenges they face and the potential effects on the communities they serve interpreted through the lens of Resource Dependence Theory, which predicts that organizations reduce uncertainty of funding through increasing their partnership bonds with cooperative entities. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)