Poetry and prose: Mediating and modeling faculty member mental health and wellness

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has resulted in an amplified focus on mental health and wellness for post-secondary education students, educators, and administrators. Knowledge regarding the mental health and wellness of educators and administrators within post-secondary institutions and the support mechanisms available are limited, but during this time of crisis have become increasingly necessary. Relationships and interactions that were once organic in nature are now occurring through alternative virtual methods, and we propose that communal creative writing provides a space for building rapport and reenergizing ourselves and our students. A Creative Writing Community established within a Faculty of Education is mediating and modeling the types of critical-collaborative spaces needed for pre-service teachers and adult/mature educators and researchers in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world. Unnecessary divides between creative and academic approaches to writing are bridged as the skills and techniques required to compose poetry and prose reveal an innovative and independent means of expression with the potential to promote mental health and wellness among post-secondary education stakeholders. This poetic inquiry case study delivers practical recommendations for facilitating community problem-solving, promoting educator and administrator well-being, and developing pedagogical/andragogical solutions and strategies for application within online and remote teaching and learning platforms. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Thermal Tourism: Study of the Profile and Motivations of the Practitioner in Portugal

Health and wellness tourism had a growing interest in the Portuguese population until 2019. However, with the ap-pearance of Covid-19, several establishments had to close over these two years, this segment being one of the most affected areas. Many water users looked forward to the opening of the spa resorts to continue their treatments. Giv- en the importance of this theme, this work has as its main goal the definition of a consumer profile and to identify the determinants of satisfaction of the thermal tourists, as well as to gauge the degree of knowledge of thermal tourism and specifically of spas in the Portuguese context. In methodological terms, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the tourists to achieve the research objectives. The results show a younger, healthier and diversified thermal tourism practitioner. It also reveals similarities with other profile and motivations studies. However, it is possible to notice a few differences. Practitioners are seeking a combination of a leisure and health dimension and valorise fac- tors such as location and access of the establishments, quality of the services provided and rest and tranquillity. An issue regarding their length of stay has been identified. As they are locals and live in the same country as the thermal spa, most respondents do not stay overnight at the destination. In the future, it would be interesting to research product development and market strategies for diversified thermal practitioners.

Health and Wellness Tourists' Motivation and Behavior Intention: The Role of Perceived Value.

In recent years, with the rapid change of people's health concept, health and wellness tourism has shown a vigorous development trend. However, existing literature has been lacking on travelers' behavioral intentions, influenced by their motivation in health and wellness tourism. To fill in this gap, we designed scales of tourists' behavioral intention and motivation in health and wellness tourism and investigated the aforementioned effects, with a sample of 493 visitors who have traveled in health and wellness tourism. Factor analysis and structural equation models were applied to explore the relations among motivation, perceived value, and behavioral intention in health and wellness tourism. The results indicate that health and wellness tourists' motivation significantly positively predicts their behavior intentions. Travelers' perceived value of health and wellness tourism significantly partially mediates the associations between their behavioral intention and escape motivation, attractive motivation, environmental motivation, as well as interpersonal motivation. No empirical evidence supports the mediating role of perceived value in the correlation between consumption motivation and behavioral intention. Health and wellness tourism industries are encouraged to meet the intrinsic motivation of travelers and make them perceive the value of this kind of tourism, which in turn promotes tourists' choice, evaluation, and satisfaction of health and wellness tourism.

Applying health design thinking to uncover actors in the sustenance of health and wellbeing during hotel quarantine in kuwait

This visual essay centers on the author's hotel quarantine experience in Kuwait. While many quarantine stories have been recorded, personal stories involving the relationship between human and non-human actors within a quarantined space are still overlooked. By focusing on the maintenance of health and wellness during quarantine, this essay visually communicates the hotel quarantine experience by using a health design thinking approach. By presenting a series of photographs, actors' interactions, and journey maps, the author attempts to convey a connection between human and non-human actors during quarantine, and prompts a discussion on what can be done to improve hotel quarantine systems in the future. © The Author(s) 2022.

Ten Minutes a Semester: Evaluation of a Short Wellness Intervention for Undergraduate Chemistry and Biology Courses

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many challenges undergraduate students face including their ability to manage stress. Poor stress management can contribute to poor academic performance and health outcomes;better wellness habits and stress reduction go hand-in-hand, as improved wellness habits reduce overall stress and expand positive stress management strategies. This article describes the design of a short wellness intervention for STEM classes and its evaluation after implementation in five chemistry and biology courses that span the four years of a biochemistry degree. This intervention, composed of a short, in-class presentation and an associated supplemental resource handout, presents students with information on five wellness areas: sleep, nutrition, water intake, exercise, and meditation and mindfulness. Students were surveyed at three points (once preintervention and twice postintervention) in one semester and asked to report their perceived stress, current wellness habits, and overall perception of the intervention. Notably, the majority of students (89%) thought the intervention should be included in other courses. The importance of completing the intervention in class was underscored by the small number of students (19%) who reported accessing the additional resources provided outside of class. Student wellness habits did not dramatically shift postintervention, but this study garnered insights into the barriers students face when attempting to change their wellness behavior. Overwhelmingly students reported that academic workload was the dominant factor hindering positive wellness change. The intervention materials, including a suggested script, are shared, and data-supported recommendations for implementation in other courses and institutions are provided.

Applying health design thinking to uncover actors in the sustenance of health and wellbeing during hotel quarantine in Kuwait

This visual essay centers on the author's hotel quarantine experience in Kuwait. While many quarantine stories have been recorded, personal stories involving the relationship between human and non-human actors within a quarantined space are still overlooked. By focusing on the maintenance of health and wellness during quarantine, this essay visually communicates the hotel quarantine experience by using a health design thinking approach. By presenting a series of photographs, actors' interactions, and journey maps, the author attempts to convey a connection between human and non-human actors during quarantine, and prompts a discussion on what can be done to improve hotel quarantine systems in the future.

Still Thriving: A Case Illustrating How COVID-19 Affected Indigenous Health and Wellness

The myriad of social, financial, material health, and educational inequities that continue to plague Indigenous communities was exacerbated by COVID-19. In order to place on spotlight on them, this case follows Star, an Indigenous Student Success Coordinator. as she navigated the policies and practices couched in the rhetoric of supporting the success, health and wellness of students and families during a global pandemic. The case and teaching notes that follow illustrate the limitations that Westernized models of health and wellness create for Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators when it comes to maintaining their students' and own well-being. As an alternative to the dominant Westernized models, the teaching notes offer a more holistic and integrated model of Indigenous health and wellness. The elements of the model situate health and wellness as encompassing all aspects of an individual's life by connecting them relationally to their families and communities, nations, and the land.

Nuevas prácticas sostenibles en salud y bienestar destinos turísticos enfocados en la calidad de vida y bienestar

This work presents new practices that can be followed in health and wellness tourism destinations, with a greater focus on promoting human wellbeing, based on the strategy presented for the Caldas da Cavaca Thermal Spa Resort in Portugal. In this study, the methodology used was based on empirical data collection. Four techniques were used, namely a benchmarking strategy, complemented by questionnaires to managers of thermal spas, and a questionnaire survey aimed at the clients and manager of Caldas da Cavaca. In this strategy, a set of 40 strategic actions were defined. These actions are in line with the policies and strategies defined by public decision-making international, national, regional and local organizations. In this sense, with regard to the promotion of quality of life and wellbeing, it is possible to highlight 14 measures that strengthen this orientation. It should position itself as an innovative, attractive thermal wellness destination that invites to a healthy lifestyle, in a calm and peaceful environment in interaction with nature.Alternate : Este trabajo presenta nuevas prácticas que se pueden seguir en los destinos turísticos de salud y bienestar, con un mayor enfoque en la promoción del bienestar humano, a partir de la estrategia presentada para el Balneario Termal de Caldas da Cavaca en Portugal. En este estudio, la metodología utilizada se basó en la recolección de datos empíricos, se utilizaron cuatro técnicas, a saber, una estrategia de benchmarking, complementada con cuestionarios a gerentes de balnearios termales, y una encuesta cuestionario dirigida a los clientes y gerente de Caldas da Cavaca. En esta estrategia se definen un conjunto de 40 acciones estratégicas. Estas acciones están en línea con las políticas y estrategias definidas por los organismos públicos de toma de decisiones internacionales, nacionales, regionales y locales. En este sentido, en lo que respecta a la promoción de la calidad de vida y el bienestar, es posible destacar 14 medidas que fortalecen esta orientación. Debe posicionarse como un destino de bienestar termal innovador y atractivo que invita a un estilo de vida saludable, en un entorno tranquilo y pacífico en interacción con la naturaleza.

Home Office, Health Behavior and Workplace Health Promotion of Employees in the Telecommunications Sector during the Pandemic.

Our study aims to present the perception and experiences of employees at a large multinational telecommunications company in Hungary working in home offices, as well as their health behavior and the workplace health promotion during the SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 outbreak. The sample consisted of the full sample of highly skilled employees at a large telecommunication multinational company (N = 46). Throughout the analysis, tests for homogeneity of variance were followed by a MANOVA test to compare the groups' means by gender, age, and job classification. The results clearly show that in the short term, workers' mental health did not deteriorate, they do not argue or fight more with their partners and are no more depressed or irritable than before. Workers are less likely to think of ways to be more effective at work than in a home office. Similarly, they do not think that employers have more expectations than before the pandemic. Our research shows the assumption about home workers being less efficient or less diligent in their daily work to be false. A supportive and flexible employer approach to health-conscious employees will be an essential aspect in the future.

Measuring the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Diné and White Mountain Apache school personnel, families, and students: protocol for a prospective longitudinal cohort study.

BACKGROUND: This paper describes the protocol for a longitudinal cohort study, "Project SafeSchools" (PSS), which focuses on measuring the effects of COVID-19 and the return to in-person learning on Diné (Navajo) and White Mountain Apache (Apache) youth, parents, and educators. The early surges of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of most reservation and border town schools serving Diné and Apache communities. This study aims to: (1) understand the barriers and facilitators to school re-opening and in-person school attendance from the perspective of multiple stakeholders in Diné and Apache communities; and (2) evaluate the educational, social, emotional, physical, and mental health impacts of returning to in-person learning for caregivers and youth ages 4-16 who reside or work on the Diné Nation and the White Mountain Apache Tribal lands. METHODS: We aim to recruit up to N = 200 primary caregivers of Diné and Apache youth ages 4-16 and up to N = 120 school personnel. In addition, up to n = 120 of these primary caregivers and their children, ages 11-16, will be selected to participate in qualitative interviews to learn more about the effects of the pandemic on their health and wellbeing. Data from caregiver and school personnel participants will be collected in three waves via self-report surveys that measure COVID-19 related behaviors and attitudes, mental health, educational attitudes, and cultural practices and beliefs for both themselves and their child (caregiver participants only). We hypothesize that an individual's engagement with a variety of cultural activities during school closures and as school re-opened will have a protective effect on adult and youth mental health as they return to in-person learning. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will inform the development or implementation of preventative interventions that may help Diné and Apache youth and their families recover from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and positively impact their health and wellness.

Implementation of an onboard COVID-19 vaccination programme: a university partnership to vaccinate seafarers.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused many seafarers to be stranded on their ships due to lack of access to a vaccine and fear of contracting the COVID-19 virus limiting their ability to work on the ship. Once COVID-19 vaccinations were available, a lack of access to the vaccine continued to exist in the underserved seafarer population. This lack of access to the COVID-19 vaccine meant that seafarers were sometimes unable to leave their ships for months beyond their original contracts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The University of South Florida (USF) College of Nursing collaborated with the USF Morsani Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy in the development and implementation of an onboard COVID-19 vaccination programme at the request of the Port of Tampa Ministries. RESULTS: In 6 months, 1237 seafarers from 30 countries and 5 continents received the COVID-19 vaccination as a result of this programme. CONCLUSIONS: Partnership between a commercial port and a College of Nursing at a local university enabled hundreds of seafarers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This programme serves as a model for industry and academic partnerships that can have a global impact on health and wellness.

Development and Implementation of a Biometrics Device Design Project in an Introductory BME Course to Support Student Wellness.

Mental health challenges have been rising across college campuses. To destigmatize wellness practices and promote student mental health, we present a novel technical project in an introductory bioengineering course that explores stress management techniques through physiology, biosensors, and design. We hypothesize that if students measure objective, physiologic impacts of stress management techniques on themselves, they may be more likely to realize the benefits and use those techniques when needed. Additionally, through this data-driven project, we aim to appeal to engineers' critical thinking nature. To support students in selecting stress management techniques for themselves, mindfulness is introduced and practiced in the course. Initial student feedback on the introduction of mindfulness into the classroom is positive. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need to focus on student wellbeing in addition to physical health. Integration of wellness into the core curriculum can normalize the use of these resources within engineering departments and colleges and equip students with stress management tools for their careers. Ultimately, this curricular development lays the groundwork for institutional enhancement of undergraduate STEM education by supporting student wellness through the engineering curriculum. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43683-021-00060-1.

Evaluating Potential Respiratory Benefits of Forest-Based Experiences: A Regional Scale Approach

Background: Several studies have suggested the possibility of obtaining specific respiratory benefits by experiencing forests and other natural resources. Despite this, forests have never been considered according to such potential. This study aims to compare municipalities by considering the absence/presence of tree species generating ‘above threshold’ potential respiratory benefits. Methods: The autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy has been assumed as a research area. The natural resource based view (NRBV), postulating the strategic role played by natural resources in achieving both above-average (thus ‘valuable’) and ‘concentrated’ (thus ‘rare’ among competitors) performance, has been adopted. The literature reviews dealing with potential respiratory benefits of biogenic organic compounds (BVOCs) emitted by trees, published within the ‘forest therapy’ research field, have been adopted. Three analysis models rating tree species by their potential respiratory benefits in ‘holistic-general’ (P1), ‘particular’ (P2), and ‘dynamic” terms (P3) have been outlined. The resulting overall potentials of tree species have been assessed by adopting the well-rooted Hollerith distance (HD) model. Tree species have been rated “1” when they satisfy one or more of 58 potential respiratory benefits. Municipalities have been ranked by considering the surface area covered by forest types whose dominant tree species achieve above-average potential respiratory benefits. QGIS software has been adopted to geographically reference the results obtained. Results: (P1) Valuable municipalities include those covered by both coniferous and deciduous forests;(P2–3) Municipalities achieving the highest potential respiratory benefits, in both particular and dynamic terms, have been mapped. Discussion: Forest-based initiatives that are running in the preselected municipalities can be both further improved and diversified in a targeted way. Conclusions: Despite some limitations mostly embedded in the concept of ‘model’, this study allows scholars to reduce uncertainties when locating municipalities in which to conduct local-scale experiments.

Predicting COVID-19 and other Lung Related Diseaseslike Pneumonia and Tuberculosis using Deep Learning

severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) provisionally named COVID-19 is a significant public health and wellness issue. It is rapidly dispersed around the world, leading to a colossal mortality rate. Pneumonia or lung infection is the most usual complication of COVID-19. The best and critical advance in battling COVID-19 is the capacity to recognize the tainted patients quickly and put them under seclusion. As a typical symptomatic apparatus, an X-Ray is fast and simple to secure absent a lot of costs. Developing a touchy analytic apparatus utilizing X-Ray pictures can accelerate the symptomatic cycle and is supplementing and steady to RT-PCR just as the Antigen-based tests. By benefiting the solid component learning capacity, profound learning techniques can mine highlights that are consequently relied upon to have quick and vigorous outcomes that are identified with clinical results from Chest X-Ray pictures. Subsequently, the point is to foster a profound learning framework to effectively recognize, characterize and distinguish amid COVID-19, viral Pneumonia and Tuberculosis from a bunch of chest X-Ray pictures utilizing profound learning techniques which could help exceptionally obliged clinical experts, professionals and analysts in deciding the route of medicine. © 2021 IEEE

Controlling Spread of COVID-19 Using VANETs

COVID-19 is spreading at an exponential rate and declared as 'Pandemic' by the World Health Organization (WHO). The only way of controlling its spread is 'social distancing' among the human beings. Apart from human beings, it can also spread through other objects such as metals and plastics which are used in public passenger buses, cars and trains. Studies reveal that the COVID-19 virus can stay on metallic things for 2-5 days. This makes traveling more difficult for regular employees to their workplace. Also, due to increasing number of COVID-19 patients, it is very difficult for a patient to find the required resources at hospitals. In this paper, we propose a VANET-IoT framework for detection of COVID-19 exposure in various entities such as vehicles. A vehicle is said to be virus-exposed if it carries any COVID-19 positive patient. We develop an Android application 'Corona Assistant' for travelers to find all virus-exposed vehicles and chose virus-free vehicle for traveling. In addition, a hospital recommendation system (HRS) is developed inside the 'Corona Assistant' application. HRS helps the COVID-19 positive patient to select the nearby hospital based on available resources.

Women's Lives Matter-The Critical Need for Women to Prioritize Optimal Physical Activity to Reduce COVID-19 Illness Risk and Severity.

Physical activity (PA) is beneficial for the health and wellness of individuals and societies. During an infectious disease pandemic, such as the one caused by COVID-19, social distancing, quarantines, and lockdowns are used to reduce community spread of the disease. Unfortunately, such nonpharmacological interventions or physical risk mitigation measures also make it challenging to engage in PA. Reduced PA could then trigger physiological changes that affect both mental and physical health. In this regard, women are more likely to experience physical and psychological distress. PA is a safe and effective nonpharmacological modality that can help prevent and manage several mental and physical health problems when performed correctly. PA might even confer benefits that are directly related to decreasing COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in women. In this review, we summarize why optimal PA must be a priority for women during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then discuss chronic COVID-19 illness and its impact on women, which further underscores the need for worldwide preventive health strategies that include PA. Finally, we discuss the importance of vaccination against COVID-19 for women, as part of prioritizing preventive healthcare and an active lifestyle.

Experiences with use of a pulse oximeter multimodal device in outpatient management of children with Acute Respiratory Infection during Covid pandemic.

BACKGROUND: While Covid-19 infection rate in children is low, respiratory symptoms are a common mode of presentation which calls for better management of such symptoms. However, ARI case managemnet in primary health settings settings has challenges as health workers lack skills to count respiratory rate and check chest indrawing. To address this multimodal pulse oximeters have been introduced in health and wellness centres of seven states to ease the work of front line health workers. A study was undertaken to understand the usability of the multimodal pulse oximeter during Covid times. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted with the aid of indepth interviews among a convenience sample of eleven health care workers from ten health and wellness centres. Interviews were conducted and recorded over phone, after obtaining consent. Transcribed interviews were coded and analysed on a qualitative analysis software. Content analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Total children screened during covid lockdown period (April 1-May 31) is 571, those diagnosed with pneumonia and severe pneumonia is 68 and 2. Health care workers were satisfied with pulse oximeter as it helped in timely diagnosis and treatment, and offered protection from possible infection as it mitigated the need for physical contact. CONCLUSION: The multimodal pulse oximeter is well accepted among providers as it is easy to use aiding in timely management of ARI in children. It has an added protection as it's use reduces the need for physical contact. It can be adopted in other HWC and primary health facilities.