Preferably professional rather than spiritual. Communicating offers of mindfulness promotion in the university setting

Background: Mindfulness training has become an increasingly important part of health management at universities. The need for this type of training has been reinforced by the massive limitations of presence education and social contacts due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevention. However, students are still quite reluctant to take part in such training, although their positive effects have been repeatedly proven. Objectives: Thus, the goal of our research was to examine perceptions and barriers among university students, and to deduce strategies for target-group oriented communication for mindfulness training. Methods: We conducted qualitative interviews with male and female students with low and high experience in mindfulness training. Results: It was shown that students prefer an ideologically neutral and evidence-based framing of the trainings. Emphasis of the spiritual background seems to limit the access for inexperienced users (although they are a relevant part for experienced users). In addition, it is important for the interviewed students that the advertisement for the mindfulness training depicts the relevance for academic and professional challenges without selling them as tools for performance enhancement. Conclusions: Although the roots of mindfulness training is spiritual, inexperienced users are skeptical about these aspects. This corresponds with more general discussions about the introduction of mindfulness training at universities. Furthermore, evidence for the selection of gatekeepers (authentic intermediaries) and the selection of message strategies (diverse exemplars) can be deduced. © 2021, The Author(s).

Effective communication management in a public health crisis: lessons learned about COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of health communication executives

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to provide insights on the COVID-19 pandemic communication from the lessons learned by health communication executives-how they perceived the COVID-19 pandemic and recommend preparing for communication management of future public health crises.Design/methodology/approachA number of top health communication executives in the United States, who worked in the healthcare industry for at least 25 years and held titles like director, president and chief strategist, were interviewed for their unique perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used the contingency theory of strategic conflict management for qualitative deductive analysis of the following segmentations of key factors that drove organizational communication management decision making during the pandemic: organization characteristics, relationship characteristics, general external climate, external publics and the issue under question.FindingsHealth communication executives heavily relied on their past health communication experiences, which led to nuanced understandings of the COVID-19 pandemic. Practically, the health communication executives urged future practitioners to constantly assess risks, hire and use diverse and representative decision-makers;set a communication protocol;and keep the communication in perspective. Theoretically, the contingency theory is furthered-there appears to be a theoretical linkage between the construct of general external climate and the construct of the external public.Originality/valueThe unique perspectives of top health communication executives, based in the United States, provided in-depth insights on the COVID-19 pandemic-its nuances, challenges and main influences (e.g. political, racial, etc.). These takeaways and recommendations can be adapted by other organizations and future health communicators in other parts of the world.

New Normal Remote Communication for Collaboration

Remote communication is not new for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry and academia. Organisations started using what was common, called "conference rooms” with sophisticated technological equipment prepared for "conference calls” when face-to-face meetings were not possible, and the industries culture and work practices were rooted in face-to-face meetings. This was current practice until the beginning of 2020, with the emergence of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic forced people to have safe distances between them, to be isolated for long periods of time, and several restrictions to travel not being possible to meet face-to-face. This situation rapidly created a new need to find ways to communicate as alternatives to traditional face-to-face meetings, for "conference call rooms” anywhere and accessible at any time by everyone. The extended duration of the pandemic made organisations adapt to that new normal and remarkable new opportunities arose in a new way. This article explores recent situations in academia and industry that can highlight potential guidance towards the new normal in remote communication for learning–teaching and the AEC industry sectors. In conclusion, appropriate use of these electronic processes provides opportunities to significantly improve remote communication in future. It is expected that the number of opportunities to develop international relationships and partnerships can be boosted to another level of accessibility. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Academic research: Data collection, technologization and pandemic

Since Covid-19 was declared a pandemic, academic researchers have tried to maintain the continuity of scientific processes and overcome the difficulties of field work;this motivated the exploration of new forms of data collection adapted to the changes imposed by the pandemic. The methodology used was exploratory-documentary, focused on the new media used by academic research and the way in which the instruments have had to adapt to the social limitations imposed on nations. The results show that thanks to teleworking and information and communication technologies, it has been possible to continue collecting data from virtual environments, which has involved reconsidering criteria and tools. It is concluded that the existence of renewed forms of data collection is marked mainly by the media, highlighting that the use of social and academic networks has expanded its borders, which has been used by researchers to have an approach to reality in the contemporaneity. © 2023, Universidad del Zulia. All rights reserved.

TELEMEDICINE IN HYPERTENSION

The COVID19 pandemic resulted in lock-downs and reduction of social interactions to reduce the risks of disease transmission. Routine medical services were affected and telemedicine was rapidly adopted for the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of many chronic diseases including hypertension. We look at the considerations for the design and set-up of telemedicine for the management of hypertension. Many aspects need attention in order to ensure a safe, reliable, and effective program. Many regulatory agencies developed guidelines, advisories, regulations, and legislation to manage telemedicine. We examine some of these guidelines and their differences in South East Asian countries. Often, the professional clinical service standards in telemedicine are maintained by the state medical boards or councils. Additional training or certification and licensure is needed prior to providing telemedicine services. In-person visits are required when remote consultations cannot meet the professional clinical standards. Because telemedicine can traverse national boundaries, different regulators differ in their approach to the provision of telemedicine services to overseas patients. Nonetheless, the doctor must meet the same standard of care for overseas patients. Also, practice insurance will need to explicitly cover the practice of telemedicine especially for overseas patients. Besides the professional clinical standards, telemedicine differs by technology platforms, communication devices, software, and blood pressure monitoring devices. These varied devices and software require further evaluation of technical standards for safety, reliability, data privacy, storage, transmission, and licensure. Some of the guidelines also cover the need for quality improvements and technology upgrades. Regardless, there have been many studies of telemedicine in hypertension covering many aspects of care. Some can be simpler telemonitoring of blood pressure to highly sophisticated ones with devices linked to personal communicators (usually cellphone) with feedback to healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists) and tagged to clinical interventions to improve the control of hypertension. Reviews of these studies show that hypertension telemedicine programs are effective but the evidence may be available in different practice settings and patient types, thus, complicating the design and recommendations. Therefore, it is important to review the type of practice and patients, determine which aspects are lacking to be targeted, and designing a good program. A good program will lead to better clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, lower cost, reduced manpower for delivery of care, and convenience all round. Clinical practice guidelines and undergraduate and postgraduate medical training need to encompass telemedicine for the future.

How Dialogic Vaccine Communication in the Workplace Facilitates Employee Advocacy for COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake

Encouraging employees' vaccine uptake and motivating their vaccine advocacy are crucial steps to secure workplace health and safety during the current pandemic. Yet, how to achieve those steps remains challenging. To address this challenge, this study examines whether and how companies' vaccine communication efforts with employees, particularly dialogic communication, can motivate employees' advocacy behaviors for COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Specifically, by drawing insights from public relations, management, psychology, and health communication research, we predict that organizations' dialogic communication will enhance employees' perceptions of organizational support for vaccination, which will further increase employees' positive emotions while decreasing their negative emotions toward the vaccines. These emotional states will ultimately contribute to employees' vaccine advocacy. An online survey among 505 full-time U.S. employees supported our predictions. Our study advances public relations, organizational communication, and workplace health scholarships and practice by revealing the under-explored role of workplace communication in promoting public health. © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Digital Competence A Case Study of Preservice Teacher Education Students in the Sultanate of Oman

The study looked into how COVID-19 affected the digital competence of a group of preservice teacher education students at a higher education institution in the Sultanate of Oman. The paper examined students' digital profile in five areas namely information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, safety and problem solving. Data from 32 undergraduate students was collected by utilizing DigComp, a European Commission digital skills self-assessment tool and findings from a survey. The digital competence framework measures the set of skills, knowledge and attitudes that describes what it means to be digitally competent. These skills are important for students to be effective global citizens in the 21st century. The results of the study revealed that the majority of the students scored Level 3 (Intermediate) in their self-assessment competency test score. The majority of the students perceived that their digital competence improved significantly as the result of online learning which was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rationale of this investigation is that it helps educators understand the students' level of digital competence and the students' perspectives on ICT skills. In turn, it informs us the ways to monitor the students' digital progress and the next steps in developing their digital competency © 2023, International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications.All Rights Reserved.

Chemistry Students as Science Journalists: Creating a Virtual Magazine about COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is also an infodemic, which has brought scientists closer to the popular media, highlighting the need for training in public communication of science and technology. A virtual magazine environment based on this scenario was simulated during a science communication course attended by first-year undergraduate chemistry students, who assumed the role of science journalists. The instructor, in the role of editor, organized a special issue on chemistry and COVID-19 and structured the activities into science communication classes, agenda building, interviews with nonexperts, writing popular science texts, peer reviews, and online publishing. Fifty-eight popular science texts were produced on different topics of chemistry related to the pandemic. The activity contributed to improving communication, information literacy, and media and technology learning, which are among the 21st century skills for science education. © 2022 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Social media and Generation Z

This article seeks to analyse the currently evolution of the uses of Social Media. The Generation Z are changing the relationship between users of social networks, evolving towards a more active role. We have two objectives in this article: analyse how young people interact with Social Media and what contents they prefer. Within a context in which COVID 19 has made change this relationships. In order to know these uses, a qualitative and also a quantitative study has been carried out, with surveys between young people (11-18 years old). © 2023, CEU Ediciones. All rights reserved.

Twitter as a Communication Tools for Vaccine Policy in Indonesia: An Analysis

This study aims to see Twitter as a medium for regional heads to succeed in vaccine policies. Anis Basewedan, Ridwan Kamil, and Ganjar Pranowo, as Governors, actively maximize Twitter to invite the public to support and want to be vaccinated, which is one of the keys to handling the Covid-19 crisis through the creation of herd immunity. The study used the Nvivo 12 Plus Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDAS) approach. The data for this study used the Twitter social media of the three regional heads, namely@aniesbaswedan, @ridwankamil, and @ganjarpranowo. The results showed that the three of them were very active in informing the vaccination schedule, emphasizing the safety of vaccination, and inviting the public to want to be vaccinated. Through concise and clear messages, the three of them emphasize that one of the primary keys to getting out of the Covid-19 pandemic and recovering social and economic life is through vaccination. This research further highlights the usefulness of social media in crisis management, so it is necessary to continue to increase its use by leaders.

Antecedents and moderators of positive word of mouth communication among tourist destination residents during the COVID-19 pandemic

Word of mouth (WOM) communication has been recognized for a long time as an activity to improve the efficiency and success of communication efforts. The purpose of this paper is to examine potential antecedents and moderators of positive WOM of tourist destination residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three WOM predictors are examined, i.e. trustworthiness in communication of authorities, destination reputation, and prevention measures, whereas two sociodemographic variables are considered as moderators, i.e. gender and age, and more specifically, generational cohorts. Empirical research has been conducted among residents of a tourist destination, considered important stakeholders who actively participate in tourist destination branding. Data were collected through an online survey distributed through e-mail marketing lists and online panels. After obtaining 480 valid responses, data were subject to normality tests, Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), measurement invariance assessment, and multi-group analysis. Findings reveal that residents' positive WOM is caused by their perceptions of destination reputation and adoption measures, being the role of trustworthiness in communication of authorities insignificant in residents' WOM engagement. Among the two sociodemographic variables, only gender is found to moderate one relationship (i.e. reputation-WOM), with stronger effects among women. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The effects of the 2020–2021 Coronavirus pandemic change-event on football refereeing: evidence from the Israeli and Portuguese leagues

Upon the emergence of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic (CP), football referees were forced to cope with the interruption of leagues and experience quarantines, with a potential threat to their physical and psychological well-being. This study examined referees' perceptions of the CP change-event, particularly the effects on refereeing engagement and performance, in part to facilitate more effective support. For this study, an online inventory was circulated during January–February 2021 to 198 referees and assistants from Israel and Portugal, asking them to reflect on the CP in the context of their careers, and the potential effects on their refereeing engagement and performance. The results indicated that the CP was perceived as a moderate change-event in terms of significance, severity, and coping, although many participants did consider it as significant. The participants indicated just a minor reduction in their refereeing quality between the 2019–2020 and the 2020–2021 seasons. The main areas affected were training on a grass field, decision-making training, and financial status. Still, refereeing instruction (conducted mainly online) improved. The behavioural effects were more forceful among the non-professional referees, suggesting that Referee Associations must pay closer attention to support these populations. The participants' motivation, refereeing identity, and self-efficacy were actually improved. Finally, the absence of the crowd in matches allowed the referees to be more aware of their actions and better communicate with players and coaches, which related to better performance. These findings further emphasize the social aspect of football refereeing and the importance of having upright management and communication skills. © 2022 International Society of Sport Psychology.

Teacher Candidates' Communication and Collaboration with Family and Community During COVID-19

After schools were closed in AY 2019–2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers were expected to continue two-way communication and collaboration with their students' families without much guidance. In this study, we focus on how five teacher candidates navigated and continued their efforts of communication and collaboration with students' families and the larger community during the pandemic. Through storytelling during interviews, the five teacher candidates provided valuable insight that focused on communication during the pandemic. Findings indicated that these teacher candidates struggled with establishing professional boundaries with students' families, wrestled with the unforeseeable challenges of "being” in the homes of their students' families, and experienced a disconnect from the community. Implications of this study suggest that lessons learned during COVID-19 could transform how teacher candidates and Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) practice future two-way communication and collaboration with students' families. © 2022 Association of Teacher Educators.

Suicide among nurses: how talking can reduce risk and stigma: With increasing workplace and home pressures for many, nurses can support colleagues through open, honest

In the BBC TV programme 'This Is Going to Hurt', hospital staff plant a tree in memory of a colleague who has died by suicide.

The Ecuadorian Government's 9/100 Vaccination Plan: A Comparative Analysis of Social Media Use

The aim of this article is to identify how the Ecuadorian Government's has managed the communication on social media of vaccination campaign 9/100, released after the COVID-19 pandemic. After reviewing the main theories related govern-ment communications and risk management in the context of public health, the activity in social media of the Communications Office of the Government from May 24 to September 1 of 2021 is studied. Therefore, to begin, it has been applied the PRGS model (Presence, Response, Generation and Suggestion) to measure the activity and response received on social media. Then, the content of the posts has been reviewed, through the analysis of the messages given on the posts from the point of view of its frame, presentation, and purpose. The findings reveal that the vaccination campaign was the main theme on social media and that the messages published were part of a proper risk communications strategy. Nonetheless, there were found certain deficiencies regarding risk managing in the context of public health.

Institutional Response Strategies of Health Crises Through Public's Lens

This descriptive study employs the Social Mediated Crisis Communication Model [SMCC] to primarily identify the crisis response strategies adopted by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in facing the Corona Covid-19 pandemic. The extent to which the public accepted these strategies approved by the ministry following the form of the messages directed to the audience is consequently examined. The study, at the same vein, attempts to detect the audiences' emotional responses that have been shaped following the selected form of messages under analysis. Traditional media, social media or offline word-of-mouth entail the form of message. A content analysis was conducted on the ministry's communications during the study period. To triangulate the data, a questionnaire has been designed and electronically distributed on a sample of 370 students enrolled at Hebron University, Palestine. The analysis has shown that the supportive strategies are the most acceptable responses to the audience. They create a positive emotional reaction following the type of message source applied. The study also concludes that—in health crises—social media and offline word-of-mouth are more convenient as a form of message at the outbreak and during the pandemic. The form of message is highly influential on the development of internal and external dependent-attributed emotions. The current study argues that it is essential to adopt social media and offline word-of-mouth as a communication form during health crises. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Speech emotion recognition with artificial intelligence for contact tracing in the COVID-19 pandemic

If understanding sentiments is already a difficult task in human-human communication, this becomes extremely challenging when a human-computer interaction happens, as for instance in chatbot conversations. In this work, a machine learning neural network-based Speech Emotion Recognition system is presented to perform emotion detection in a chatbot virtual assistant whose task was to perform contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The system was tested on a novel dataset of audio samples, provided by the company Blu Pantheon, which developed virtual agents capable of autonomously performing contacts tracing for individuals positive to COVID-19. The dataset provided was unlabelled for the emotions associated to the conversations. Therefore, the work was structured using a sort of transfer learning strategy. First, the model is trained using the labelled and publicly available Italian-language dataset EMOVO Corpus. The accuracy achieved in testing phase reached 92%. To the best of their knowledge, thiswork represents the first example in the context of chatbot speech emotion recognition for contact tracing, shedding lights towards the importance of the use of such techniques in virtual assistants and chatbot conversational contexts for psychological human status assessment. The code of this work was publicly released at: https://github.com/fp1acm8/SER. © 2023 The Authors. Cognitive Computation and Systems published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institution of Engineering and Technology and Shenzhen University.