Alcohol Misuse, Binge Drinking, and their Associations with Psychosocial Factors during COVID-19 among Harlem Residents in New York City.

This study examined alcohol misuse and binge drinking prevalence among Harlem residents, in New York City, and their associations with psycho-social factors such as substance use, depression symptom severity, and perception of community policing during COVID-19. An online cross-sectional study was conducted among 398 adult residents between April and September 2021. Participants with a score of at least 3 for females or at least 4 for males out of 12 on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test were considered to have alcohol misuse. Binge drinking was defined as self-reporting having six or more drinks on one occasion. Modified Poisson regression models were used to examine associations. Results showed that 42.7% used alcohol before COVID-19, 69.1% used it during COVID-19, with 39% initiating or increasing alcohol use during COVID-19. Alcohol misuse and binge drinking prevalence during COVID-19 were 52.3% and 57.0%, respectively. Higher severity of depression symptomatology, history of drug use and smoking cigarettes, and experiencing housing insecurity were positively associated with both alcohol misuse and binge drinking. Lower satisfaction with community policing was only associated with alcohol misuse, while no significant associations were found between employment insecurity and food insecurity with alcohol misuse or binge drinking. The findings suggest that Harlem residents may have resorted to alcohol use as a coping mechanism to deal with the impacts of depression and social stressors during COVID-19. To mitigate alcohol misuse, improving access to mental health and substance use disorder services, and addressing public safety through improving relations with police could be beneficial.

Private renters in shared housing: investigating housing conditions and mental well-being in Australia during COVID-19.

Lockdowns were the major policy response to COVID-19 containment in many countries, and subsequently many people spent abnormal amounts of time at home. Research has found that housing conditions affected more peoples' mental health during the COVID-19 crisis than prior to it, and vulnerable groups were especially affected. One group that may be particularly vulnerable is private renters in shared housing. Using a socio-economic lens, our research examined to what extent mental well-being outcomes were associated with housing conditions in shared housing under COVID-19 restrictions in Australia. Data about private renters were obtained from the Australian Rental Housing Conditions Dataset (n = 1908), collected in mid-2020 during the easing of the first lockdown restrictions. Respondents living in shared arrangements reported higher levels of worry and anxiety (8.5-13.2%) and loneliness and isolation (3.7-18.3%) compared to other household types. Binary logistic regressions showed that COVID-19-related mental and financial well-being variables were the main contributors in COVID-19-related worry/anxiety and loneliness/isolation models. Accumulated housing problems were the only housing condition measure that was significant in the worry/anxiety model. Participants who had more than two people living in a household felt 1.4 times lonelier/isolated compared to those who lived with four or more people. Males and participants who reported good mental health were less likely to feel COVID-19-related worry/anxiety and loneliness/isolation. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of measures for mental health and income during a pandemic and concludes with recommendations of support for shared housing renters during and beyond crisis events.

COVID-19 & informal settlements: is 'Stay Home' safe?

The disproportional burden of coronavirus (COVID-19) and vulnerability to containment measures in informal settlements have been recognised; however, the role of poor housing conditions in propagating these remains neglected. Poor housing conditions makes it difficult to effectively implement social distancing measures. With increased time spent in cramped, dark and uncomfortable indoor environments, water and sanitation outside the home, and no outdoor space, higher exposure to existing health hazards and high levels of stress, with women and children being most vulnerable, are anticipated. Through this commentary paper, we reflect on these interconnections and recommend immediate measures and the long-term need for adequate housing for health and well-being.

Capturing and Documenting the Wider Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan Initiative: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Interdisciplinary Project.

BACKGROUND: In the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the global COVID-19 pandemic appeared amidst existing social health challenges in food insecurity, housing precarity and homelessness, poor mental health, and substance misuse. These chronic features intersected with the pandemic, producing a moment in time when the urgency of COVID-19 brought attention to underlying shortcomings in public health services. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of the program of research are (1) to identify and measure relationships between the pandemic and wider health and social impacts, namely, food insecurity, housing precarity and homelessness, and mental health and substance use in Saskatchewan, and (2) to create an oral history of the pandemic in Saskatchewan in an accessible digital public archive. METHODS: We are using a mixed methods approach to identify the impacts of the pandemic on specific equity-seeking groups and areas of social health concern by developing cross-sectional population-based surveys and producing results based on statistical analysis. We augmented the quantitative analysis by conducting qualitative interviews and oral histories to generate more granular details of people's experiences of the pandemic. We are focusing on frontline workers, other service providers, and individuals within equity-seeking groups. We are capturing digital evidence and social media posts; we are collecting and organizing key threads using a free open-source research tool, Zotero, to trace the digital evidence of the pandemic in Saskatchewan. This study is approved by the Research Ethics Board at the University of Saskatchewan (Beh-1945). RESULTS: Funding for this program of research was received in March and April 2022. Survey data were collected between July and November 2022. The collection of oral histories began in June 2022 and concluded in March 2023. In total, 30 oral histories have been collected at the time of this writing. Qualitative interviews began in April 2022 and will continue until March 2024. Survey analysis began in January 2023, and results are expected to be published in mid-2023. All data and stories collected in this work are archived for preservation and freely accessible on the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan project's website. We will share results in academic journals and conferences, town halls and community gatherings, social and digital media reports, and through collaborative exhibitions with public library systems. CONCLUSIONS: The pandemic's ephemeral nature poses a risk of us "forgetting" this moment and the attendant social inequities. These challenges inspired a novel fusion among health researchers, historians, librarians, and service providers in the creation of the Remember Rebuild Saskatchewan project, which focuses on preserving the legacy of the pandemic and capturing data to support an equitable recovery in Saskatchewan. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/46643.

Housing market forecasts via stock market indicators.

Through the reinterpretation of housing data as candlesticks, we extend Nature Scientific Reports article by Liang and Unwin [LU22] on stock market indicators for COVID-19 data, and utilize some of the most prominent technical indicators from the stock market to estimate future changes in the housing market, comparing the findings to those one would obtain from studying real estate ETF's. By providing an analysis of MACD, RSI, and Candlestick indicators (Bullish Engulfing, Bearish Engulfing, Hanging Man, and Hammer), we exhibit their statistical significance in making predictions for USA data sets (using Zillow Housing data) and also consider their applications within three different scenarios: a stable housing market, a volatile housing market, and a saturated market. In particular, we show that bearish indicators have a much higher statistical significance then bullish indicators, and we further illustrate how in less stable or more populated countries, bearish trends are only slightly more statistically present compared to bullish trends.

"I just wanted money for food": a qualitative study of the experiences of Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aim: The social and economic impacts that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic can disproportionally affect those already experiencing poverty or at risk of poverty. Therefore, this study sought to explore the relationship between well-being and social determinants of health among Australian adults during the pandemic. Subject and Methods: Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 20 participants, aged 21-65 years, from various socioeconomic areas. Results: Three main themes emerged from the analysis of the data: food security; housing outcomes; and psychological and emotional impact. Participants in low socioeconomic areas struggled with food security, having to access food banks, which was precipitated by employment loss during the pandemic. Some female participants experienced worsening inequalities and lack of financial and housing stability, affecting their overall well-being. Conclusion: This study identified that there was a clear social divide between adults living in low socioeconomic areas compared with those living in high socioeconomic areas, with participants in low socioeconomic areas faring worse in terms of exacerbated social determinants of health and consequent impacts on well-being.

The Implementation of CDC COVID-19 Recommendations for Testing, Isolation, Quarantine and Movement at Emergency Intake Sites of Unaccompanied Children in the United States, April 1-May 31, 2021.

In March 2021, Emergency Intake Sites (EIS) were created to address capacity shortfalls during a surge of Unaccompanied Children at the Mexico-United States land border. The COVID-19 Zone Plan (ZP) was developed to decrease COVID-19 transmission. COVID-19 cumulative percent (%) positivity was analyzed to evaluate the impact of the ZP, venue type and bed capacity across EIS from April 1-May 31, 2021. Results: Of 11 EIS sites analyzed, 54% implemented the recommended ZP. The overall % positivity was 2.47% (95% CI 2.39-2.55). The % positivity at EIS with the ZP, 1.83% (95% CI 1.71-1.95), was lower than that at EIS without the ZP, 2.83%, ( 95% CI 2.72-2.93), and showed a lower 7-day moving average of % positivity. Conclusion: Results showed a possible effect of the ZP on % positivity when controlling for venue type and bed capacity in a specific EIS group comparison, indicating that all three variables could have had effect on % positivity. They also showed that smaller intake facilities may be recommendable during public health emergencies.

The Intersections of Energy and Housing Justice: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected working class and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, who have been more likely to contract and die from the virus. These inequalities in part stem from higher rates of comorbidities such as asthma, which can be connected to local built environments. One area where these inequalities are starkest is in energy generation and distribution, where marginalized communities are both more likely to be exposed to hazards from energy production, whereas at the same time more likely to struggle to afford that energy, leading to difficult trade-offs with other necessities. In turn, many of these inequalities can be tied to spatial patterns of residential segregation, such as redlining, which cut off BIPOC communities in from the prevailing wealth generating mechanisms of the past century, leading to the patterns of divestment and hazard exposure seen today. In this article, we explore the connections between public health, energy production and consumption, and redlining, using Milwaukee, WI as a case study. Using data from March to June 2020, we perform quartile regressions to assess the relationship between positive COVID cases, local demographics, and the local energy environment. We find that low-income and BIPOC communities were more likely to contract COVID, while also facing higher energy burdens and exposure to respiratory hazards, as well as a statistically significant relationship between COVID rates and redlining policy. We argue these results call further research into the connections between energy insecurity and other forms of injustice that manifest within racial capitalism.

Impact of COVID-19 on rural and nonrural recovery housing in the United States

This study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on recovery housing (RH), an important resource for individuals in recovery from substance use disorder (SUD). A cross-sectional survey was disseminated electronically between June and July of 2020 to RH owners and operators affiliated with Oxford House or the National Alliance of Recovery Residences nationwide. The survey intended to develop an understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on RH in terms of (a) resident housing access, (b) mitigation strategies to reduce COVID-19 spread, (c) RH financials, and (d) health and well-being of residents and staff. Impacts were assessed among all houses in the sample and then by rurality of RH location (rural vs. nonrural). Among 1,419 respondents, only 4.6% reported positive COVID-19 cases, and 85% reported having implemented centers for disease control-recommended policies. More than half (59%) reported financial impacts, and close to half (49%) reported COVID-19 had "a lot of impact" on residents attending meetings. Rural RH represented only 9% of respondents and a greater fraction of rural RH respondents reported spending more on all COVID-19 expense categories compared to nonrural RH respondents. Compared to nonrural RH, rural RH were significantly more likely to report having a process for evaluating COVID-19 (p = .007), wearing masks (p = .047), taking temperatures (p = .042), and spending more on food due to COVID-19 (p = .015). With SUD rates and the associated morbidity and mortality from SUD continuing to rise, addressing the financial viability of RH, an important resource supporting individuals in recovery is crucial. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement This study suggests that recovery housing, an important resource for individuals seeking or in recovery from a substance use disorder (SUD), is proactive in ensuring resident safety during national emergencies such as COVID-19. The most prominent impacts found in this study were financial (for the recovery home) and residents' ability to attend mutual aid recovery support meetings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Housing and respiratory health: Exposures, health effects and interventions

Housing quality and affordability are well established as social determinants of health through direct and indirect mechanisms. Respiratory illnesses related to housing are nearly all the result of housing disrepair that allows intrusion into the home of environmental agents that are directly or indirectly associated with disease. Structural deficiencies such as leaks, cracks in the foundation or holes in the home's exterior can facilitate the presence of mould, which is causally linked to the development of asthma and is associated with exacerbation of asthma symptoms in children and adults. Indoor cleanliness can also contribute to the presence of mice and cockroaches. Proper ventilation can improve air quality, reducing exposure to PM, VOCs and infectious respiratory agents. Disparities in exposure to the housing conditions associated with respiratory disease are readily apparent across socioeconomic lines. Low-income families are less likely to be able to afford the costs of maintaining a home, which prevents them from making repairs that could improve respiratory health.Copyright © ERS 2023.

Housing and the Pandemic: How Has Covid-19 Influenced Residents' Needs and Aspirations?

Satisfactory housing conditions define, in many aspects, people's comfort and a high standard of living. The psychological and social characteristics of residents strongly determine housing needs and preferences. They also depend on economic, spatial, technical, and cultural factors. The Covid-19 pandemic, which humankind had been experiencing for two years, influenced all spheres of human life, especially inhabitation. The functional program of homes has changed, as well as public spaces, transportation and social ties. While the future is uncertain, the many changes provoked by the pandemic might become irreversible. This paper aims to present how the phenomena mentioned above have influenced the housing environment and residential preferences and trends that may follow. A survey conducted among Cracow residents in Autumn 2021 revealed a significant shift in lifestyles that corresponded with the change in residential needs, preferences and attitudes towards the housing environment. Working from home has induced redefining the use of particular rooms/spaces. For safety, families attempted to reorganize the entrance zone. Outdoor public spaces have become more appreciated following the trend of healthier everyday life. Over the long term, the pandemic experience may significantly influence the residential market. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Real Estate Management & Valuation is the property of Sciendo 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.)

Leaving: Residential mobility and housing conditions in France during the Covid-19 epidemic

In the spring of 2020, a national lockdown was declared in France to control the Covid-19 epidemic - the longest and strictest to date. This led to spontaneous population movements, widely publicised in the media as the urban exodus of Parisians. But were departures from large cities to low-density areas the only types of mobility during this period? And what can we learn from housing changes during lockdown about the ordinary residential practices and dwelling conditions of households, as well as about the resources mobilised to cope with these exceptional situations? Based on the EpiCOV survey (Inserm-Drees), conducted in France among a sample of 135,000 people aged 15 and over at the end of the first lockdown, this article examines the different types of residential mobility that took place in the spring of 2020 on French territory. While this study does not predict whether or not these movements are to become permanent, or whether they would be repeated during further phases of lockdown, it highlights the heterogeneity of mobility practices, captured here in terms of distance travelled, changes within the urban gradient, types and conditions of housing, as well as the variety of resources mobilised according to sex, age and social position of individuals. While long-distance mobility more often concerns wealthy populations, local movements are almost as frequent and concern more heterogeneous fractions of the population. © 2023 Geographie-Cites. All rights reserved.

Adaptive reuse of closed malls for dementia programs and services: Community focus group feedback

The double societal hit of dementia and infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19 have raised a convergence of concerns for the future of care settings for people living with dementia. Images of institutionalized older adults who are quarantined in closed settings have led developers, government agencies, and care administrators to search for innovative options to create more autonomy and quality of life in care settings while protecting the health of residents. This chapter describes the qualitative work being conducted by a Midwestern university research team, laying the groundwork for the conceptual adaptive reuse of an 800,000 square-foot closed mall site for centralized dementia programs, services, housing, and an on-site quarantine and medical center. Focus group outcomes from architects and developers highlighted five principle themes relating to the barriers and benefits of adaptive reuse for this model which include: mixed-use precedents, linking the old with the new, economic factors, development partnerships, and sustainable building practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Covid-19 disruption, resilience and industrial policy: the automotive sector in the West Midlands

The Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit have focused attention on the resilience of key sectors and firms. This paper explores the financial resilience of the 50 largest automotive firms in the West Midlands region of the UK in their response to disruption and economic shocks. The findings demonstrate that 22 firms are at high risk due to poor current liquidity ratios, with Coventry and Birmingham emerging as locations most susceptible to firm closures. High-risk firms include key flagship original equipment manufacturers operating at the downstream end of supply chains. If these firms were to fail, there would be a significant destructive impact on both the industry and the local economy. We assert an effective subnational industrial policy is required in order to support economic resilience in regions such as the West Midlands where a few firms account for a disproportionate share of employment and value-added.

Critical Gloss to the Judgment of the Court of Appeal in Katowice of 22 June 2022, I ACa 669/21. Adoption of Written Resolutions by the General Assembly of a Housing Cooperative

The author believes that the provisions of Article 36 § 9-13 of the Co-operative Law concerning the possibility of ordering general assemblies to adopt resolutions in writing or using direct communication at a distance are also applicable to housing cooperatives, due to the wording of the provision of Article 1(7) of the Co-operative Law, according to which the provisions of the Co-operative Law are directly applicable to matters not regulated by the Act of Housing Cooperatives. Notwithstanding the above, the SA also seems to have completely ignored (iura novit curia) the wording of the uninterrupted provision of Article 15zzzr of the Act of 2 March 2020 on special solutions related to the prevention, prevention, and eradication of COVID-19, other infectious diseases, and crises caused by them, according to which a declaration of will of a member of a body of a legal person – and thus of the members of a housing cooperative who form a body such as the general assembly of the cooperative – other than the State Treasury or a local government unit, may be made in documentary form (and thus also in writing). Therefore, this provision should also be regar-ded as lex specialis to Article 83 of the Act on Housing Cooperatives. © 2023, Spoldzielczy Instytut Naukowy. All rights reserved.

The Post-COVID Home. How Confinement Altered Domestic Space Use and Living Modes, in Lisbon

Not only is space use a result of spatial configuration, but it is also greatly determined by social patterns and society's living modes. The COVID-19 pandemic and confinement resulted, worldwide, in a 24/7 use of the domestic setting, which had to be adapted to the emergence of new needs and functions in the domestic space. The paper aims at understanding how COVID confinement altered domestic space use in Lisbon and how current society has maintained some of those changes, a reflection of new social patterns. The analysis is supported by an inquiry, carried out during the first confinement of 2020, in the city of Lisbon. Results show that domestic space use had to be adjusted to a new context, gaining new functions, and bringing into evidence the need for additional spaces. In light of the proven changes in living modes, the research concludes that the post-COVID home needs to be rethought and new housing programs should take into consideration the new social patterns and living modes. © 2023 by the authors.

Conference Report (Re)shaping the inclusive city: the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning engages indigenous and immigrant voices, histories and lived experiences

The 62nd annual conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ASCP) met from Nov 2-5, 2022 in Toronto, Canada. The conference brought together nearly 1,200 planning educators, researchers and students affiliated from more than thirty countries. Attendees were composed of approximately 700 faculty and more than 400 students. There were nearly 250 sessions including presentation of research papers, roundtable discussions, workshops, career information sessions and mobile sessions. The conference was the first in-person conference after two years of virtual convenings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Local hosts for the conference included the University of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University and York University. The focal theme of the conference was "(re)shaping the inclusive city: engaging indigenous and immigrant voices, histories and lived experiences."

Through the prism of the right to housing: first notes for a critical constitutional analysis

The essay investigates the constitutional dimension of the right to housing, through the study of its foundation in the Constitution and the constitutional jurisprudence. The perspective adopted is broad and approaches the fundamental right from different angles: general recognition, relationships between property and social function, house rents and blocking of evictions in the Covid-19 era, State-Region competences in the management of policies for the right to housing, access to public housing. The thesis put forward is that it is necessary to adopt an institutionalist theory of fundamental rights to guarantee the effectiveness of the right to housing, which involves a contextualized reading of the constitutional system and is not limited to the individualistic dimension of the right. In fact, this approach involves, on one hand, the political-legal need to regulate urban conflict and, on the other hand, the constitutional need for the intervention of public powers in economy, in order to rebalance the socio-economic disparities that arise and are perpetuated in the urban dimension. © 2023, Societa Editoriale Federalismi s.r.l.. All rights reserved.

Rebalancing UK regional and industrial policy post-Brexit and post-Covid-19: lessons learned and priorities for the future

In this paper, we examine the challenges and opportunities facing the UK's industrial and regional policy in the context of the policy decisions made over recent decades. We argue that the overly centralized and sectoral logic of the UK governance systems has led to a lack of clarity in thinking through place-based issues. This, in turn, has resulted in policy ambiguity, confusion and contradictions, and successfully moving industrial policy and regional policy forward post-Brexit can only take place if conceptual and operational clarity is brought to these matters.