Creativity and resilience: a mini-review on post-pandemic resources for adolescents and young adults.

Background: Two years after the outbreak of the pandemic, several studies look at the consequences for the well-being and mental health of young people. In particular, creativity and resilience are cited in the scientific literature as resources that promote this well-being in adolescents and young adults. Purpose: This mini-literature review was created with the aim of examining how many articles have explored the relationship between creativity and resilience in adolescents and young adults since the onset of the pandemic. Methods: Particular attention was paid to how many of the articles actually related to the consequences of the pandemic, in which country they were published, their target population, and the models, instruments and variables used to analyze them. Results: Only 4 articles emerged from the screening, of which only one was actually related to pandemic consequences. All articles were published in Asian countries with a target group of university students. Three of the articles used mediation models to examine the relationship between resilience as an independent variable and creativity as a dependent variable. All articles used self-assessment instruments for creativity and resilience, both at the individual and group level. Significance: This mini-review offers us the opportunity to reflect on the lack of studies that have addressed the issue of youth resources in the form of creativity and resilience since the beginning of the pandemic. The results show us a still underdeveloped interest in creativity in the scientific literature, in contrast to what the media reports on the promotion of creativity in daily life.

Lessons for Vietnam on the Use of Digital Technologies to Support Patient-Centered Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries in the Asia-Pacific Region: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: A rapidly aging population, a shifting disease burden and the ongoing threat of infectious disease outbreaks pose major concerns for Vietnam's health care system. Health disparities are evident in many parts of the country, especially in rural areas, and the population faces inequitable access to patient-centered health care. Vietnam must therefore explore and implement advanced solutions to the provision of patient-centered care, with a view to reducing pressures on the health care system simultaneously. The use of digital health technologies (DHTs) may be one of these solutions. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the application of DHTs to support the provision of patient-centered care in low- and middle-income countries in the Asia-Pacific region (APR) and to draw lessons for Vietnam. METHODS: A scoping review was undertaken. Systematic searches of 7 databases were conducted in January 2022 to identify publications on DHTs and patient-centered care in the APR. Thematic analysis was conducted, and DHTs were classified using the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence evidence standards framework for DHTs (tiers A, B, and C). Reporting was in line with the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. RESULTS: Of the 264 publications identified, 45 (17%) met the inclusion criteria. The majority of the DHTs were classified as tier C (15/33, 45%), followed by tier B (14/33, 42%) and tier A (4/33, 12%). At an individual level, DHTs increased accessibility of health care and health-related information, supported individuals in self-management, and led to improvements in clinical and quality-of-life outcomes. At a systems level, DHTs supported patient-centered outcomes by increasing efficiency, reducing strain on health care resources, and supporting patient-centered clinical practice. The most frequently reported enablers for the use of DHTs for patient-centered care included alignment of DHTs with users' individual needs, ease of use, availability of direct support from health care professionals, provision of technical support as well as user education and training, appropriate governance of privacy and security, and cross-sectorial collaboration. Common barriers included low user literacy and digital literacy, limited user access to DHT infrastructure, and a lack of policies and protocols to guide the implementation and use of DHTs. CONCLUSIONS: The use of DHTs is a viable option to increase equitable access to quality, patient-centered care across Vietnam and simultaneously reduce pressures on the health care system. Vietnam can take advantage of the lessons learned by other low- and middle-income countries in the APR when developing a national road map to digital health transformation. Recommendations that Vietnamese policy makers may consider include emphasizing stakeholder engagement, strengthening digital literacy, supporting the improvement of DHT infrastructure, increasing cross-sectorial collaboration, strengthening governance of cybersecurity, and leading the way in DHT uptake.

Quality assessment of global health care system in the shadow of COVID-19: - a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The healthcare system is critical to the country's overall growth, which involves the healthy development of individuals, families, and society everywhere. This systematic review focuses on providing an overall assessment of the quality of healthcare delivery during COVID-19. METHODOLOGY: The literature search was conducted from March 2020 till April 2023 utilising the databases "PubMed," "Google Scholar," and "Embase." A total of nine articles were included. Descriptive statistics was performed using Microsoft Excel. PROSPERO registration ID- CRD42022356285. RESULTS: According to the geographic location of the studies included, four studies were conducted in Asia [Malaysia(n = 1); India (Madhya Pradesh) (n = 1); Saudi Arabia(n = 1); Indonesia (Surabaya) (n = 1)], three in Europe [U.K. (n = 1); Poland (n = 1); Albania (n = 1)] and two in Africa [Ethiopia(n = 1); Tunisia (n = 1)]. Overall patient satisfaction was found highest among studies conducted in Saudi Arabia (98.1%) followed by India (Madhya Pradesh) (90.6%) and the U.K. (90%). CONCLUSION: This review concluded five different aspects of patients satisfaction level i.e. reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibility. It was found that the empathy aspect had the greatest value of the five factors, i.e., 3.52 followed by Assurance with a value of 3.51.

Global acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine among persons with diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIM: This review aimed to estimate the level of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine among persons with diabetes. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL to identify relevant studies for this review. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed to generate an overall estimate of vaccine acceptance. The I2 statistic was used to quantify the degree of variation across studies, and subgroup analysis was conducted to identify the sources of heterogeneity. The review was conducted in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA). RESULTS: This review included 18 studies involving 11,292 diabetes patients. The pooled prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among persons with diabetes was 76.1% (95% CI: 66.7%-83.5%). The pooled prevalence across the continent ranged from 68.9% (95% CI: 47.8%-84.3%) in Asia to 82.1% (95% CI: 80.2%-83.8%) in Europe. Barriers to vaccine acceptance included misinformation, lack of information, mistrust, health concerns, and external influences. CONCLUSION: The barriers to vaccine acceptance identified in this review, could inform the formulation of health policies and public health interventions that are specifically tailored to address the needs of persons with diabetes.

What is needed to effectively communicate risk during a health crisis? A qualitative study with international experts based on the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: To identify a framework for risk communication during health crises by using the current pandemic as a case study. DESIGN: A qualitative study based on individual interviews. SETTING: Different countries with diverse levels of perceived success on risk communication during the COVID-19 health crisis. PARTICIPANTS: International experts with experience in health crisis management or risk communication. ANALYSIS: A thematic analysis was performed supported by Atlas.ti. RESULTS: Four men and six women took part in the study (three from Europe, two from Latin America, two from North America, one from Asia and two from Oceania). Three major themes emerged from the data: (1) institutionalising the communication strategy; (2) defining the problem that needs to be faced; (3) developing an effective communication strategy. CONCLUSION: Risk communication during a health crisis requires preparation of governments and of health teams in order to produce and deliver effective messages as well as to help communities to make informed and healthy decisions. This is particularly relevant for slow disasters, such as COVID-19, as the strategy must innovate to avoid information fatigue of the audience. The findings of this article could inform guidelines to best equip countries for a clear communication strategy for future crises. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021234443.

Exploring COVID-19 transmission patterns and key factors during epidemics caused by three major strains in Asia.

The COVID-19 epidemic has lasted for more than two years since the outbreak in late 2019. An urgent and challenging question is how to systematically evaluate epidemic developments in different countries, during different periods, and to determine which measures that could be implemented are key for successful epidemic prevention. In this study, SBD distance-based K-shape clustering and hierarchical clustering methods were used to analyse epidemics in Asian countries. For the hierarchical clustering, epidemic time series were divided into three periods (epidemics induced by the Original/Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants separately). Standard deviations, the Hurst index, mortality rates, peak value of confirmed cases per capita, average growth rates, and the control efficiency of each period were used to characterize the epidemics. In addition, the total numbers of cases in the different countries were analysed by correlation and regression in relation to 15 variables that could have impacts on COVID-19. Finally, some suggestions on prevention and control measures for each category of country are given. We found that the total numbers of cases per million of a population, total deaths per million and mortality rates were highly correlated with the proportion of people aged over 65 years, the prevalence of multiple diseases, and the national GDP. We also found significant associations between case numbers and vaccination rates, health expenditures, and stringency of control measures. Vaccinations have played a positive role in COVID-19, with a gradual decline in mortality rates in later periods, and are still playing protective roles against the Delta and Omicron strains. The stringency of control measures taken by a government is not an indicator of the appropriateness of a country's response to the outbreak, and a higher index does not necessarily mean more effective measures; a combination of factors such as national vaccination rates, the country's economic foundation and the availability of medical equipment is also needed. This manuscript was submitted as part of a theme issue on "Modelling COVID-19 and Preparedness for Future Pandemics".

Asia-Pacific stock market return and volatility in the uncertain world: Evidence from the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag approach.

This paper examines the effects of three distinct groups of uncertainties on market return and volatility in the Asia-Pacific countries, including (i) the country-specific and US geopolitical risks; (ii) the US economic policy uncertainty; and (iii) the US stock market volatility (using the VIX and SKEW indices). Our sample includes 11 Asia-Pacific countries for the 1985-2022 period. We employ the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag approach (ARDL) estimation technique to capture the asymmetric effects of uncertainties on market return and volatility, which are documented in the literature. Some findings are documented as follows. First, we find that US uncertainty indices, including US geopolitical risk, US economic policy uncertainty, and US VIX, significantly impact Asia-Pacific stock markets, while the impacts of domestic geopolitical risk and the US skewness index (SKEW) are relatively weak. Second, Asia-Pacific stock markets tend to overreact to uncertainty shocks stemming from US economic policy uncertainty and US geopolitical risk. Third, US economic policy uncertainty has more significant effects than the US geopolitical risk. Finally, our research documents that Asia-Pacific stock markets react heterogeneously to good and bad news from US VIX. Specifically, an increase in US VIX (bad news) has a stronger impact than a decrease in US VIX (good news). Policy implications have emerged based on the findings of this study.