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Sports volunteers play an important role in sports event management. There are various motivations for the participants of sports volunteer activities. In particular, the occurrence of sports events has significantly decreased due to the impacts of COVID-19. At the same time, consideration should be given as to whether it is possible to find value and reward from volunteer activities or not. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between event satisfaction and interdependent happiness in sports volunteers. This research focused on sports volunteers of the 2021 Asia Triathlon Championships Hatsukaichi. The data was collected from 163 participants, with a significant response rate of 48.9%. The average respondent age was 54.0 years old, 123 respondents were male (75.5%), and 40 respondents were female (24.5%). The result of multiple regression was significant (F = 3.28, p < .01) and it accounted for 20% of the interdependent happiness. The predictors of socio-demographics were not deemed significant. On the other hand, event satisfaction was significant (p < .01) with regard to independent happiness. This research utilized the relationship between event satisfaction and independent happiness through structural equation modeling. The result of Structural Equation Modeling was significant at the .10% level. In sum, event satisfaction was significant in regard to independent happiness. This result shows a possibility to help understand the value of sports volunteers. Additionally, sports events in the community are expected to have not only an economic impact, but also, contribute to the sustainable social developments of the community.
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Introduction: National Service Evaluations of COVID-19 ARDS care in the US and UK showed significant variability in clinical practice, and adherence to existing guidelines. To better understand the basis for this, we explored factors influencing decision-making around mechanical ventilation in COVID-19. Method(s): We conducted interprofessional focus groups identifying factors that influenced decision-making through thematic analysis. From this, we developed a questionnaire to validate these themes with a larger sample of critical care professionals across the UK. Kruskal- Wallis or Mann-Whitney U tests were used for data analysis. Result(s): There were 179 complete responses from doctors, nurses and physios. In their usual practice, 66% of clinicians reported adherence to national ARDS guidelines. However, 80% thought COVID-19 ARDS presented differently to their previous clinical knowledge/experience of ARDS and 72% thought deviating from usual practice was necessary. Doctors were more likely to think deviation was necessary (p < 0.001) but there was no difference across level of ICU experience (p = 0.845). Clinicians reported their ventilatory decision-making was most influenced by disease factors, followed by team then contextual and least by environmental factors (p < 0.001). Disease factor was seen as most important across profession and experience level. During COVID-19, 68% of clinicians reported not being confident in their ventilatory decision-making;however, clinicians who felt COVID-19 ARDS presentation fitted with their previous clinical knowledge/experience of ARDS reported greater confidence (p < 0.001). Confidence was not affected by experience (p = 0.522) or profession (p = 0.294) (Fig. 1). Conclusion(s): Clinicians were influenced by the uncertain understanding of COVID-19 ARDS, especially when they considered previous experiences to be less relevant. In the event of another novel disease, developing a consistent, understandable clinical models of disease should be prioritised to optimise decision making.
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Purpose: This article analyzes the challenges of infectious disease control under a super-aged society through Japan's experience with COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach: This article provides an overview of Japan's COVID-19 measures and their characteristics, discusses their successes and failures, and identifies future challenges. Findings: Japan's basic strategy for COVID-19 consists of three parts: the border defense (Stage 1), slowing down the spread (Stage 2), and damage control (Stage 3). One key policy feature in Stage 2 and Stage 3 is based on "voluntary restriction”. It had a certain effect, but it was prolonged with each recurring "wave of infection”, resulting in economic exhaustion and people's dissatisfaction. Thus, the effect of the voluntary restriction has weakened, while the percentage of people who have been vaccinated is improving, making it difficult to predict the damage of the next "wave”. Under the hyper-aged society, it was necessary to identify and protect particularly vulnerable areas, i.e., psychiatry hospitals, chronic care hospitals, and long term care (LTC) facilities. On the other hand, secondary impacts extend to young people. The most serious one is the decrease in births which further accelerates the aging of society. Originality/value: This study is original as it investigated why Japan's unique countermeasures against COVID-19 without mandatory lockdown worked well for a considerable period. It also revealed that secondary impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic are broader and more significant than the direct loss of life, and that the social system, especially super-aged society with many vulnerable areas should be reformed in consideration of the threat of infectious diseases. Lessons from the Japanese case may contribute to other countries. © 2023, Tomonori Hasegawa, Koki Hirata and Kunichika Matsumoto.
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The Kansai Branch of the Electrochemical Society of Japan publishes a collection of papers in Electrochemistry, which serve as a commentary to the 51st Electrochemistry Workshop. This attempt is motivated by the fact that the domestic seminars are now widely publicized through the on-demand event triggered by COVID-19. This preface consists of the significance of the publication and an introduction of the lecturers as a part of special future for "Novel Aspects and Approaches to Experimental Methods for Electrochemistry.” in this issue of Electrochemistry. © 2022 Electrochemical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.
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The Kansai Branch of the Electrochemical Society of Japan publishes a collection of papers in Electrochemistry, which serve as a commentary to the 51st Electrochemistry Workshop. This attempt is motivated by the fact that the domestic seminars are now widely publicized through the on-demand event triggered by COVID-19. This preface consists of the significance of the publication and an introduction of the lecturers as a part of special future for "Novel Aspects and Approaches to Experimental Methods for Electrochemistry." in this issue of Electrochemistry. (C) The Author(s) 2022. Published by ECSJ.
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Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges due to the high numbers and the high symptom burden of end-of-life patients on respiratory support. Methods We conducted an audit of end-of-life patients on the respiratory HDU wards at Whipps Cross Hospital between 17/09/2020-30/01/2021. Results 84 patients receiving respiratory support (in the form of CPAP and HFNT) died during that time at a mean age of 77 (95% CI 67-87) and median of 79 years. All but one death, which followed a cardiac arrest, were expected. The most common clinical indicator for a patient approaching end-of-life was hypoxia on respiratory support, which was documented in 36 (43%) patients, followed by terminal agitation in 27 (32%) patients. Objections to the medical assessment of terminal illness were raised by 3 families and in 1 case the patient had conflicting wishes. The average time between recognition of a terminal deterioration and death was 1.4 days with a median of 2 days. 29 (35%) patients did not have a specialist palliative care review primarily due to the rapid patient deterioration. 25 (30%) patients were not visited by a relative due to the infection risk. 72 (86%) patients were weaned off respiratory support and those who continued did so due to a medical or patient decision. Despite most patients (82%) receiving continuous subcutaneous infusions with an opiate and benzodiazepine most patients had persistent terminal symptoms: 51 (74%) on infusions had agitation and 38 (55%) were persistently breathlessness. Discussion This data highlights some of the major difficulties faced in caring for patients with COVID on respiratory support and approaching end of life. With the inevitably persisting nature of this pandemic and the possibility of future pandemics still present, it is vital to be able to offer guidance and multidisciplinary input to ensure comfort and dignity for these patients.
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IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has seen an unprecedented number of adults receiving non-invasive respiratory support (NIRS) with such patients having a high mortality rate.MethodsAs part of better elucidating the challenges of end of life care delivery in the COVID era, we conducted an audit of our respiratory HDU ward at Whipps Cross Hospital focusing on a 19-week period between 17/09/2020–30/01/2021 and on patients who did not survive their admission. We excluded patients that were transferred to ITU.ResultsOf a total of 309 patients receiving NIRS on our ward, 84 died during that time at a mean age of 77 (95% CI 67–87) and median of 79 years. 63 patients received CPAP, 67 received HFNT and 42 were first started on HFNT and converted to CPAP. The average length of stay was 10 days (4–16). The mean day of symptoms on presentation to hospital was 11.5 days (1.7–21.3). Average duration of symptoms prior to admission to our ward was 19.7 (9.1–30.3) days.One death was unexpected and followed a cardiac arrest. The most common indicator for a patient approaching end-of-life was hypoxia on NIRS, which was documented in 36 (43%) patients, followed by terminal agitation in 27 (32%) patients. The average time between recognising end-of-life and death was 1.4 days with a median of 2 days. 72 (86%) patients were weaned off NIRS and those who continued did so due to a medical or patient decision. Despite the vast majority (82% of patients) being on syringe drivers with an opiate and benzodiazepine most patients had persistent terminal symptoms: 51 (74%) had agitation and 38 (55%) were persistently breathlessness. Interestingly, no patient opted to rest in the prone position.DiscussionThis data primarily suggests the challenging nature of managing end-of-life care for COVID patients deteriorating on NIRS due to the high symptom load and the short time there is to achieve comfort for these individuals. Clinicians need to conduct frequent comfort reviews for such patients, consider subcutaneous infusions, as well as potentially an increase in medication doses, in conjunction with specialist palliative care input, in order to achieve comfort.
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Nature‐based solutions (NbS) are recognized under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity. This relatively new concept has become a key element in strategies for green recovery from the Covid‐19 pandemic. NbS consist of a range of measures that address various societal challenges, including climate change, natural disasters, and water security, by combining human well‐being and biodiversity benefits. Although the importance of NbS has been widely recognized, existing studies on aspects of their governance are limited and mainly focus on NbS in European countries. There is little relevant research in other regions, including Asia. This study aimed to explore challenges for NbS governance by analyzing the development and implementation of NbS in Asia. We focused on NbS in the fields of climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and infrastructure. In these three fields, NbS are linked to climate security issues and have been widely implemented in Asian countries. This analysis identified the challenges for NbS governance for countries at different stages of economic development, and for developing measures for NbS with different institutions and actors. It recognizes the importance of a framework that matches the need for NbS with relevant institutions and actors at various scales and in various sectors. Guidelines are required to integrate NbS into strategies and policies at national and local levels and also into international cooperation. © 2021 by the authors;licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribu-tion 4.0 International License (CC BY).
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Purpose: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been declared a pandemic and the number of infected individuals and deaths continue to increase globally. COVID-19 is transmitted through airborne droplets formed during coughing and sneezing and from the saliva of infected patients. Medical healthcare workers are often at risk of infection. This study measured the aerosol derived from the droplets of patients during the conversation. Methods: Overall, 25 patients aged 21 to 87 years were enrolled. The amount of droplets from the patient was measured under the following four conditions: 1) no conversation with the mask on;2) conversation with the mask on;3) conversation without the mask;and 4) no conversation without the mask. Particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) and PM with a diameter of 10 μm or less (PM10) were measured as representative aerosols at a position of 1 meter from the patients. Results: The concentrations of PM2.5 (μg/m3) were as follows: 22.7 ± 10.2 before the conversation with the mask, 24.2 ± 10.2 during the conversation with the mask, 32.3 ± 14.7 during the conversation without the mask, and 23.1 ± 9.9 after the conversation without the mask. The concentrations of PM10 (μg/m3) were as follows: 39.8 ± 18.2 before conversation with the mask, 41.9 ± 18.5 during conversation with the mask, 55.5 ± 27.2 during conversation without the mask, and 40.4 ± 17.8 after conversation without the mask. The variations in the PM2.5 and PM10 correlated negatively with the age of patients (PM2.5: R = -0.51, p = 0.0009 and PM10: R = -0.53, p = 0.0063). Conclusion: Wearing a mask can prevent airborne droplet formation and reduce transmission of infection.
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We have been facing the COVID-19 pandemic that has imposed significant stress on hospitals and health care providers since the end of 2019, when the SARS-CoV-2 was identified in Wuhan, China. According to the guidelines of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Endoscopy released in March 2020, we have taken measures such as postponing non-urgent endoscopies, preparing a vinyl sheet at the reception desk to protect both the patients and receptionists, and stratifying the patient's risk of being infected with COVID-19 before the procedure. In addition, we found that there is a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). In this paper, we introduce the current situation at our endoscopy unit and efforts including making an alternative longsleeve plastic gown to deal with the shortage of PPE.