What Predicts Adherence to Governmental COVID-19 Measures among Danish Students?

Knowledge on compliance with governmental recommendations in combating the spread of COVID-19 in different groups is important to target efforts. This study investigated the adherence to the governmental implemented COVID-19 measures and its predictors in Danish university students, a not-at-risk group for COVID-19 mortality and normally characterized by many social contacts. As part of the COVID-19 International Student Wellbeing Study, a survey on socio-demographic situation, study information, living arrangements, lifestyle behaviors, stress, questions about COVID-19 infection and knowledge and concern about COVID-19 infection was sent via email to relevant university students in Denmark in May, 2020 (n = 2.945). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was employed. Our results showed that around 60% of the students were not concerned about COVID-19, while 68% reported that they followed governmental measures. The main facilitators for following the recommendations were older age, concern about COVID-19 and depression, while barriers were living in a student hall, being physical active or reporting mental stress. Only 9% of the variation in adhering to governmental recommendations could be explained by the analyzed predictors. Results may inform health communication. Emotionally appealing information rather than knowledge-based information may be more effective in motivating students to follow COVID-19 measures.

Juggling identities of rheumatoid arthritis, motherhood and paid work - a grounded theory study.

PURPOSE: To explore how women with rheumatoid arthritis manage their illness, motherhood, and work life. METHODS: A constructivist, grounded theory approach based on individual interviews and participant observations with 20 women with rheumatoid arthritis who participated in work life and had children living at home or were pregnant. After initial and focused coding Goffman's concepts of social identity were applied. RESULTS: A core category: "Juggling meaningful identities" and three conceptual categories were developed: (1) Work life as the strongest identity marker; (2) Motherhood: a two-sided act; (3) Living with rheumatoid arthritis as an identity? Paid work, motherhood, and illness are linked to the women's social identities. The women construct and change their identities in interactions with children, partners, other parents, colleagues, and employers. CONCLUSION: The women attribute the highest priority to their professional identity, spending the majority of their time and energy in an effort to appear as "good stable workers". The disease is seen as a hindrance in this regard, and the illness identity is almost completely rejected. In motherhood, the women prioritize close interaction with their children, and deprioritize external activities. Extended outbreaks of the disease and issues regarding the children force the women to deprioritize working life. Implications for rehabilitation Juggling meaningful identities of rheumatoid arthritis, motherhood, and paid work challenge women in managing their everyday lives. Therefore, rehabilitation professionals should support individuals to develop new strategies to manage the challenges they experience regarding juggling motherhood and work ability. Work is a dominant identity marker for women with rheumatoid arthritis therefore, rehabilitation professionals have an important role to play in investigating possible ways for the individual to maintain employment or return to work. Living with rheumatoid arthritis and being a paid worker challenge women's role performance and thereby their identification as mothers. Therefore, rehabilitation professionals have to support the women and their families.

Obesity Prevention: A Systematic Review of Setting-Based Interventions from Nordic Countries and the Netherlands.

Aim: Effective evidence-based interventions have an important role in obesity prevention. Our aim was to present a qualitative synthesis of setting-based health promotion interventions on obesity, from Nordic countries and the Netherlands. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was completed for studies in the community, schools, and worksite, with BMI as an outcome. A descriptive analysis was completed for all full-text articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Results: Thirty-three articles were identified: 7 whole of community, 3 worksite, and 23 school-based interventions. The studies were largely quasiexperimental in design (21/33), with follow-up from 4 months to 8 years. The explicit use of theory was not featured in many of the studies (20/33). No consistent direction for BMI change could be identified in the whole of community interventions (2/7 positive, 2/7 negative, and 3/7 no effect) and no effect for worksite (3/3 no effect) or many of the school-based interventions (1/23 negative, 4/23 positive, 15/23 no effect, 1/23 BMI significant increase only for control group and 3/23 no data available). Conclusions: There is a need to prioritise interventions with study designs of high quality, theory, and a participatory approach, for optimal implementation and evaluation of obesity prevention interventions.

Social network resources and self-rated health in a deprived Danish neighborhood.

Research has demonstrated that living in a deprived neighborhood contributes to the occurrence and development of poor health. Furthermore evidence shows that social networks are fundamental resources in preventing poor mental health. Neighborhood relationships and networks are vital for sustaining and improving quality of life. However, to determine potentials for public health action, the health impact of various types of network resources need to be explored and the association between socioeconomic position and self-rated health needs to be analysed to determine whether it is partially explained by social network resources. This is the main aim of this article. Cross-sectional data from one deprived neighborhood located in Denmark were collected in 2008 and 2013 using a postal health survey. The target group was defined as adults older than 16 years. In 2008, 408 residents participated in the survey, and 405 residents participated in 2013. Our main explanatory variables were indicators of socioeconomic positions and social network resources. The analyses were conducted using univariate and bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regressions. The results showed that there was a significant decrease in respondents being involuntarily alone during the period from 2008 to 2013. An impact of the association between disposable income and self-rated health was found, showing that low income residents with a better social network also have slightly higher odds of having good self-rated health compared with residents with higher income. This investigation is the first Danish study that repeats a health survey in the same neighborhood to measure possible improvement in health among residents. More longitudinal research is needed in the future to explore the complex relationship between social network resources, social capital and health in neighborhoods.

The association between socio-demographic characteristics and perceived stress among residents in a deprived neighbourhood in Denmark.

BACKGROUND: It is known that stress is associated with various negative health outcomes, and higher levels are found among people with low socio-economic status (SES) compared with those better-off. Evidence of the characteristics of deprived neighbourhoods with negative impact on health and stress is accumulating while little is known about the stress variation by the socio-demographic characteristics of the dwellers. The present study aimed to investigate how stress varies by socio-demographic characteristics of the residents in a deprived neighbourhood. METHODS: The data used in this article were collected in the spring 2009. The 1160 participants, aged 16-104 years were randomly selected among the residents in a deprived neighbourhood in Esbjerg, Denmark. The survey was conducted through telephone and face to face interviews. Multiple linear regression analyses were carried on to examine the association of perceived stress with age, gender, ethnicity, education, civil status, economy, unemployment, sick leave, social deprivation and loneliness. RESULTS: The results show higher levels of stress among women, immigrants, poor and lonely compared with their counterparts. Stress decreases as the economy situation improves and people get old. Education, civil status and unemployment, initially significant, lost power in association with stress when income and economic deprivation were taken into account. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that variation in the stress levels across socio-demographic characteristics may have specific features among people in the low SES hierarchy, dwellers of a deprived neighbourhood.