We concur with Baum and colleagues (2009) on the importance of pandemic planners taking explicit steps to employ public engagement methodologies. Thus far, as Baum and colleagues note, there have b...

Malm and colleagues (2008) consider (and reject) five arguments putatively justifying the idea that healthcare workers (HCWs) have a duty to treat (DTT) during a pandemic. We do not have sufficient...

Studies on mental health and academic performance have been conducted throughout the world. Thus, this study aims to assess the students' mental health amidst the new normal of education employing 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale or DASS-21, concerning their academic performance. The study's findings showed that almost more than half of the respondents suffered from moderate to extremely severe levels of depression, stress, and anxiety. Thus, there was no significant relationship between high negative mental health symptoms and academic performance. (...) In conclusion, students that encounter extreme levels of adverse mental health can still maintain high academic achievement. However, the students' mental health should always be managed and helped to cope with their life problems, especially during this pandemic crisis. (shrink)

Against the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic, college students’ learning engagement has become a key issue in universities and society. Guided by the theories of existential positive psychology and social perception, we explored the positive effect of a growth mindset on learning engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1,040 college students from universities in Henan Province of China effectively completed online questionnaires. The results showed that growth mindset was positively related to learning engagement and negatively associated (...) with perceived COVID-19 event strength and perceived stress; perceived COVID-19 event strength was positively related to perceived stress, while perceived COVID-19 event strength and perceived stress were negatively associated with learning engagement. Growth mindset affected learning engagement through three indirect paths: the mediating role of perceived COVID-19 event strength, the mediating role of perceived stress, and the serial mediating role of both perceived COVID-19 event strength and perceived stress. The results indicated that the growth mindset could contribute to college students’ learning engagement through the roles of perceived COVID-19 event strength and perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study advances the understanding of the mechanism underlying the relationship between growth mindset and college students’ learning engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the findings of the study have important implications for promoting college students’ learning engagement during the pandemic. (shrink)

BackgroundHumanitarian crises and emergencies, events often marked by high mortality, have until recently excluded palliative care—a specialty focusing on supporting people with serious or terminal illness or those nearing death. In the COVID-19 pandemic, palliative care has received unprecedented levels of societal attention. Unfortunately, this has not been enough to prevent patients dying alone, relatives not being able to say goodbye and palliative care being used instead of intensive care due to resource limitations. Yet global guidance was available. In (...) 2018, the WHO released a guide on‘Integrating palliative care and symptom relief into the response to humanitarian emergencies and crises’—the first guidance on the topic by an international body.AimsThis paper argues that while a landmark document, the WHO guide took a narrowly clinical bioethics perspective and missed crucial moral dilemmas. We argue for adding a population-level bioethics lens, which draws forth complex moral dilemmas arising from the fact that groups having differential innate and acquired resources in the context of social and historical determinants of health. We discuss dilemmas concerning: limitations of material and human resources; patient prioritisation; euthanasia; and legacy inequalities, discrimination and power imbalances.ImplicationsIn parts of the world where opportunity for preparation still exists, and as countries emerge from COVID-19, planners must consider care for the dying. Immediate steps to support better resolutions to ethical dilemmas of the provision of palliative care in humanitarian and emergency contexts will require honest debate; concerted research effort; and international, national and local ethical guidance. (shrink)

The mechanism of how the COVID-19 global pandemic has affected the entrepreneurial intentions of college students remains unknown. To investigate the impact of the entrepreneurial environment on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions in the post-pandemic era, 913 college students were invited to complete a questionnaire. The data were analyzed with structural equation models. The conclusions revealed by the questionnaire are as followed: college students have retained some entrepreneurial intention in the post-pandemic era; the factors influencing the entrepreneurial (...) intention include sex, family entrepreneurial history, major, and education background; and entrepreneurial self-efficacy can play a major role to mediate the impact caused by the post-pandemic entrepreneurial environment on entrepreneurial intentions. The research conclusions provide important insights to improve college students’ entrepreneurial intentions in the post-pandemic environment. (shrink)

My aim in this essay is to argue for a better moral-conceptual framework and for institutional innovation in preparation for the next pandemic. My main conclusions are as follows. (1) The primary moral principle that should guide responses to the next pandemic is the duty to prevent and mitigate serious harms. (2) A proper understanding of the moral foundations and scope of the duty to prevent and mitigate serious harms requires rejecting both Extreme Nationalism and Extreme Cosmopolitanism. (3) (...) A better response to the next pandemic requires transforming the moral landscape through institutional innovation by developing an international institution that can perfect indeterminate duties (i) by identifying duty-bearers, (ii) by specifying their duties to provide medical resources and other forms of aid, (iii) by allocating the specified duties to various public and private entities in such a way as to ensure effective coordination and that the costs of providing aid are fairly distributed, and (iv) by providing effective mechanisms for compliance with the specified duties. (4) Institutional innovation is morally required, regardless of whether the harm prevention and mitigation duties of the better-off are duties of justice or of beneficence, because without institutionalization, some duties of justice, including those requiring the prevention and mitigation of serious harms, suffer some of the same indeterminacies that are present in duties of beneficence. (shrink)

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, employees from around the world were compelled to work remotely from home and, in many cases, without much preparation. A substantial body of international research has been conducted on the experiences and attitudes of remote workers as well as the implications of this phenomenon for organisations. While New Zealand research evidence is growing, most existing inquiry is qualitative. This paper provides a quantitative snapshot of remote working using survey data from participants whose jobs can (...) be done from home (n=415). Data collection took place when the country was facing Covid-related measures. -/- Based on descriptive and inferential statistics, it was found that, not only was remote working common, but that hybrid working arrangements were also more prevalent. While half of the participants wanted to work from home more frequently, age, but not gender, was significantly associated with this preference. Another relevant finding is that perceived change in the workplace culture due to flexible work arrangements was significantly associated with preference for working remotely more often. Finally, the most common perceived barriers to working from home were slow internet speed, the need to attend face-to-face meetings, and limited space at home to work. The implications of the results are discussed and some directions for future research are proposed. (shrink)

Individuals with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) suffer chronic impairment across cognitive, physical and psycho-social domains, and the experience of anxiety, isolation and apathy has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative evaluation was conducted of 14 individuals with ABI who had participated in series of COVID adapted group-based intervention(s) that had been designed to improve wellbeing. Eight themes were identified: Facilitating Safety, Fostering Positive Emotion, Managing and Accepting Difficult Emotions, Promoting Meaning, Finding Purpose and Accomplishment, Facilitating Social Ties, (...) (Re)Connecting to Nature, and Barriers to Efficacy. Findings are discussed with respects to recent theoretical developments in positive psychology and wellbeing science and support the use of online and outdoor interventions to enhance wellbeing in individuals living with ABI during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper makes a unique contribution to second wave positive psychology (PP2.0) through the application of recent advances in wellbeing science to an ABI population during the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, this paper lays the foundation for new interventions that not only reduce impairment and distress, but also create opportunities for meaning and enhanced wellbeing in people living with chronic conditions and those individuals living with ABI in particular. (shrink)

When the COVID-19 surge hit New York City hospitals, the Division of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College, and our affiliated ethics consultation services, faced waves of ethical issues sweeping forward with intensity and urgency. In this article, we describe our experience over an eight-week period (16 March through 10 May 2020), and describe three types of services: clinical ethics consultation (CEC); service practice communications/interventions (SPCI); and organizational ethics advisement (OEA). We tell this narrative through the prism of time, (...) describing the evolution of ethical issues and trends as the pandemic unfolded. We delineate three phases: anticipation and preparation, crisis management, and reflection and adjustment. The first phase focused predominantly on ways to address impending resource shortages and to plan for remote ethics consultation, and CECs focused on code status discussions with surrogates. The second phase was characterized by the dramatic convergence of a rapid increase in the number of critically ill patients, a growing scarcity of resources, and the reassignment/ redeployment of staff outside their specialty areas. The third phase was characterized by the recognition that while the worst of the crisis was waning, its medium- and long-term consequences continued to pose immense challenges. We note that there were times during the crisis that serving in the role of clinical ethics consultant created a sense of dis-ease as novel as the coronavirus itself. In retrospect we learned that our activities far exceeded the familiar terrain of clinical ethics consultation and extended into other spheres of organizational life in novel ways that were unanticipated before this pandemic. To that end, we defined and categorized a middle level of ethics consultation, which we have termed service practice communication intervention (SPCI). This is an underappreciated dimension of the work that ethics consult services are capable of in times of crisis. We believe that the pandemic has revealed the many enduring ways that ethics consultation services can more robustly contribute to the ethical life of their institutions moving forward. (shrink)

Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 in China, people have been exposed to a flood of media news related to the pandemic every day. Studies have shown that media news about public crisis events have a significant impact on individuals' depression. However, how and when the duration of attention to pandemic news predicts depression still remains an open question. This study established a moderated mediating model to investigate the relationship between the duration of attention to pandemic (...) news and depression, the mediating effect of risk perception, and the moderating effect of future time perspective on the relationship. In early February 2020, 701 individuals from 29 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across China were asked to self-report their duration of attention to pandemic news, level of depression, risk perception, and future time perspective during the COVID-19 outbreak. Results show that there is a significant positive correlation between the duration of attention to news on COVID-19 and depression; risk perception mediates the association between the duration of attention to pandemic news and depression; and future time perspective plays a moderating role between risk perception and depression. The findings of the present study provide theoretical implications and practically throw some light on alleviating the public's depression during pandemic periods. We highlight that the individual's hope for a better future, focusing on positive news, and time perspective balance during an epidemic disease are also beneficial to promoting positive emotion and reducing depression. (shrink)

Indonesia and Taiwan are two countries that have been affected by the tourism sector, although with different policies to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Taiwan is known as a country with pandemic policies that have been recognized around the world, although it has a high vulnerability to experiencing a high number of infections due to its geographical and political position close to the source of the pandemic. On the other hand, Indonesia is known for its controversial pandemic (...) management and control policies. Indonesia and Taiwan have carried out various public policies to increase tourism activities during the pandemic, such as accelerating vaccination in tourist areas and for tourists, as well as various other stimuli to stimulate tourism. The debate over vaccination raises questions about attitudes toward vaccines in society. The lack of clarity on psychosocial and political conditions creates confusion among the public in perceiving the COVID-19 pandemic and in perceiving the risks of traveling. This can affect people's attitudes toward vaccines, travel anxiety, and travel intentions. This study aims to analyze traveling intention due to the COVID-19 pandemic through COVID-19 Risk Perception, Fear of COVID-19, Risk Perception to Travel, Vaccine Attitude, and Fear to Travel. The research in Indonesia involved 358 respondents while the research in Taiwan involved 283 respondents. The research analysis used multiple regression and simple linear regression to ascertain the role of each association. The results showed that the travel intention of Indonesian tourists was formed from the direct and indirect roles of covid 19 risk perception, fear of covid 19, risk perception to travel, vaccine attitude, and fear to travel. Meanwhile, the travel intention of Taiwanese tourists is not influenced by a fear of covid. The travel intention model of Taiwanese tourists is formed from the direct and indirect roles of covid 19 risk perception, risk perception to travel, vaccine attitude, and fear to travel. This research contributes to tourism risk management in the face of pandemics, particularly in terms of government policies that can reduce tourism anxiety to travel during disasters. (shrink)

The Covid-19 pandemic creates an unprecedented threatening situation worldwide with an urgent need for critical reflection and new knowledge production, but also a need for imminent action despite prevailing knowledge gaps and multilevel uncertainty. With regard to the role of research ethics in these pandemic times some argue in favor of exceptionalism, others, including the authors of this paper, emphasize the urgent need to remain committed to core ethical principles and fundamental human rights obligations all reflected in research (...) regulations and guidelines carefully crafted over time. In this paper we disentangle some of the arguments put forward in the ongoing debate about Covid-19 human challenge studies (CHIs) and the concomitant role of health-related research ethics in pandemic times. We suggest it might be helpful to think through a lens differentiating between risk, strict uncertainty and ignorance. We provide some examples of lessons learned by harm done in the name of research in the past and discuss the relevance of this legacy in the current situation. (shrink)

Since the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, an array of off-label interventions has been used to treat patients, either provided as compassionate care or tested in clinical trials. There is a challenge in determining the justification for conducting randomised controlled trials over providing compassionate use in an emergency setting. A rapid and more accurate evaluation tool is needed to assess the effect of these treatments. Given the similarity to the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) pandemic in Africa in 2014, (...) we suggest using a tool designed by the WHO committee in the aftermath of the EVD pandemic: Monitored Emergency Use of Unregistered and Investigational Interventions (MEURI). Considering the uncertainty around SARS-CoV-2, we propose using an improved MEURI including the Plan–Do–Study–Act tool. This combined tool may facilitate dynamic monitoring, analysing, re-evaluating and re-authorising emergency use of unproven treatments and repeat it in cycles. It will enable adjustment and application of outcomes to clinical practice according to changing circumstances and increase the production of valuable data to promote the best standard of care and high-quality research—even during a pandemic. (shrink)

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) typically prioritizes community needs in the research process, attempting to link ethical and rigorous investigation with social action. However, balancing community needs and research goals can be challenging when working with marginalized communities in times of crisis. Strategies for engaging immigrant communities in CBPR is also underexplored in academic literature. This paper examines some of these challenges by focusing on a research project with immigrant homecare workers in Manitoba, Canada, who were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, yet (...) largely excluded from government pandemic policy responses. The project aimed to explore these workers’ experiences and to contribute to migrant justice organizing through the research process. In this article, we present three interrelated tensions in our shifting research process: reflexive navigation of our research team members’ lived experiences and positionalities; community versus academic ethics; and timely responsiveness to shifting community priorities. We contribute to literature on CBPR with immigrant communities by articulating a reflexive migrant justice research approach amidst a crisis. This approach is developed through subversive relationship-building and intersectional solidarity with social justice community partners that disrupt dominant academic research processes. (shrink)

2020 has been called the year of silence for a reason. Actions such as lockdown taken by the majority of countries in the world aiming at preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus influenced many different areas including surrounding us soundscape. Devoid of noise and sounds associated with human activity soundscape of cities attracted attention not only of researchers and sound ecologists but also people not professionally related to sound studies. Such a great interest in sound space was primarily due to (...) the scale of the changes that affected it. In order to better understand the nature of these changes and the response to them, I begin by presenting the state of the audiosphere before the pandemic, as well as the achievements in the field of acoustic ecology—a research direction that emerged in response to the state of sound space at the time. Referring to the writings of acoustic ecology pioneer Raymond M. Schafer and the continuators of his thought I present the role of sound in the city and its impact on humans. I also explain terms that have emerged from soundscape studies that make it easier to navigate the issues I am addressing. The knowledge presented in this way provides a starting point for understanding the sound pandemic situation, which I draw on the basis of a review of popular science literature such as BBC Future, Scientific American and The Washington Post. Using them, I present the areas in which audible changes took place and the reactions to these changes. I also describe the educational action taken at the time to explain the audible situation and to exploit its sonic potential. This overview concludes with an attempt to outline the future of the urban soundscape, based on the opinions of the authors of the mentioned publications as well as my own conclusions. (shrink)

This paper presents the results of the first phase of a longitudinal study initiated during the ‘first wave’ of the COVID-19 pandemic in Montenegro. The research aimed to examine the influence of selected risk factors on the occurrence of physical violence against women by their husbands during the pandemic. Four risk factors were assessed: the husband’s job loss, the frequency of alcohol consumption by the husband, the history of family violence, and the distribution of family responsibilities. The study (...) was conducted on a sample of 500 adult female participants, age range 20 to 49 years. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the husband’s job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of physical violence against women. Frequent alcohol consumption by husbands, as a negative coping mechanism for stress, was found to be the strongest predictor of physical violence against women. Furthermore, a prior occurrence of domestic violence was associated with an increased likelihood of physical violence perpetrated by the husband. Findings also indicated that more equitable distribution of household responsibilities between partners correlated with a lower likelihood of physical violence against women. These results underscore the need for targeted strategies in preventing this issue. (shrink)

Online learning is becoming a commonplace in different settings starting from elementary, secondary and higher levels of education. Different educational institutions use different communication tools to promote learning because the expansive nature of the Internet and the accessibility of technology have generated a surge in the demand for web-based teaching and learning across the nations (Chaney, 2010). The online teaching and learning have become a necessity for education around the globe during COVID 19-pandemic. There are several challenges which are (...) faced during online classes because the students must have strong self-motivation skills and be very disciplined to achieve the desired learning results. This paper presents and analyzes the data on the benefits and challenges of online teaching at South East European University (SEEU) during COVID 19 pandemic. The participants of the study are students of the BA level majoring in English Language and Literature and German Language and Literature at SEEU in Tetovo, North Macedonia. To answer the research questions, we have used a student questionnaire, interviews, and student reflection papers written during the online courses. Overall, the research indicates that benefits of online coursework outweigh the challenges that students face during the online classes. From a safety perspective, this study emphasizes the need to consider the impact of online teaching on student motivation and the paper raises important questions about how to best support students enrolled in online courses. Further research is needed in order to better evaluate the benefits, challenges, and useful strategies of successful students enrolled in online courses. (shrink)

This study investigated how young Italian people experienced the period of peak spread of COVID-19 in their country by probing their emotions, thoughts, events, and actions related to interpersonal and community bonds. This approach to the pandemic will highlight social dimensions that characterized contextual interactions from the specific perspective of Community Psychology. The aim was to investigate young people's experiences because they are the most fragile group due to their difficulty staying home and apart from their peers and because (...) they are, at the same time, the most potentially dangerous people due to their urge to gather in groups. The research involved 568 university students, 475 females, and 93 males, with an average age of 21.82 years. The collected data were analyzed with the Grounded Theory Methodology, using the Atlas 8.0 software. From the textual data, representative codes were defined and grouped into 10 categories, which reflect the individuals' prosocial attitudes, behaviors, and values. These categories formed three macro-categories, called: “Collective Dimensions,” which includes Connectedness, Solidarity, Italian-ness, Social Problems, and Collective Mourning; “Prosocial Orientation,” which includes Trust and Hope; and “Collective Values,” which includes Values of Freedom, Respect of Social Rules, and Civic-Mindedness. All these macro-categories are indicative of the shared feelings experienced by Italians during the first time of the pandemic. Further practical implications of these results will be discussed, including a consideration of the risk of developing distress and improving well-being, as well as promoting preventive behaviors. (shrink)

BackgroundThe coronavirus 2019 pandemic placed unprecedented pressures on healthcare services and magnified ethical dilemmas related to how resources should be allocated. These resources include, among others, personal protective equipment, personnel, life-saving equipment, and vaccines. Decision-makers have therefore sought ethical decision-making tools so that resources are distributed both swiftly and equitably. To support the development of such a decision-making tool, a systematic review of the literature on relevant ethical values and principles was undertaken. The aim of this review was to (...) identify ethical values and principles in the literature which relate to the equitable allocation of resources in response to an acute public health threat, such as a pandemic.MethodsA rapid systematic review was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE, Google Scholar, LitCOVID and relevant reference lists. The time period of the search was January 2000 to 6th April 2020, and the search was restricted to human studies. January 2000 was selected as a start date as the aim was to capture ethical values and principles within acute public health threat situations. No restrictions were made with regard to language. Ethical values and principles were extracted and examined thematically.ResultsA total of 1,618 articles were identified. After screening and application of eligibility criteria, 169 papers were included in the thematic synthesis. The most commonly mentioned ethical values and principles were: Equity, reciprocity, transparency, justice, duty to care, liberty, utility, stewardship, trust and proportionality. In some cases, ethical principles were conflicting, for example, Protection of the Public from Harm and Liberty.ConclusionsAllocation of resources in response to acute public health threats is challenging and must be simultaneously guided by many ethical principles and values. Ethical decision-making strategies and the prioritisation of different principles and values needs to be discussed with the public in order to prepare for future public health threats. An evidence-based tool to guide decision-makers in making difficult decisions is required. The equitable allocation of resources in response to an acute public health threat is challenging, and many ethical principles may be applied simultaneously. An evidence-based tool to support difficult decisions would be helpful to guide decision-makers. (shrink)

For years, violence against doctors and healthcare workers has been a growing social issue in China. In a recent series of studies, we provided evidence for a motivated scapegoating account of this violence. Specifically, individuals who feel that the course of their (or their family member's) illness is a threat to their sense of control are more likely to express motivation to aggress against healthcare providers. Drawing on existential theory, we propose that blaming and aggressing against a single individual represents (...) a culturally afforded scapegoating mechanism in China. However, in an era of healthcare crisis (i.e., the global COVID-19 pandemic), it is essential to understand cultural variation in scapegoating in the context of healthcare. We therefore undertook two cross-cultural studies examining how people in the United States and China use different scapegoating responses to re-assert a sense of control during medical uncertainty. One study was conducted prior to the pandemic and allowed us to make an initial validating and exploratory investigation of the constructs of interest. The second study, conducted during the pandemic, was confirmatory and investigated mediation path models. Across the two studies, consistent evidence emerged that, both in response to COVID-related and non-COVID-related illness scenarios, Chinese (relative to U.S.) individuals are more likely to respond by aggressing against an individual doctor, while U.S. (relative to Chinese) individuals are more likely to respond by scapegoating the medical industry/system. Further, Study 2 suggests these culture effects are mediated by differential patterns of primary and secondary control-seeking. (shrink)

This investigation is intended to explore the effect of the digital environment as well as perfectionism during the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression. The study used a mixed-methods design; a mixed research methodology was used regarding explanatory design by using a qualitative sub-sample from quantitative sample data. The researcher conducted the study on a sample of 980 students and non-students smartphone and internet users using both qualitative and quantitative approach. Three different questionnaires were used: The Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, (...) Beck Depression, and Beck Anxiety Inventory. On the other hand, the researcher designed a self-reported interview for the qualitative part that included 5 major questions and 10 sub-questions. The gathered data were investigated using SPSS version 22 to analyze the collected data for this study, and simple descriptive statistics and coding were used. The results denote that the digital environment is significantly correlated with multidimensional perfectionism in a low positive manner for students. However, the correlation effects for non-students are significantly high as evidenced by a significant positive correlation. Another finding suggests that there is a positive significant association between perfectionism and being depressed and anxious. (shrink)

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States increased exponentially, quickly leading to a pandemic in 2020, which created a serious public-health emergency. During the period in which the COVID-1...

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has brought about unprecedented uncertainty and challenges to the worldwide economy and people’s everyday life. Anecdotal and scientific evidence has documented the existence of a positive relationship between the experience of crisis and creativity. Though this appears to be ubiquitous, the crisis-creativity-well-being relationship has not been sufficiently examined across countries and using a working adult sample. The current study drew on a sample consisting of 1,420 employees from China, Germany, and the United States to (...) examine whether creativity can function as an effective means to cope with crisis and to achieve both flourishing and social well-being. Multivariate analyses showed that perceived impact of COVID-19 was positively related to creative process engagement, which was positively related to employees’ self-reported creative growth. Creative growth was associated with a higher level of flourishing well-being. This sequential mediation model was significant across the three samples. Creativity also mediated the relationship between perceived impact of COVID-19 and social well-being, but this connection was only found for the Chinese sample. Further data analyses revealed that individualism moderated this serial mediation model in that the positive coping effect of creativity on both flourishing and social well-being was stronger for individuals who hold more collectivistic views. Results of the study have implications for crisis management, personal development, and positive functioning of individuals and society. (shrink)

Objective: The COVID-19 epidemic has generated great stress throughout healthcare workers. The situation of HCWs should be fully and timely understood. The aim of this meta-analysis is to determine the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on health care workers.Method: We searched the original literatures published from 1 Nov 2019 to 20 Sep 2020 in electronic databases of PUBMED, EMBASE and WEB OF SCIENCE. Forty-seven studies were included in the meta-analysis with a combined total of 81,277 participants.Results: The pooled prevalence (...) of anxiety is 37% from 44 studies. Depression is estimated in 39 studies, and the pooled prevalence of depression is 36%. There are 10 studies reported the prevalence of insomnia, and the overall prevalence of insomnia is 32%. The subgroup analysis showed a higher incidence of anxiety and depression among women and the frontline HCWs compared to men and non-frontline HCWs respectively.Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused heavy psychological impact among healthcare professionals especially women and frontline workers. Timely psychological counseling and intervention ought to be implemented for HCWs in order to alleviate their anxiety and improve their general mental health. (shrink)

The Covid-19 pandemic raised questions about the viability of food chains and created new opportunities for small-scale producers. This study reports on findings from a project directed at investigating how niche meat farmers respond to external challenges and threats including those related to their position as small-scale producers and those that are pandemic-related. A purposeful sample (_N_ = 5) of local meat producers in NC, recruited through their producer network, were interviewed twice (in 2021 and again in 2022) (...) via Zoom. Informants were interviewed about the characteristics of their farm enterprises and households. The niche meat farmer informants in this study are diversified, values-based operations that utilize pasture-based production practices. They draw upon their farm enterprise and household assets, including the allocation of labor to farm, non-farm, and household activities, to meet economic production and social reproduction needs. Overall, our results show that the resiliency of the niche-meat producers flows from this integration of the farm enterprise and the household. While the data are based on a very limited sample, the results are consistent with literatures on women in agriculture and peasant economy. Therefore, we argue that future studies of how small-scale farms react to exogenous change, like the pandemic, include details on household composition and the gender division of labor for on-farm, off-farm, and social reproduction activities. (shrink)

This essay proposes a simple way to incentivize states not to develop pathogens with enhanced pandemic potential (PEPPs) as bioweapons: to tip all state actors that all of them stand to lose from developing such highly lethal, highly transmissible bioweapons. Being highly transmissible, a PEPP used as a weapon could easily spread, infecting a state’s own citizens and leaders. Therefore, no state concerned for its own citizens or leaders can afford to use a PEPP weapon, even having developed or (...) acquired it. We then show that when this is commonly known between states, having PEPPs provides no useful deterrent to a state, and there is no point getting into an arms race. Developing and stockpiling PEPP weapons gives states no gain, only risk. We end by assessing three objections to our thesis. (shrink)

This paper examines the ethical implications of healthcare resource allocation during the first wave of COVID-19 in Italy, from 21 February to 31 May 2020, with a focus on the utilitarian principles that prioritized age-based resource allocation. By comparing this approach to an ontological personalist bioethics framework, the study aims to offer a more equitable strategy for healthcare allocation applicable to any pandemic. Data from governmental reports, healthcare policies, and ethical guidelines were analyzed, revealing that Italy’s utilitarian method led (...) to significant ethical concerns, particularly regarding age discrimination. In contrast, the ontological personalist approach emphasizes the dignity and intrinsic worth of each individual, irrespective of age or health condition. The findings demonstrate that this personalist framework fosters a more balanced and fair allocation of resources, respecting human dignity and offering a universally applicable alternative to age-based prioritization. Ultimately, the study suggests that integrating ontological personalist principles into healthcare policies could enhance ethical decision-making in future pandemics, ensuring that resource allocation practices align more closely with human rights and individual dignity. (shrink)

ObjectiveThe coronavirus pandemic affects all areas of life. Performing arts and music studies have also experienced considerable changes, with university closures and a fluctuating return to normal and more limited operations. Prior studies detail the impact of the pandemic on college students, but we do not yet know what specific consequences it has for music students. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on music students’ health, practicing behavior, and everyday (...) life.MethodsIn July 2020, we conducted an online survey of 80 students enrolled in performance and music education programs at a German music university and compared these data with data from a survey of 75 students at the same music university carried out in summer 2019.ResultsThe survey revealed that the coronavirus pandemic led to a decrease in practicing hours and an increase of stressful thoughts and feelings. Students were mostly satisfied with Corona-measures taken by the university. Of analyzed determinants, only general fear of health problems was identified as a significant predictor of mental health status. Mental health status did not significantly differ between students surveyed in 2019 and 2020.ConclusionKnowledge about the specific challenges the pandemic poses for music students can help conservatories to better respond to the needs of their students. Specifically, this study will inform future measures supporting music students in coping with difficult situations like a pandemic. (shrink)

AbstractDuring the Covid-19 pandemic, ethicists and researchers proposed human challenge studies as a way to speed development of a vaccine that could prevent disease and end the global public health crisis. The risks to healthy volunteers of being deliberately infected with a deadly and novel pathogen were not low, but the benefits could have been immense. This essay is a history of the three major efforts to set up a challenge model and run challenge studies in 2020 and 2021. (...) The pharmaceutical company Johnson and Johnson, the National Institutes of Health in the United States, and a private-public partnership of industry, university, and government partners in Britain all undertook preparations. The United Kingdom’s consortium began their Human Challenge Programme in March of 2021.Beyond documenting each effort, the essay puts these scientific and ethical debates in dialogue with the social, epidemiological, and institutional conditions of the pandemic as well as the commercial, intellectual, and political systems in which medical research and Covid-19 challenge studies operated. It shows how different institutions understood risk, benefit, and social value depending on their specific contexts. Ultimately the example of Covid-19 challenge studies highlights the constructedness of such assessments and reveals the utility of deconstructing them retrospectively so as to better understand the interplay of medical research and research ethics with larger social systems and historical contexts. (shrink)

IntroductionFrontline healthcare workers have faced significant plight during the ongoing Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Studies have shown their vulnerabilities to depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress, and insomnia. In a developing country like India, with a rising caseload, resource limitations, and stigma, the adversities faced by the physicians are more significant. We attempted to hear their “voices” to understand their adversities and conceptualize their resilience framework.MethodsA qualitative approach was used with a constructivist paradigm. After an initial pilot, a socio-demographically heterogeneous (...) population of 172 physicians working in COVID-designated centers were purposively sampled from all over India. Following in-depth virtual interviews using a pre-formed semi-structured guide, the data was transcribed and translated verbatim. The interview was focused on their challenges, needs, and processes of coping and support. Charmaz’s grounded theory was used for analysis supplemented by NVivo 10 software.ResultsFear of infection, uncertainty, stigma, guilt, and social isolation emerged as the main challenges. Simultaneously, their “unmet needs” were flexible work policies, administrative measures for better medical protection, the sensitivity of media toward the image of HCW, effective risk communication for their health, and finally, social inclusion. Their resilience “framework” emerged as a process while navigating these adversities and consisted of three facets: forming a “resilient identity,” managing the resilience, and working through the socio-occupational distress. The role of mental well-being, social network, peer support, problem negotiation, and self-care emerged as the key coping strategies.ConclusionThe study findings support the global call for better psychosocial health and quality of life of the frontline HCWs. Their “unheard voices” explored in the study can anchor subsequent resilience-enhancing interventions and policies. Guidelines focusing on the psychological wellbeing of frontline HCWs need to be grounded in their unmet needs and lived experiences. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic brings up unprecedented challenges. Healthcare practitioners find themselves in an extraordinary, wartime-like situation and are obliged to apply triage on a daily basis. In this context, routine procedures prove insufficient and the redefinition of ethical practice guidelines becomes a necessity – leading not only to a shift in procedures, but also reshaping the very value of human life. This, in turn, triggers an axiological crisis, which exacerbates the tension between paradigms of sanctity and quality of life (...) and the conflicting principles of egalitarianism and utilitarianism. Triage should not be limited to healthcare practice only: the concept can be extended to a macro-level where policymakers decide whether to prioritize human lives over livelihoods and economic health, impacting healthcare system capacity. The complexity of the challenges arising from the pandemic uncovers the urgent need to seek solutions from an integrated approach. In this paper, we offer a transdisciplinary view: we first define technical aspects of triage from the perspective of a healthcare professional. In the second part, we further analyze the problem of medical prioritization in the light of doctrinal findings related to the value of human life, and we show how and to what extent this philosophical debate is reflected in the emerging ethical guidelines in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany and Austria. Finally, we broaden the concept of triage, adding the “macro-economic” ingredient in our analysis and we present the results for selected European countries with special emphasis on the case of Poland. (shrink)

Since the emergence of the global challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, its impact could be widely viewed in various human society aspects, such as education, business trading and also social interaction limit. Apart from many discussions on the pandemic from a wide range of such perspectives, scholarly attention is still rarely mainly in trying to elaborate the critical overview from an Islamic perspective following theological, historical, and sociological points of view. In this paper, the critical elaboration of the (...) class='Hi'>pandemic has been widely discussed by analysing the contents of sacred scriptures and responses from an Islamic point of view. The literature was critically conducted from religious sources such as the Qur’an and Hadith, and also related contemporary works. The finding reveals that the pandemic has been given full attention as stated in the Qur’an and narrated in Hadith by taking a lesson from pandemics and strategically battling the pandemic. The following attentions were addressed in order to strengthen the Muslim community and society in order to support the health protocols arranged by the local and international health organizations. The value is that religion’s clear comprehension could give continued support to encourage the Muslim community especially and general society at large in the attempts to battle the spreading pandemic. -/- . (shrink)

Studies on mental health and academic performance have been conducted throughout the world. Thus, this study aims to assess the students' mental health amidst the new normal of education employing 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale or DASS-21, concerning their academic performance. The study's findings showed that almost more than half of the respondents suffered from moderate to extremely severe levels of depression, stress, and anxiety. Thus, there was no significant relationship between high negative mental health symptoms and academic performance. (...) In conclusion, students that encounter extreme levels of adverse mental health can still maintain high academic achievement. However, the students' mental health should always be managed and helped to cope with their life problems, especially during this pandemic crisis. (shrink)

Volume 20, Issue 7, July 2020, Page 6-8.

Human faces are one of the most prominent stimuli in the visual environment of young infants and convey critical information for the development of social cognition. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mask wearing has become a common practice outside the home environment. With masks covering nose and mouth regions, the facial cues available to the infant are impoverished. The impact of these changes on development is unknown but is critical to debates around mask mandates in early childhood settings. As infants (...) grow, they increasingly interact with a broader range of familiar and unfamiliar people outside the home; in these settings, mask wearing could possibly influence social development. In order to generate hypotheses about the effects of mask wearing on infant social development, in the present work, we systematically review N = 129 studies selected based on the most recent PRISMA guidelines providing a state-of-the-art framework of behavioral studies investigating face processing in early infancy. We focused on identifying sensitive periods during which being exposed to specific facial features or to the entire face configuration has been found to be important for the development of perceptive and socio-communicative skills. For perceptive skills, infants gradually learn to analyze the eyes or the gaze direction within the context of the entire face configuration. This contributes to identity recognition as well as emotional expression discrimination. For socio-communicative skills, direct gaze and emotional facial expressions are crucial for attention engagement while eye-gaze cuing is important for joint attention. Moreover, attention to the mouth is particularly relevant for speech learning. We discuss possible implications of the exposure to masked faces for developmental needs and functions. Providing groundwork for further research, we encourage the investigation of the consequences of mask wearing for infants’ perceptive and socio-communicative development, suggesting new directions within the research field. (shrink)

BackgroundPublic health guidelines have recommended that elective medical procedures, including deep brain stimulation surgery for Parkinson’s disease, should not be scheduled during the coronavirus pandemic to prevent further virus spread and overload on health care systems. However, delaying DBS surgery for PD may not be in the best interest of individual patients and is not called for in regions where virus spread is under control and inpatient facilities are not overloaded.MethodsWe administered a newly developed phone questionnaire to 20 consecutive (...) patients with PD who received DBS surgery in Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai during the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire was designed to gather the patients’ experiences and perceptions on the impact of COVID-19 on their everyday activities and access to medical care.ResultsMost of the patients felt confident about the preventive measures taken by the government and hospitals, and they have changed their daily living activities accordingly. Moreover, a large majority of patients felt confident obtaining access to regular and COVID-19-related health care services if needed. Routine clinical referral, sense of security in the hospital during the outbreak, and poor control of PD symptoms were the three main reasons given by patients for seeking DBS surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has considerably impacted medical care and patients’ lives but elective procedures, such as DBS surgery for PD, do not need to be rescheduled when the health care system is not overloaded and adequate public health regulations are in place. (shrink)

The combined effect of technological innovations in the workplace and the lockdowns imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly increased the prominence of remote working, with an undeniable impact on both business and society. In light of this organizational and sociological change, this article analyzes how this renewed work environment can be the place where workers can develop several relevant virtues, specifically moderation, integrity, and mercy. This new environment may also present the opportunity to develop a number of opposing (...) vices, which are also explained and analyzed. The article concludes by suggesting some implications for managers who wish to promote virtuous behaviors in the new context of remote work. (shrink)

Education during the COVID-19 pandemic required teachers to be creative because students might not be able to complete education in a normal way. However, Islamic education teachers seem to lack the skills and attitudes required for twenty-first century learning, including creative teaching. The purpose of this study is to explore if Islamic education teachers were able to teach creatively by responding to twenty-first century learning during the pandemic. A qualitative methodology was adopted using a case study design. The (...) sample consisted of four Islamic education teachers from Putrajaya schools. Our findings illustrated that there were six themes that emerged as elements of creative teaching in twenty-first century learning. These were: student-centered learning, twenty-first century teaching, creative inspirations, creative strategies, creative activities, and alternative evaluation. This study found Islamic education teachers to be creative in teaching and it demonstrated the professional development of Islamic education teachers. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended in-person public education across the United States, a critical infrastructure of care that parents—especially mothers—depend on to work. To understand the nature and magnitude of school closures across states, we collected detailed primary data—the Elementary School Operating Status database —to measure the percentage of school districts offering in-person, remote, and hybrid instruction models for elementary schools by state in September 2020. We link these data to the Current Population Survey to evaluate the association between (...) school reopening and parents’ labor force participation rates, comparing 2020 labor force participation rates to those observed prepandemic in 2019. We find that, across states, the maternal labor force participation rate fell to a greater extent than that of fathers. In 2019, mothers’ rate of labor force participation was about 18 percentage points lower than fathers’. By 2020, this gap grew by 5 percentage points in states where schools offered primarily remote instruction. We show that schools are a vital source of care for young children, and that without in-person instruction, mothers have been sidelined from the labor force. The longer these conditions remain in place, the more difficult it may be for mothers to fully recover from prolonged spells of nonemployment, resulting in reduced occupational opportunities and lifetime earnings. (shrink)

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, global economies have suffered an exogenous shock never seen before with a strong economic and psychosocial impact on organizations. Italy, in the context of the research, has been severely affected. The economic crisis has mainly affected women. In this scenario, entrepreneurial perceived success (objective and subjective) is influenced by increasingly burdensome job demands that entrepreneurs have to face up. Using the job demand-resources model, the study aims to broaden the knowledge of the (...) determinants of entrepreneurial perceived success in the current emergency moment. In particular, as regards of the demands, alongside the specific entrepreneurial demands (time demands, uncertainty and risk, and responsibility), we also decided to include the negative interface family–work in both directions from-family-to-work (NEGWIF) and from-work-to-family (NEGFIW). Regarding the resources, we considered entrepreneurial self-efficacy (researching, planning, marshaling, implementing people, and implementing financial), proactive and elaborate social strategies (SS), and both directions of the positive interface: from-family-to-work (POSWIF) and from-work-to-family (POSFIW). All participants are women entrepreneurs (N= 137) who have completed a self-report questionnaire. We explored the associations between demands, resources, and the dimensions of success through hierarchical regressions. As for the demands, time demands, uncertainty and risk, NEGWIF, and NEGFIW negatively influenced the perceived entrepreneurial success. Regarding resources, planning, implementing financial, proactive and elaborate SS positively influenced the perceived entrepreneurial success. (shrink)

This issue of The Monist was edited in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. As the submissions came in, millions of people across the globe were infecting each other with the coronavirus ‘Covid-19’ in buses and on trains; in bars and in hotels; in airports and hospitals; in homes and universities. During parts of 2020, the presence of this deadly virus made national governments ‘lock down’ their economies and ‘lock up’ their citizens in a manner that has not previously (...) been seen in modern peacetime. Long after this extraordinary event, people will still be asking themselves what really happened. (shrink)

Healthcare policies developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to safeguard community health have the potential to disadvantage women in three areas. First, protocols for deferral of elective surgery may assign a lower priority to important reproductive outcomes. Second, policies regarding the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 may not capture the complexity of the considerations related to pregnancy. Third, policies formulated to reduce infectious exposure inadvertently may increase disparities in maternal health outcomes and rates of violence towards women. In this commentary, (...) we outline these challenges unique to women’s healthcare in a pandemic, provide preliminary recommendations and identify areas for further exploration and refinement of policy. (shrink)

The Covid-19 pandemic has presented major challenges to society, exposing preexisting ethical weaknesses in the modern social fabric’s ability to respond. Distrust in government and a lessened authority of science to determine facts have both been exacerbated by the polarization and disinformation enhanced by social media. These have impaired society’s willingness to comply with and persevere with social distancing, which has been the most powerful initial response to mitigate the pandemic. These preexisting weaknesses also threaten the future acceptance (...) of vaccination and contact tracing, two other tools needed to combat epidemics. Medical ethicists might best help in this situation by promoting truth-telling, encouraging the rational adjudication of facts, providing transparent decision-making and advocating the virtue of cooperation to maximize the common good. Those interventions should be aimed at the social level. The same elements of emphasizing cooperation and beneficence also apply to the design of triage protocols for when resources are overwhelmed. A life-stages approach increases beneficence and reduces harms. Triage should be kept as simple and straightforward as reasonably possible to avoid unwieldly application during a pandemic. (shrink)