Introduction
Most research on COVID-19 effects has focused on the general population. Here we measure its impact on Dutch FACT and autism outpatient service users during both waves.
Objectives
This ...study aimed to: 1) investigate participants’ mental health, 2) assess experiences with outpatient services, and 3) assess respondents’ experiences with governmental measures in the Netherlands during the first and second wave of COVID-19.
Methods
Respondents (wave 1: n=100; wave 2: n=150) reported on mental health, experiences with outpatient care, government measures and information services in an online survey.
Results
Findings demonstrate happiness was rated an average of 6 out of 10, 70% of respondents scored below average on resilience, positive consequences for mental health (ordered world, reflection time) during both waves were similar, and prominent negative consequences included decreased social interactions and increased or new problems regarding mental health and daily functioning from wave 1-2. Lifestyle changed in 50% in both waves, although only slightly attributed to the pandemic. Substance use during both waves hardly changed. Mental healthcare continuation was highly appreciated in both waves (75-80% scored ≥7 on 10-point scale). (Video)calling was the most frequently mentioned positive care experience; missing face-to-face contact with care providers considered most negative. COVID-19 measures were less doable in the second wave. Vaccination willingness approximated 70%.
Conclusions
Results show a nuanced, but clear picture of experiences during both waves. Continuation of services through tele-health was well-received. Monitoring of long-term impact is needed.
Disclosure
No significant relationships.
COVID-19 in Dutch higher education de Boer, Harry
Studies in higher education (Dorchester-on-Thames),
01/2021, Volume:
46, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
In this contribution to the Special Issue of Studies in Higher Education, I describe developments during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dutch higher education along three lines. First, the context is ...outlined in chronological order. It concerns the evolution of the pandemic in the Netherlands, complemented by the general situation at my own university - the University of Twente (UT). The UT has almost 12,000 students, about 30% of whom come from abroad.
1
Many of the foreign students come from neighbouring country Germany (12% of the total number of students). The university is located in the east of the Netherlands, close to the border with Germany, and has a beautiful spacious campus. The nickname of the university is the Entrepreneurial University, which underlines its character. The second part of my contribution gives an overview of a number of measures and issues that were taken during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Dutch higher education sector. The third part contains a number of personal perceptions and gives an impression of my state of mind in recent months.
2
To investigate factors associated with adherence to self-isolation and lockdown measures due to COVID-19 in the UK.
Online cross-sectional survey.
Data were collected between 6th and 7th May 2020. A ...total of 2240 participants living in the UK aged 18 years or older were recruited from YouGov's online research panel.
A total of 217 people (9.7%) reported that they or someone in their household had symptoms of COVID-19 (cough or high temperature/fever) in the last 7 days. Of these people, 75.1% had left the home in the last 24 h (defined as non-adherent). Men were more likely to be non-adherent, as were people who were less worried about COVID-19, and who perceived a smaller risk of catching COVID-19. Adherence was associated with having received help from someone outside your household. Results should be taken with caution as there was no evidence for associations when controlling for multiple analyses. Of people reporting no symptoms in the household, 24.5% had gone out shopping for non-essentials in the last week (defined as non-adherent). Factors associated with non-adherence and with a higher total number of outings in the last week included decreased perceived effectiveness of government ‘lockdown’ measures, decreased perceived severity of COVID-19 and decreased estimates of how many other people were following lockdown rules. Having received help was associated with better adherence.
Adherence to self-isolation is poor. As we move into a new phase of contact tracing and self-isolation, it is essential that adherence is improved. Communications should aim to increase knowledge about actions to take when symptomatic or if you have been in contact with a possible COVID-19 case. They should also emphasise the risk of catching and spreading COVID-19 when out and about and the effectiveness of preventative measures. Using volunteer networks effectively to support people in isolation may promote adherence.
•75% of those with household COVID-19 symptoms had left home in the last 24 h.•Total outings and shopping for non-essentials indicated non-adherence to lockdown.•Decreased perceived effectiveness of lockdown measures was linked to non-adherence.•Non-adherence was also linked with decreased perceived severity of COVID-19.•Perceived social norms were associated with adherence to lockdown measures.
We provide an insight into the open-data resources pertinent to the study of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and its control. We identify the variables required to analyze fundamental aspects ...like seasonal behavior, regional mortality rates, and effectiveness of government measures. Open-data resources, along with data-driven methodologies, provide many opportunities to improve the response of the different administrations to the virus. We describe the present limitations and difficulties encountered in most of the open-data resources. To facilitate the access to the main open-data portals and resources, we identify the most relevant institutions, on a global scale, providing Covid-19 information and/or auxiliary variables (demographics, mobility, etc.). We also describe several open resources to access Covid-19 datasets at a country-wide level (i.e., China, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, US, etc.). To facilitate the rapid response to the study of the seasonal behavior of Covid-19, we enumerate the main open resources in terms of weather and climate variables. We also assess the reusability of some representative open-data sources.
Objectives
To investigate factors associated with anger or confronting others due to COVID-19.
Design
Online cross-sectional survey.
Setting
Data were collected between 17 and 20 July 2020.
...Participants
A total of 2237 participants living in the UK aged 16–75 years.
Main outcome measures
Reporting having had arguments, felt angry or fallen out with others because of COVID-19. Reporting having confronted or reported someone to the authorities, or that you had been confronted or reported to the authorities, for not wearing a face covering; not keeping your distance from others or being in too large a group; or alternatively following recommended measures too carefully. We used logistic regression analyses to identify factors associated with anger and confrontation.
Results
Most participants reported having had arguments, feeling angry or fallen out with others because of COVID-19 (56%, n = 1255). Twenty-two percent (n = 500) of participants reported that they had confronted or reported someone. Fourteen percent (n = 304) of participants reported that they had been confronted or reported by someone. Confronting someone, having been confronted and feeling angry or having had arguments were strongly associated with each other. Anger and confrontation were associated with younger age, greater likelihood of experiencing significant financial difficulties due to the pandemic, greater perceived risk of COVID-19 and getting information about COVID-19 from social media.
Conclusions
Measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have caused considerable strain. Increased support, clear messaging on the rationale for easing restrictions and combatting misinformation on social media may all help decrease tension.
The differential spread and impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), across regions is a major focus for researchers and ...policy makers. Africa has attracted tremendous attention, due to predictions of catastrophic impacts that have not yet materialized. Early in the pandemic, the seemingly low African case count was largely attributed to low testing and case reporting. However, there is reason to consider that many African countries attenuated the spread and impacts early on. Factors explaining low spread include early government community-wide actions, population distribution, social contacts, and ecology of human habitation. While recent data from seroprevalence studies posit more extensive circulation of the virus, continuing low COVID-19 burden may be explained by the demographic pyramid, prevalence of pre-existing conditions, trained immunity, genetics, and broader sociocultural dynamics. Though all these prongs contribute to the observed profile of COVID-19 in Africa, some provide stronger evidence than others. This review is important to expand what is known about the differential impacts of pandemics, enhancing scientific understanding and gearing appropriate public health responses. Furthermore, it highlights potential lessons to draw from Africa for global health on assumptions regarding deadly viral pandemics, given its long experience with infectious diseases.
Governments around the world have issued movement restrictions and quarantines to combat the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the Swedish government has not implemented such measures but has ...depended on individual responsibility. The extent to which individuals have been encouraged to trust in and be satisfied with government strategies and adopt personal health measures, such as social isolation, remains unclear. This study examines the direct effects of trust in the government and risk perception on self-efficacy. Most importantly, this study intends to explore whether satisfaction with government measures strengthens the relationships between 1) trust in the government and self-efficacy and 2) risk perception and self-efficacy. We test our suggested hypotheses using survey data obtained from 403 Swedish citizens living in Sweden. As predicted, the findings indicate that trust in the government and risk perception positively impact individual self-efficacy. Additionally, the findings reveal that satisfaction with government measures strengthens these relationships; more precisely, the impact of trust in the government and risk perception under a high level of individual satisfaction with government measures is much more positive than that under a low satisfaction level. In practice, a focus on implementing successful policies and excellent individual self-efficacy is required to halt the pandemic, and the findings indicate that combining strictly attentive and adaptive individual strategies with government strategies can minimize the spread of infection.
Traditionally, laws regarding soil pollution were limited in China. However, due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, soil pollution has become a major environmental issue. Thereby, in order ...to address the emerging threat, different measures have been introduced and implemented by Chinese government. The paper, in this regard, examines the role of government measures to reduce soil pollution, eco-innovation, and environmental sustainability on soil pollution in China. secondary data from the World Development Indicators (WDI), Chinese Soil Database, the global economy, and the environmental performance index (EPI) has been collected from 1985 to 2020. Autoregressive distributed lag model is used in the study to check the relationship among constructs. Findings reveal that government expenditures to reduce soil pollution, eco-innovation, and environmental sustainability have a negative association with soil pollution in China. The results also revealed that industrialization and population growth have a positive linkage with soil pollution in China. Having these evidences, the study recommends that fiscal policies should be formulated to increase the budget for soil reduction projects so it can save soil from pollution. Likewise, policymakers must behave to encourage eco-innovation at economic and societal levels to reduce soil pollution.
In March 2020, the government of Senegal introduced a curfew, a ban on travel between regions, the closure of markets, and a ban on attending places of worship to contain the spread of the COVID-19 ...pandemic. As part of research into the response to COVID-19, we developed a scale to measure the social acceptability of these measures.
We used Sekhon's theoretical framework of acceptability (TFA) to formulate the content of the scale items. We assessed the homogeneity of the scale using Cronbach's Alpha and average interitem correlations. We measured the dimensional properties of the scale using rating scale models. We tested the sensitivity of the scale to sociodemographic characteristics using mixed linear regressions and rating scale models.
The final scale consisted of seven items corresponding to the constructs of acceptability. Analysis performed on data from 813 individuals showed that the scale has satisfactory statistical properties (Cronbach's α > 0.8, Loevinger's coefficient>0.3, intraclass correlation>0.4).
This scale was one of the first to test the TFA. The small number of items was advantageous for use under challenging data collection contexts. Measuring the acceptability of public health interventions with this tool can help in their design and implementation.
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