Designing Better Exposure Notification Apps: The Role of Persuasive Design (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiemute Oyibo ◽  
Plinio Pelegrini Morita

UNSTRUCTURED Digital contact tracing apps have been deployed worldwide to limit the spread of COVID-19 during this pandemic and to facilitate the lifting of public health restrictions. However, the apps are yet to be widely adopted and require a critical mass of users to be successful. Privacy concerns aside, the minimalist and non-motivational design of the contact tracing apps have been identified as key factors that contribute to low uptake. Using the Government of Canada’s exposure notification app, COVID Alert, as a case study, we demonstrated how incorporating persuasive features in contract tracing apps may improve uptake, usage, reporting diagnosis, and compliance with social distancing guidelines.

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-341
Author(s):  
Maria-Lucia Rusu

AbstractThe current COVID-19 pandemic has led to a reconfiguration of the social paradigm and has brought about a challenge in terms of social distancing during this critical period. Dynamic and interconnected social networks are prone to the spread of the virus both individually and at the macro-social level. The spread of the disease is controlled by allowing sensitive people to temporarily reduce their social contacts, as an attitude taken due to the presence of the virus in the local neighborhood. The social distancing promoted by governments and public health bodies comes as a method to control the pandemic, in the absence of antiviral drugs or a vaccine. Therefore, the control and management of this network during the pandemic is essential. The paper aims to present and analyze the changes that this measure produces in all sectors of society, globally. Also, it emphasizes the role of the government in implementing the measure and the need for cooperation of the population.


Author(s):  
Youngjun Park ◽  
Haekwon Chung ◽  
Sohyun Park

Aim: This study explores the changes in regular walking activities during the phases of the pandemic. Background: With the spread of COVID-19 transmission, people are refraining from going out, reducing their physical activity. In South Korea, COVID-19 broke out in the 4th week of 2020 and experienced the first cycle phases of the pandemic, such as outbreak, widespread, and decline. In response to the pandemic, the government encouraged voluntary participation in social distancing campaigns, and people reduced their outside activities. Methods: This article examines the decrease and increase of the Prevalence of Regular Walking (≥30 min of moderate walking a day, on ≥5 days a week) by the COVID-19 phases. This study is based on weekly walking data for 15 weeks in 2020, via the smartphone healthcare app, which is managed by 25 public health offices of the Seoul government. Results: According to the findings, the level of prevalence of regular walking (PRW) has a significant difference before and after the outbreak, and every interval of the four-stage COVID-19 phases, that is, pre-pandemic, initiation, acceleration, and deceleration. The level of PRW sharply decreased during initiation and acceleration intervals. In the deceleration interval of COVID-19, the PRW kept increasing, but it has not yet reached the same level as the previous year when the COVID-19 did not exist. Conclusions: As a preliminary study, this study explains empirically how COVID-19 changed PRW in Seoul. It would be helpful to enhance our understanding of the changes in physical inactivity in the pandemic period.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 680-697
Author(s):  
Jonah Koetke ◽  
Karina Schumann ◽  
Tenelle Porter

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitates adherence to scientifically supported prevention strategies, such as social distancing. Although most Americans support social distancing, a subset of conservatives reject the scientific consensus on this matter. We explored why some conservatives reject social distancing, focusing on how trust in science contributes to ideological differences in social distancing intentions. In two studies, we replicated recent research demonstrating that conservatives report lower support for social distancing compared to liberals. However, in Study 1 we found support for a moderating role of trust in science, such that conservatives reported stronger intentions to socially distance when they had high trust in science. In Study 2, we enhanced trust in messaging about social distancing – and in turn, social distancing intentions among conservatives – by having the messages come from a Republican (vs. unidentified) government official. These studies provide insight into how we can increase adherence to public health recommendations regarding COVID-19.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 229-236
Author(s):  
Clair Sullivan ◽  
Ides Wong ◽  
Emily Adams ◽  
Magid Fahim ◽  
Jon Fraser ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Queensland, Australia has been successful in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. Underpinning that response has been a highly effective virus containment strategy which relies on identification, isolation, and contact tracing of cases. The dramatic emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic rendered traditional paper-based systems for managing contact tracing no longer fit for purpose. A rapid digital transformation of the public health contact tracing system occurred to support this effort. Objectives The objectives of the digital transformation were to shift legacy systems (paper or standalone electronic systems) to a digitally enabled public health system, where data are centered around the consumer rather than isolated databases. The objective of this paper is to outline this case study and detail the lessons learnt to inform and give confidence to others contemplating digitization of public health systems in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This case study is set in Queensland, Australia. Universal health care is available. A multidisciplinary team was established consisting of clinical informaticians, developers, data strategists, and health information managers. An agile “pair-programming” approach was undertaken to application development and extensive change efforts were made to maximize adoption of the new digital workflows. Data governance and flows were changed to support rapid management of the pandemic. Results The digital coronavirus application (DCOVA) is a web-based application that securely captures information about people required to quarantine and creates a multiagency secure database to support a successful containment strategy. Conclusion Most of the literature surrounding digital transformation allows time for significant consultation, which was simply not possible under crisis conditions. Our observation is that staff was willing to adopt new digital systems because the reason for change (the COVID-19 pandemic) was clearly pressing. This case study highlights just how critical a unified purpose, is to successful, rapid digital transformation.


Author(s):  
Rory England ◽  
Nicholas Peirce ◽  
Joseph Torresi ◽  
Sean Mitchell ◽  
Andy Harland

AbstractA review of literature on the role of fomites in transmission of coronaviruses informed the development of a framework which was used to qualitatively analyse a cricket case study, where equipment is shared and passed around, and identify potential mitigation strategies. A range of pathways were identified that might in theory allow coronavirus transmission from an infected person to a non-infected person via communal or personal equipment fomites or both. Eighteen percent of potential fomite based interactions were found to be non-essential to play including all contact with another persons equipment. Six opportunities to interrupt the transmission pathway were identified, including the recommendation to screen participants for symptoms prior to play. Social distancing between participants and avoiding unnecessary surface contact provides two opportunities; firstly to avoid equipment exposure to infected respiratory droplets and secondly to avoid uninfected participants touching potential fomites. Hand sanitisation and equipment sanitisation provide two further opportunities by directly inactivating coronavirus. Preventing players from touching their mucosal membranes with their hands represents the sixth potential interruption. Whilst potential fomite transmission pathways were identified, evidence suggests that viral load will be substantially reduced during surface transfer. Mitigation strategies could further reduce potential fomites, suggesting that by comparison, direct airborne transmission presents the greater risk in cricket.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11536
Author(s):  
Xiaoyue Liu ◽  
Jeongsoo Yu ◽  
Kazuaki Okubo ◽  
Masahiro Sato ◽  
Toshiaki Aoki

Each year, a large amount of waste paper (WP) is generated in Japan, and due to the change in lifestyle with the COVID-19 pandemic, the WP collection and recycling system in Japan faces new challenges. Although the government of Japan has installed WP collection systems, the efficiency of these traditional WP collection systems is too low, and this causes inconvenience to the governments, residents, and other stakeholders. On the other hand, some recycling companies in Japan are trying to establish a nontraditional WP collection system by setting their own WP collection stations in cooperative supermarkets. Yet, the efficiency of this new system has not been clarified. This research aims to investigate the current status, operational characteristics, and the role of recycling companies’ WP collection stations in the Japanese WP collection system. By performing trade area analysis and stepwise OLS regression, this research will evaluate WP collection stations’ efficiency. Moreover, this research will also discuss how the new WP collection system improves WP collection efficiency and residents’ convenience. The results show that WP collection stations efficiency is particularly high in large supermarkets with many parking spaces and long business hours, as well as in areas with many families with children. Recycling companies’ WP collection system could create a system, which can satisfy resident, government, and recycling company interests at the same time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Rizky Pamuji ◽  
Ismiarta Aknuranda ◽  
Fatwa Ramdani

Citizen participation in collect and distribute information increase the role of the citizen involvement in local issues and increasing the benefits of society for the government and the environment. The contribution of citizens can be useful in helping to deal with environment problems and assist certain parties in meeting data needs, this is commonly referred to as citizen science. In its development, citizen science involvement in providing information began to involve social media as a platform for sharing information. In this study we try to explore citizen science of Indonesia, we conduct case study exploring how citizen in Indonesia used social media such as Twitter in response to one of the country’s worst disaster in 2018 namely Lombok Earthquake. By analyzing these user generate message we may know what the response of Indonesian citizen during event and understand more about citizen science in Indonesia through social media including its role and contribution. The information also may assist local communities in obtaining up-to-date information, providing assistance according to needs of the populace and use to manage and plan disaster relief both during and after the event.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Morosan ◽  
Agnes DeFranco

Purpose As social distancing procedures can be facilitated by various hotel technologies, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which consumers develop perceptions of value regarding the use of certain hotel technologies for social distancing in hotels. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from the social exchange theory, this study conceptualized the benefits of using technologies for social distancing, health risks, social rewards and privacy concerns as antecedents of value of using technologies for social distancing in hotels. The structural model was validated by using data from more than 1,000 nationwide US consumers. Findings Benefits and consumers’ privacy concerns of using technologies for social distancing in hotels were the strongest predictors of value. Social rewards also had a significant but relatively lower effect on value. Health risks was found to have no influence on value. Originality/value The study is the first to examine the role of technologies in mitigating the effects of coronavirus. Thus, it extends the information technology and hospitality literature by examining the role of these technologies in safeguarding individual and public health.


2012 ◽  
pp. 117-139
Author(s):  
Mariarita Pierotti

The Teatro alla Scala in Milan is playing a position of primary artistic interest in the field of national and international Opera and Drama. This paper aims to analyze the control system adopted by this Institution in order to develop some remarks about the relevance of management control system in Italian cultural organizations. In the past, in these realities the incisive public presence has often hindered the development of such managerial processes. The research has been carried out through a deductive quality methodology. This means that, empirical research has been realized later than the study of the literature on the topic. The case study has been carried out by submitting an interview to the responsible of Management Control. The empirical investigation has led us to develop some observations about management control organizational functions in the Opera houses. The paper identifies the key factors influencing the role of performance measurement system.


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