scholarly journals Health Education Specialists: Professional Practice During a Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483992110566
Author(s):  
Dianne Kerr ◽  
Salma Haider ◽  
Heidi Hancher-Rauch ◽  
Alexis Blavos ◽  
Jodi Brookins-Fisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Education ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Volunteer Work ◽  
Job Responsibilities ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Populations At Risk

Authors conducted survey research on Health Education Specialists’ (HES) involvement in the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (n = 1,837) completed questions on COVID-19 work and job responsibilities, use of the NCHEC Areas of Responsibility and Competencies in addressing the pandemic, education and training, work with populations at risk, and volunteer work related to COVID-19. The majority of respondents reported some work, either professional or personal associated with the pandemic, and the majority felt prepared to do this work, although it caused additional work responsibilities with no additional pay. Many had to work from home during the pandemic, using technology to accomplish their tasks. Most reported conducting education and prevention and designing and implementing communication strategies regarding the pandemic. Those with MCHES certification were more likely to use the NCHEC competencies in their work and more likely to perform listed COVID-19 activities, with the exception of contact tracing and direct care to COVID-19 patients, which were more likely conducted by CHES certified HES. Results of this study show the significant level of involvement of HES in the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of roles and capacities, despite a challenging political landscape during the time the survey was administered. Many HES reported volunteer work in addition to their paid work, including donating money, distributing food, or making masks. Finally, HES welcomed more training on COVID-19 and use of technology. Results of the study may be used to document the roles of HES during the COVID-19 pandemic and to make recommendations for future emergency preparedness efforts.

scholarly journals Working from Home During Covid-19: Doing and Managing Technology-enabled Social Interaction With Colleagues at a Distance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Banita Lal ◽  
Yogesh K. Dwivedi ◽  
Markus Haag
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Work Lives ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
Time Basis

AbstractWith the overnight growth in Working from Home (WFH) owing to the pandemic, organisations and their employees have had to adapt work-related processes and practices quickly with a huge reliance upon technology. Everyday activities such as social interactions with colleagues must therefore be reconsidered. Existing literature emphasises that social interactions, typically conducted in the traditional workplace, are a fundamental feature of social life and shape employees’ experience of work. This experience is completely removed for many employees due to the pandemic and, presently, there is a lack of knowledge on how individuals maintain social interactions with colleagues via technology when working from home. Given that a lack of social interaction can lead to social isolation and other negative repercussions, this study aims to contribute to the existing body of literature on remote working by highlighting employees’ experiences and practices around social interaction with colleagues. This study takes an interpretivist and qualitative approach utilising the diary-keeping technique to collect data from twenty-nine individuals who had started to work from home on a full-time basis as a result of the pandemic. The study explores how participants conduct social interactions using different technology platforms and how such interactions are embedded in their working lives. The findings highlight the difficulty in maintaining social interactions via technology such as the absence of cues and emotional intelligence, as well as highlighting numerous other factors such as job uncertainty, increased workloads and heavy usage of technology that affect their work lives. The study also highlights that despite the negative experiences relating to working from home, some participants are apprehensive about returning to work in the traditional office place where social interactions may actually be perceived as a distraction. The main contribution of our study is to highlight that a variety of perceptions and feelings of how work has changed via an increased use of digital media while working from home exists and that organisations need to be aware of these differences so that they can be managed in a contextualised manner, thus increasing both the efficiency and effectiveness of working from home.

scholarly journals Changes in production work when using smart wearables—results of a Delphi-based study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena Blumberg ◽  
Eva-Maria Schulte ◽  
Simone Kauffeld
Keyword(s):  
Delphi Study ◽  
Work Design ◽  
Economic Aspects ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Task Knowledge ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Data Usage ◽  
Development Scenarios ◽  
Use Of Technology

AbstractIn industrial production, smart wearables (e.g. data glasses) are becoming more relevant to support employees. While economic aspects have so far been the focus of the introduction, changes for work design have been neglected. The aim of the Delphi study was to describe changes through the use of smart wearables and to derive implications for work design. Six description dimensions (application, implications for work design, data use, personalization, flexibility, introductory purpose) were identified and 18 scenarios were developed. The assessment of the scenarios in terms of desirability and degree of dissemination showed that scenarios for work-related and ergonomic support are particularly desirable and scenarios for changes in cooperation are considered particularly likely. Data usage is a relevant factor for the assumed degree of dissemination but not for the assessment of desirability. In operational practice, work design and economic aspects are important for assessing the scenarios.Practical Relevance: The results show possible development scenarios for production work when using smart wearables and highlight possible implications for work design. Positive and negative effects on task, knowledge, social and contextual characteristics are identified, which offer suggestions for a conscious selection and design of the use of technology in practice.

scholarly journals Who will Bear the Brunt of Lockdown Policies? Evidence from Tele-workability Measures Across Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (88) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariya Brussevich ◽  
Era Dabla-Norris ◽  
Salma Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Economic Activity ◽  
College Education ◽  
Emerging Countries ◽  
Market Selection ◽  
Differential Impact ◽  
Ability To Work ◽  
Earnings Distribution ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
The World

Lockdowns imposed around the world to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic are having a differential impact on economic activity and jobs. This paper presents a new index of the feasibility to work from home to investigate what types of jobs are most at risk. We estimate that over 97.3 million workers, equivalent to about 15 percent of the workforce, are at high risk of layoffs and furlough across the 35 advanced and emerging countries in our sample. Workers least likely to work remotely tend to be young, without a college education, working for non-standard contracts, employed in smaller firms, and those at the bottom of the earnings distribution, suggesting that the pandemic could exacerbate inequality. Crosscountry heterogeneity in the ability to work remotely reflects differential access to and use of technology, sectoral mix, and labor market selection. Policies should account for demographic and distributional considerations both during the crisis and in its aftermath.

scholarly journals Effect of Health Education on Health Perception and Preventive Health Behaviour of Populations at risk of Cholangiocarcinoma in Si Samran Subdistrict, Porncharoen District, Bueng Kan Province, Thailand

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Pamorn Darun ◽  
Nittaya Klongkayun ◽  
Rattikan Darun ◽  
Arwut Boontien
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Health Education ◽  
Health Perception ◽  
Preventive Health ◽  
Food Level ◽  
Behaviour Modification ◽  
Prevention Campaign ◽  
Populations At Risk ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Raw Fish

People in Si Samran subdistrict, Porncharoen district, Bueng Kan province have little awareness and perception of risk and severity of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). They still eat raw fish or other menu cooked with raw fish. Therefore, CCA prevention campaign should be done to enhance awareness and perception of this disease in order to reduce raw fish consuming behaviours. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of health education to populations at risk of CCA in Si Samran subdistrict by comparing health perception and preventive health behaviours before and after receiving health education. This study recruited 76 participants by purposive sampling technique to attend the health education for stop eating raw fish workshop. The workshop was applied based on the theory of Health Belief Model (HBM) and the activities comprised lecture of 1) signs and symptoms of CCA, 2) risk factors of CCA, 3) benefits of CCA prevention and group discussion about CCA preventive behaviours and barriers of behaviour modification. Data were collected with the questionnaire before and 3 months after the workshop. The questionnaire was adopted from Sangprach’s questionnaire which had been already tested for reliability (overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient = 0.89). Descriptive statistics were used to describe personal demographic data, level of health perception regarding CCA and level of CCA preventive behaviours. Inferential statistics (paired samples t-test) were used to compare the level of health perception regarding CCA and level of CCA preventive behaviours before and after attending the workshop. The results showed that a majority of 76 participants were female (68.4%), age group 40-50 years old (51.3%), married (89.5%), finished primary school (76.3%), employed in agriculture (61.8%), and had income more than 10,000 bath/month (40.8%). Participants had a higher level of 3 parts of health perception regarding CCA after the workshop, including perceived susceptibility, perceived severity and perceived barriers but demonstrated a lower level of many CCA preventive behaviours except the behaviour “You do not eat mouldy food” level that was higher after attending the workshop. The recommendation for CCA preventive behaviour improvement is that health education should be focused on the elimination of obstacles or barriers in the community which obstructed the behaviour modification.

scholarly journals Elder Health Literacy

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorraine Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Education ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
The Public ◽  
Low Health Literacy ◽  
Populations At Risk ◽  
Health Education Materials

The public health impact of limited literacy has begun to be explored. The elderly and those with limited formal education are often the most vulnerable populations at risk of having low health literacy. Health promotion specialists must be cognizant of the literacy demands of health education materials (e.g., pamphlets, questionnaires) distributed to the elderly. Care must be taken to ensure that health education materials are both linguistically and culturally appropriate for whom they are intended.

Emerging Role of Technology in Health Education for Youth

2016 ◽  
pp. 1447-1464
Author(s):  
Amir Manzoor
Keyword(s):  
Health Education ◽  
Young People ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Youth Of Color ◽  
Current State ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Insight Into

The Information Technology (IT) produces significant impact on the emotional and social health of young people. It is obvious that IT is playing an increasingly important part in people's lives. This chapter reviews the current state of youth health and the role of digital landscapes in health education of youth. The chapter also provides insight into how youth, particularly youth of color, use technology to learn, communicate, and discuss various health-related issues. Specific technology needs and usage patterns are identified and success of various initiatives of use of technology for health educations is assessed. Various implications and recommendations are provided for optimizing technology use in young people health education.

scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 transmission and control in a hospital setting: an individual-based modelling study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qimin Huang ◽  
Anirban Mondal ◽  
Xiaobing Jiang ◽  
Mary Ann Horn ◽  
Fei Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Credible Interval ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Minimal Impact ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Work Related ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Outbreak Size

Background: Development of strategies for mitigating the severity of COVID-19 is now a top global public health priority. We sought to assess strategies for mitigating the COVID-19 outbreak in a hospital setting via the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, self-isolation, tracing and quarantine, wearing facial masks/ personal protective equipment. Methods: We developed an individual-based model for COVID-19 transmission among healthcare workers in a hospital setting. We calibrated the model using data of a COVID-19 outbreak in a hospital unit in Wuhan in a Bayesian framework. The calibrated model was used to simulate different intervention scenarios and estimate the impact of different interventions on outbreak size and workday loss. Results: We estimated that work-related stress increases susceptibility to COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers by 52% (90% Credible Interval (CrI): 16.4% - 93.0%). The use of high efficacy facial masks was shown to be able to reduce infection cases and workday loss by 80% (90% CrI: 73.1% - 85.7%) and 87% (CrI: 80.0% - 92.5%), respectively. The use of social distancing alone, through reduced contacts between healthcare workers, had a marginal impact on the outbreak. A strict quarantine policy with the isolation of symptomatic cases and a high fraction of pre-symptomatic/ asymptomatic cases (via contact tracing or high test rate), could only prolong outbreak duration with minimal impact on the outbreak size. Our results indicated that a quarantine policy should be coupled with other interventions to achieve its effect. The effectiveness of all these interventions was shown to increase with their early implementation. Conclusions: Our analysis shows that a COVID-19 outbreak in a hospital's non-COVID-19 unit can be controlled or mitigated by the use of existing non-pharmaceutical measures.

scholarly journals Adherence to Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) among Children in Close Contact with Adult Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) Patients

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Nsirimobu Ichendu Paul ◽  
Nneka Gabriel-Job
Keyword(s):  
Health Workers ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Preventive Therapy ◽  
Isoniazid Preventive Therapy ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Adherence Rate ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Ambulatory Treatment ◽  
Populations At Risk ◽  
Rivers State

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is among the top ten leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, and studies have shown that adherence to a six Month course of Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) reduces the incidence of TB disease in HIV-negative/positive populations at risk of developing active TB disease. Objective: This study was carried out to identify active TB cases among children aged 0-5 years who are in close contact with adult cases of pulmonary TB (PTB), to determine the adherence rate to IPT among these close contacts that do not have active TB and to identify factors associated with non adherence if any. Methodology: This study was a prospective descriptive study carried out in Rivers state, Nigeria in two health facilities that offers services for TB diagnosis and treatment. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Rivers State Ministry of Health while verbal consent was obtained from the parents/caregivers of the children. Children aged 0-5 years who were in close contact with newly diagnosed PTB cases were recruited for the study. They were screened for HIV and evaluated for TB using clinical features and standard laboratory investigations. Those without active TB disease were commenced on isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) for six months at a daily dose of 5mg/kg after adherence counselling and followed up at the health centres. Obtained data was analysed using Epi Info Version 7.2.3.1 statistical software. Descriptive statistics was used while the test for association between variables was done with chi-square test at p ≤ 0.05 level of significance. Frequency tables were used for presentation of results. Results: A total of Sixty three children were recruited for the study 37 (58.7%) were males while 26 (41.3%) were females. Thirty two (50.8%) were children of index PTB patients while 29 (46.1%) belonged to lower socio-economic class. Their age ranged from 4 months to 4 years with a mean age of 2.84years ±1.27years. Six (16.2%) out of the 37 males and 2 (7.7%) out of the 26 females were confirmed to have active TB, giving a TB prevalence of 12.7%. The gender difference was not statistically significant (p= 0.32). Of the fifty five children that commenced INH in the first Month, only twenty four of them completed the six Month course of INH, giving an IPT adherence rate of 49.6%. Identified reasons for non adherence includes ‘My child is not sick’, ‘No transport Money’, ‘My child is writing exams”. “My child is tired of the drugs”, “the Health workers are not friendly’ and ‘long waiting time before collecting medications”. Conclusion: Early contact tracing is important for early detection of TB cases in children. Adherence to IPT in this study is low and strategies like community tracing of defaulters using trained social workers and community nurses as well as use of well-supervised and convenient ambulatory treatment centres that are manned by trained lower cadre health staff can improve adherence.

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