Sustaining social capital online amidst social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: web-based communities, their mitigating effects, and associated issues

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Ardion D. Beldad
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
Ade Suherman ◽  
Tetep Tetep ◽  
Asep Supriyatna ◽  
Eldi Mulyana ◽  
Triani Widyanti ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study is to analyze and explain public perceptions of the implementation of social distancing during the pandemic as the implementation of social capital. This study was motivated by the phenomenon of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in a number of countries, including Indonesia. This condition not only affects the economic condition of a country, hinders social interaction among the community, and also has an impact on the health condition of every human being. To avoid the wider spread of Covid-19, the government was forced to adopt social distancing and physical distancing policies in the form of staying at home, working from home, studying, and worshiping at home. This research approach is descriptive qualitative. The data of this research is the impact of social distancing for the community in Tarogong Kidul District, Garut Regency. Sources of data come from several communities with a total of 50 respondents. Collecting data in this study using interview techniques, record, and continue to take notes. The results of the research can be concluded that with the implementation of social distancing in the pandemic period, at least the community can implement social capital which includes informal values ​​or norms that are shared among members of an interrelated community group, which is based on the values ​​of beliefs, norms and networks social and they respect each other, the development of social capital is the creation of increasingly independent groups of people who are able to participate more meaningfully. Social capital can solve citizens' problems, especially with regard to strengthening friendship, repairing and maintaining public service facilities because it has advantages and is the most appropriate, even though there are other social capital in the community.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziqiu Guo ◽  
Sheng Zhi Zhao ◽  
Ningyuan Guo ◽  
Yongda Wu ◽  
Xue Weng ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND eHealth literacy can potentially facilitate web-based information seeking and taking informed measures. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate socioeconomic disparities in eHealth literacy and seeking of web-based information on COVID-19, and their associations with COVID-19 preventive behaviors. METHODS The COVID-19 Health Information Survey (CoVHIns), using telephonic (n=500) and web-based surveys (n=1001), was conducted among adults in Hong Kong in April 2020. The Chinese eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS; score range 8-40) was used to measure eHealth literacy. COVID-19 preventive behaviors included wearing surgical masks, wearing fabric masks, washing hands, social distancing, and adding water or bleach to the household drainage system. Adjusted beta coefficients and the slope indices of inequality for the eHEALS score by socioeconomic status, adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for seeking of web-based information on COVID-19 by socioeconomic status, and aORs for the high adherence to preventive behaviors by the eHEALS score and seeking of web-based information on COVID-19 were calculated. RESULTS The mean eHEALS score was 26.10 (SD 7.70). Age was inversely associated with the eHEALS score, but education and personal income were positively associated with the eHEALS score and seeking of web-based information on COVID-19 (for all, <i>P</i> for trend&lt;.05). Participants who sought web-based information on COVID-19 showed high adherence to the practice of wearing surgical masks (aOR 1.56, 95% CI 1.15-2.13), washing hands (aOR 1.33, 95% CI 1.05-1.71), social distancing (aOR 1.48, 95% CI 1.14-1.93), and adding water or bleach to the household drainage system (aOR 1.67, 95% CI 1.28-2.18). Those with the highest eHEALS score displayed high adherence to the practice of wearing surgical masks (aOR 3.84, 95% CI 1.63-9.05), washing hands (aOR 4.14, 95% CI 2.46-6.96), social distancing (aOR 2.25, 95% CI 1.39-3.65), and adding water or bleach to the household drainage system (aOR 1.94, 95% CI 1.19-3.16), compared to those with the lowest eHEALS score. CONCLUSIONS Chinese adults with a higher socioeconomic status had higher eHealth literacy and sought more web-based information on COVID-19; both these factors were associated with a high adherence to the guidelines for preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenzhi Ding ◽  
Ross Levine ◽  
Chen Lin ◽  
Wensi Xie

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-38
Author(s):  
Ngoc-Bich Pham ◽  
Hong-Xoan Nguyen ◽  
Catherine Earl

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city, supports a vibrant street food culture. Most of the city’s street-engaged food traders are poor and unskilled women, and there is scant research about how they build social networks and social capital that sustain their microbusinesses. This article focusses on the intimate socialities that street-engaged food traders develop with customers, shop owners and sister-traders in order to stabilise their incomes while their informal street-trading activities are policed and potentially shut down. Recent COVID-19 lockdown and social-distancing measures disrupted the crucial interpersonal relations of street trading and left the traders with no income. This article explores traders’ strategies for achieving economic security, and outlines transformations of intimate socialities into mediated and digital relations after the lockdown.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L Fenequito ◽  
Daniel Houskamp ◽  
Vincent Siu ◽  
Jamal Rorie ◽  
Nikunj Bhatt ◽  
...  

Introduction: In late March 2020, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (TR), a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, pulled into port in the US territory of Guam to assess the severity of a developing outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the ship. A small staff contingent of 60 personnel from US Naval Hospital (USNH) Guam was tasked with the medical care of 4,079 sailors who were placed in single room quarantine amongst 11 hotels across the island of Guam. With the assistance of the Defense Digital Service, the USNH Guam staff implemented a web-based symptom checker, which allowed for monitoring of developing COVID symptoms, and selective testing of symptomatic individuals. Materials and Methods: Sailors from the TR were placed in quarantine or isolation cohorts upon debarking the ship. Sailors not positive for COVID-19 were quarantined amongst 11 hotels on Guam. Sailors positive for COVID-19 were isolated aboard Naval Base Guam (NBG). A retrospective cohort analysis and subgroup analyses were performed on symptom data obtained from sailors in quarantine. The sailors recorded their symptoms and temperature in a web-based symptom checker that assigned a symptom severity score (SSS). Sailors with a SSS >50 were evaluated by a medical provider and re-tested. Data were collected from 4 April 2020 to 1 May 2020. Sailors required two negative tests to exit quarantine and re-embark the ship. The time course, and most common cluster of symptoms associated with a positive COVID-19 PCR test were determined retrospectively after data collection. Results: The web-based symptom checker was successful in establishing daily positive contact and symptom monitoring of susceptible individuals in quarantine. 4,079 sailors in quarantine maintained positive contact with medical staff via the symptom checker, with at least 81% of the sailors recording their symptoms on a daily basis. Individuals with high symptom scores were quickly identified and underwent further evaluation and repeat COVID-19 testing. A cohort of 331 sailors tested positive for COVID-19 while in quarantine and recorded symptoms in the symptom checker before and after a positive COVID-19 test. In this cohort, the most frequent symptoms reported prior to a positive test were headache, anosmia, followed by cough. The symptom of anosmia was reported more frequently in sailors positive for COVID-19, compared to a cohort of matched controls. A small medical staff was able to monitor developing symptoms in a large quarantined population, while efficiently allocating resources, preserving personal protective equipment (PPE), and maintaining isolation and social distancing protocols. Conclusions and Relevance: The application provided a tool for broad health surveillance over a large population while maintaining strict quarantine and social distancing protocols. Highly symptomatic sailors were quickly identified, triaged, and transferred to a higher level of care if indicated. The symptom checker and predictive model generated from the data can be utilized by military and civilian public health officials to triage large populations and make rapid decisions on isolation measures, resource allocation, selective testing.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibtihal Ferwana ◽  
Lav R. Varshney

Background Social capital has been associated with health outcomes in communities and can explain variations in different geographic localities. Social capital has also been associated with behaviors that promote better health and reduce the impacts of diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, face masking, and vaccination have all been essential in controlling contagion. These behaviors have not been uniformly adopted by communities in the United States. Using different facets of social capital to explain the differences in public behaviors among communities during pandemics is lacking. Objective This study examines the relationship among public health behavior, vaccination, face masking, and physical distancing during COVID-19 pandemic and social capital indices in counties in the United States. Methods We used publicly available vaccination data as of June 2021, face masking data in July 2020, and mobility data from mobile phones movements from the end of March 2020. Then, correlation analysis was conducted with county-level social capital index and its subindices (family unity, community health, institutional health, and collective efficacy) that were obtained from the Social Capital Project by the United States Senate. Results We found the social capital index and its subindices differentially correlate with different public health behaviors. Vaccination is associated with institutional health: positively with fully vaccinated population and negatively with vaccination hesitancy. Also, wearing masks negatively associates with community health, whereases reduced mobility associates with better community health. Further, residential mobility positively associates with family unity. By comparing correlation coefficients, we find that social capital and its subindices have largest effect sizes on vaccination and residential mobility. Conclusion Our results show that different facets of social capital are significantly associated with adoption of protective behaviors, e.g., social distancing, face masking, and vaccination. As such, our results suggest that differential facets of social capital imply a Swiss cheese model of pandemic control planning where, e.g., institutional health and community health, provide partially overlapping behavioral benefits.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260818
Author(s):  
Ibtihal Ferwana ◽  
Lav R. Varshney

Background Social capital has been associated with health outcomes in communities and can explain variations in different geographic localities. Social capital has also been associated with behaviors that promote better health and reduce the impacts of diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, face masking, and vaccination have all been essential in controlling contagion. These behaviors have not been uniformly adopted by communities in the United States. Using different facets of social capital to explain the differences in public behaviors among communities during pandemics is lacking. Objective This study examines the relationship among public health behavior—vaccination, face masking, and physical distancing—during COVID-19 pandemic and social capital indices in counties in the United States. Methods We used publicly available vaccination data as of June 2021, face masking data in July 2020, and mobility data from mobile phones movements from the end of March 2020. Then, correlation analysis was conducted with county-level social capital index and its subindices (family unity, community health, institutional health, and collective efficacy) that were obtained from the Social Capital Project by the United States Senate. Results We found the social capital index and its subindices differentially correlate with different public health behaviors. Vaccination is associated with institutional health: positively with fully vaccinated population and negatively with vaccination hesitancy. Also, wearing masks negatively associates with community health, whereases reduced mobility associates with better community health. Further, residential mobility positively associates with family unity. By comparing correlation coefficients, we find that social capital and its subindices have largest effect sizes on vaccination and residential mobility. Conclusion Our results show that different facets of social capital are significantly associated with adoption of protective behaviors, e.g., social distancing, face masking, and vaccination. As such, our results suggest that differential facets of social capital imply a Swiss cheese model of pandemic control planning where, e.g., institutional health and community health, provide partially overlapping behavioral benefits.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-206
Author(s):  
Marcos Daniel Saraiva ◽  
Milton Luiz Gorzoni

INTRODUCTION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the discipline of geriatrics at the Santa Casa de Sao Paulo School of Medical Sciences of São Paulo was adapted to a web-based learning environment due to social distancing measures. OBJECTIVE: To describe the full adaptation of the discipline of geriatrics to a web-based learning tool, of two activities that were developed including the current COVID-19 to illustrate some of the main concepts of geriatric medicine. METHODS: The course was fully adapted to the open-source course management system called MOODLE. The first activity was a COVID-19 clinical case discussion, whose main objective was to include COVID-19 in the content of our course, illustrating some of the main concepts of geriatrics. The second activity was a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) experience, done via videoconference, which also assessed the impact of social distancing measures on the health of older adults. RESULTS: A total of 43 medical students performed both activities, and 95% of the students considered the inclusion of the COVID-19 into the discipline of geriatrics useful, 88% approved the practical experience of CGA, and 84% felt that they contributed to the health of the interviewees after contact. CONCLUSION: Adapting our discipline to a web-based learning tool, while including the current COVID-19 in our course content and a practical experience of CGA via videoconference was possible and approved by students. The adoption of this initiative may not only be an academic strategy, but also a possible way to improve the quality of life of older people during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Author(s):  
Helen Thompson

Information communications technology (ICT) has been identified as a key enabler in the achievement of regional and rural success, particularly in terms of economic and business development. The potential of achieving equity of service through improved communications infrastructure and enhanced access to government, health, education, and other services has been identified. ICT has also been linked to the aspiration of community empowerment, where dimensions include revitalizing a sense of community, building regional capacity, enhancing democracy, and increasing social capital.


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