The Impact of COVID-19 on Individuals with Hearing and Visual Disabilities during the First Pandemic Wave in Italy

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed radical behavioral and social changes in the general population, significantly impacting the lives of individuals affected by disabilities. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on noninstitutionalized subjects with sensorineural disabilities during the first COVID-19 wave in Italy. Methods. A 39-item online national survey was disseminated from 1 April 2020 to 31 June 2020 via social media throughout Italy to communities of individuals with proven severe sensorineural disabilities, affiliated to five national patient associations. The survey collected extensive information on the socio-demographic profile, health, everyday activities, and lifestyle of individuals with hearing and visual disabilities. Results. One hundred and sixty-three respondents with hearing (66.9%) and visual (33.1%) disabilities returned a usable questionnaire. The mean age of interviewees was 38.4 ± 20.2 years and 56.3% of them were females. Despite the vast majority of respondents (77.9%) perceiving their health status as unchanged (68.8% of interviewees with hearing deficits vs. 96.3% of those with visual impairments), about half the interviewees reported sleep disorders during lock-down, more likely those with visual deficits. Remote services were seemingly more effective for business than school activities were. Furthermore, although just 18.8% of respondents rated remote rehabilitation care unsatisfactory, only 12.8% of interviewees felt supported by health and social services. The vast majority of respondents were concerned about the future and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 contagion, particularly individuals with hearing impairments. Among the various risk mitigation measures, facemasks caused the greatest discomfort due to communication barriers, particularly among interviewees affected by hearing disabilities (92.2% vs. 45.7%). The most common request (46.5%) of respondents to reduce the inconveniences of country lock-down was improving the access to and delivery of health and social services (19.3%), followed by the use of transparent masks (17.5%). Conclusions. Although health protection measures such as face masks and social distancing play a key role in preventing and controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the unmet needs of disabled individuals should be carefully considered, especially those affected by sensory disabilities. Tailored access to health and social services for individuals affected by sensorineural disabilities should be implemented. Additional actions should include the use of face shields as a valid alternative to reduce communication barriers linked to hearing-impairment, as well as the improvement of remote services, especially distance learning at school.

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Technical Risks and Mitigation Measures in Combustion Turbine Project Development

Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power ◽

10.1115/1.1496771 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 125 (1) ◽

pp. 228-235 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

D. Grace ◽

J. Scheibel

Keyword(s):

Power Plants ◽

Development Process ◽

Risk Mitigation ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Life Cycle Costs ◽

Project Development ◽

Technical Risk ◽

Technical Risks ◽

Interruption Costs ◽

The Impact

Project developers, insurers, financiers, and maintenance organizations have an interest in quantifying technical risks and evaluating risk mitigation alternatives for combustion turbine (CT) power plants. By identifying exposure to risk early in the project development process, optimal procurement decisions, and mitigation measures can be adopted for improved financial returns. This paper describes a methodology used to quantify all nonfuel O&M costs, including scheduled and unplanned maintenance, and business interruption costs due to unplanned outages. The paper offers examples that demonstrate the impact of technical risk on project profitability. An overview of activities required for addressing technical risk as part of the equipment selection and procurement process is provided, and areas of technical improvements for reducing life cycle costs are described.

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Protecting clinical trials in cystic fibrosis during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: risks and mitigation measures

Trials ◽

10.1186/s13063-021-05457-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Silke van Koningsbruggen-Rietschel ◽

Fiona Dunlevy ◽

Veerle Bulteel ◽

Kate Hayes ◽

Anne Verbrugge ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trial ◽

Cystic Fibrosis ◽

Clinical Trials ◽

Risk Mitigation ◽

Home Delivery ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Site Location ◽

Phone Calls ◽

Source Data Verification ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has disrupted clinical trials worldwide. The European Cystic Fibrosis Society-Clinical Trials Network (ECFS-CTN) has tracked clinical trial disruption by surveying its 58 trial sites across 17 European countries and collated information on measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and ensure trial continuity. Here, we present recommendations on how to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure to patients and trial staff by implementing remote trial visits where possible, using home assessments, video and phone calls, electronic consent, and home delivery of study drugs. We discuss the practicalities of remote source data verification, protocol amendments, changing trial site location, and staff absences and home working. We outline recommendations on how to protect trial outcomes, including home assessments, safety reporting, protocol deviations, and recruitment challenges. Finally, we discuss the importance of continued access to study drugs via extension trials for some patients. This guidance was co-created from the shared knowledge and experience of sites in our network and was re-distributed directly to all ECFS-CTN sites to help mitigate the impact of further waves of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We will also use this guidance to assist companies, academia, and consortia with future protocol design and risk mitigation plans. This guidance can be applied to clinical trials in other diseases and could help sites that are not supported by clinical trial networks.

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Access to health and social services for IDU: The impact of a medically supervised injection facility

Drug and Alcohol Review ◽

10.1111/j.1465-3362.2009.00025.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 341-346 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

WILL SMALL ◽

NATASHA VAN BOREK ◽

NADIA FAIRBAIRN ◽

EVAN WOOD ◽

THOMAS KERR

Keyword(s):

Social Services ◽

Health And Social Services ◽

Supervised Injection Facility ◽

Access To Health ◽

Supervised Injection ◽

The Impact

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Evaluation designs of outpatient health centres focusing on vulnerable patient groups

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz186.343 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽

Author(s):

R Winkler ◽

I Reinsperger

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Mental Health ◽

Health Status ◽

Social Services ◽

Complex Interventions ◽

Health And Social Services ◽

Vulnerable Patient ◽

Patient Groups ◽

Health Institutions ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Homeless and non-insured persons experience worse physical and mental health than comparable populations. Outpatient (public) health institutions, which are easily accessible, contribute considerably to the medical treatment of vulnerable patient groups. Sound evaluation methods, indicators and instruments are necessitated to target patients’ needs and to enable strategic health and social policy planning. Methods We conducted a systematic literature search in several databases (PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO etc.) for studies from 2000 to 2019 reporting on evaluations in outpatient health institutions for homeless and/ or non-insured patients. In addition, we contacted 5 Austrian public health/ research institutions dealing with complex interventions for relevant publications. Results 12 evaluation studies and 7 evaluation reports met our inclusion criteria. Evaluation designs mostly considered various target groups and nearly all assessments pursued a ’mixed-method’ approach. 13 publications assessed socio-demographic data, 11 the use of health and social services and 7 patients’ health status. Further indicators related to ’satisfaction issues’ such as patients’ satisfaction with the provided range of health and social services (n = 7). 6 publications reported on health economic indicators. In total, 7 out of 19 studies reported on evaluation instruments; most instruments (n = 6) were on patients’ mental health status. Conclusions Patients represented the major target group in the included evaluations. There is little research on evaluation indicators directing on health professionals. Evaluations focusing on the intersectional levels (e.g. the impact of health programmes for vulnerable groups on various institutions) are lacking. Key messages Evaluation designs involving ‘hardly to reach populations’ shall consider a ‘participatory assessment approach’ to avoid drop-outs and to create a trustworthy evaluation situation. Hence, evaluation indicators shall be commonly selected and adequately reflect patients’ realities.

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Hands-On Experience of Crowdsourcing for Flood Risks. An Android Mobile Application Tested in Frederikssund, Denmark

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph15091926 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (9) ◽

pp. 1926 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Simone Frigerio ◽

Luca Schenato ◽

Giulia Bossi ◽

Matteo Mantovani ◽

Gianluca Marcato ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emergency Response ◽

Risk Mitigation ◽

Weather Forecast ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Exposed Population ◽

Hands On ◽

The Impact ◽

Near Future ◽

Design And Testing

There is evidence that the toll of death and destruction caused by natural hazards is rising. This is often ascribed to the impact of climate change that resulted in an increased frequency of extreme meteorological events. As a consequence, it is realistic to expect that the casualties and damages caused by floods will increase in the near future. Advanced weather forecast is a fundamental tool to predict the occurrence of floods and structural mitigation measures are crucial for flood protection. However, these strategies should be associate with tools to promote and increase natural-disaster awareness and nonstructural mitigation measures in the exposed population. To bridge this gap, we coupled innovative, ICT-based technologies with crowdsourcing. The idea is to exploit geospatial data gathered by citizens and volunteers with their own devices such as mobile phones to provide authorities with relevant information in case of flood emergencies. This paper describes the design and testing of an Android application named MAppERS (Mobile Applications for Emergency Response and Support), thought to enhance active participation and response of the population in territorial and flood-risk mitigation in Frederikssund, Denmark. The results of the piloting fully validate MAppERS as an effective tool to support the decision-making process during a crisis and to improve the awareness of the community and their disaster resilience.

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Evaluation of Green and Grey Flood Mitigation Measures in Rural Watersheds

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app10196913 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (19) ◽

pp. 6913

Author(s):

Ranko Pudar ◽

Jasna Plavšić ◽

Andrijana Todorović

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Risk Mitigation ◽

Damage Model ◽

Flood Mitigation ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Integrative Approach ◽

Loss Reduction ◽

Protection Measures ◽

System 2 ◽

Flood Protection System

Floods cause considerable damages worldwide and mitigation of their adverse effects through effective protection measures is needed. Along with the commonly applied “grey” infrastructure, “green” measures that can offer additional benefits, such as ecosystem services, are increasingly being considered lately. While the recent research tendencies are focused on the effectiveness and the value of green measures in urban areas, this paper presents a comprehensive financial evaluation of green and grey flood mitigation scenarios for a smaller rural watershed. A micro-scale damage model that builds on the hydrodynamic modeling of hazard, detailed asset identification, and damage assessment is presented and applied for evaluation of benefits from various flood mitigation measures in the Tamnava watershed in Serbia. Four scenarios are considered: (1) existing flood protection system; (2) green scenario involving new detention basins; (3) grey infrastructure enhancement by rising of the existing levees and diverting flood discharges; and (4) green-grey scenario that combines scenarios (2) and (3). The benefits (loss reduction) are the greatest with the green scenario and marginally higher with the combined green-grey scenario. The results suggest that for small rural watersheds, a holistic, integrative approach that includes both types of infrastructure can provide the most effective flood risk mitigation.

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Social vulnerability and local level assessments: a new approach for planning

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment ◽

10.1108/ijdrbe-10-2019-0069 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 15-43

Author(s):

José Manuel Mendes ◽

Alexandre Oliveira Tavares ◽

Pedro Pinto Santos

Keyword(s):

Social Vulnerability ◽

Risk Mitigation ◽

Local Level ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Risk Groups ◽

Risk Governance ◽

Protection Measures ◽

Content Type ◽

Recovery Capacity ◽

The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a new index of social vulnerability (SV), based on local level data [statistical blocks (SBs)]. This same methodology was applied before at the municipal level, which is a level of analysis that under-evaluates local spots of high SV, by one side, and generalizes the coverage of support capacity equipment and infrastructure. The geographical level of detail of the input data allows to overcome those limitations and better inform infra-municipal risk practitioners and planners. Design/methodology/approach The assessment of SV in this paper adopts an inductive approach. The research context of this conceptual and methodological proposal derived from the need to operationalize the concept of SV as a planning tool. This approach required to distinguish between the components of criticality and support capability, as their assessment provides knowledge with distinct applications in risk management. The statistical procedure is based on principal components analysis, using the SB as the unit of analysis. Findings Support capability acts as a counter-weight of criticality. This understanding is well illustrated in the mapping of each component and the final score of SV. The methodological approach allowed to identify the drivers of criticality and support capability in each SB, aiding decision-makers and risk practitioners in finding the vulnerability forcers that require more attention (public or private social equipment, housing policies, emergency anticipatory measures, etc.). Originality/value An original approach to SV assessments is the consideration of the components of criticality and support capability. The results allow for the definition of adapted and specific strategies of risk mitigation and civil protection measures to distinct types of risk groups and by different stakeholders and risk practitioners. By predicting the impact and the recovery capacity of communities, the results have applicability in several fields of risk governance as, for example, risk communication and involvement, social intervention (health, education and housing), emergency response, contingency planning, early warning and spatial planning.

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A proposed analytic framework for determining the impact of an antimicrobial resistance intervention

Animal Health Research Reviews ◽

10.1017/s1466252317000019 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 1-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yrjo T. Grohn ◽

Carolee Carson ◽

Cristina Lanzas ◽

Laura Pullum ◽

Michael Stanhope ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antimicrobial Resistance ◽

Food Supply ◽

Risk Mitigation ◽

Enteric Bacteria ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Biological Synthesis ◽

Systems Science ◽

Suitable Framework ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

AbstractAntimicrobial use (AMU) is increasingly threatened by antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The FDA is implementing risk mitigation measures promoting prudent AMU in food animals. Their evaluation is crucial: the AMU/AMR relationship is complex; a suitable framework to analyze interventions is unavailable. Systems science analysis, depicting variables and their associations, would help integrate mathematics/epidemiology to evaluate the relationship. This would identify informative data and models to evaluate interventions. This National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis AMR Working Group's report proposes a system framework to address the methodological gap linking livestock AMU and AMR in foodborne bacteria. It could evaluate how AMU (and interventions) impact AMR. We will evaluate pharmacokinetic/dynamic modeling techniques for projecting AMR selection pressure on enteric bacteria. We study two methods to model phenotypic AMR changes in bacteria in the food supply and evolutionary genotypic analyses determining molecular changes in phenotypic AMR. Systems science analysis integrates the methods, showing how resistance in the food supply is explained by AMU and concurrent factors influencing the whole system. This process is updated with data and techniques to improve prediction and inform improvements for AMU/AMR surveillance. Our proposed framework reflects both the AMR system's complexity, and desire for simple, reliable conclusions.

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Exploring the impact of Covid-19 on the care and quality of life of people with dementia and their carers: A scoping review

Dementia ◽

10.1177/14713012211053971 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 147130122110539

Author(s):

Patricia Masterson-Algar ◽

Maria Cheshire Allen ◽

Martin Hyde ◽

Norah Keating ◽

Gill Windle

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Social Services ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Care Needs ◽

Health And Social Services ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Severity Of Dementia ◽

The Impact

This article reports on findings of a scoping review aimed to map the published literature concerning the impact of Covid-19 on the care and quality of life of people living with dementia and their carers. Twenty-nine articles were included in the review. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) Impact on people with dementia – unmet and increased care needs; (2) Impact on carers – increased stress and burden and (3) Impact according to demographics. Overall, findings show that Covid-19 has led to a reduction in support from health and social services and to a move towards technology-based support. Furthermore, Covid-19 has had a negative impact on the care and quality of life of people living with dementia and their carers, and that this impact was influenced by the severity of dementia.

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A data-driven epidemiological model to explain the Covid-19 pandemic in multiple countries and help in choosing mitigation strategies

10.1101/2020.08.15.20175588 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Maria Jardim Beira ◽

Anant Kumar ◽

Lilia Perfeito ◽

Joana Goncalves-Sa ◽

Pedro Jose Sebastiao

Keyword(s):

Epidemiological Data ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Policy Recommendations ◽

Protection Measures ◽

Collective Behaviors ◽

Self Protection ◽

The Impact ◽

Government Level

Accurate models are fundamental to understand the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate different mitigation strategies. Here, we present a multi-compartmental model that fits the epidemiological data for eleven countries, despite the reduced number of fitting parameters. This model consistently explains the data for the daily infected, recovered, and dead over the first six months of the pandemic. The good quality of the fits makes it possible to explore different scenarios and evaluate the impact of both individual and collective behaviors and government- level decisions to mitigate the epidemic. We identify robust alternatives to lockdown, such as self- protection measures, and massive testing. Furthermore, communication and risk perception are fundamental to modulate the success of different strategies. The fitting/simulation tool is publicly available for use and test of other models, allowing for comparisons between different underlying assumptions, mitigation measures, and policy recommendations.

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