Automation and Augmentation

This chapter examines the nature of work where human labor is a complement to machines and considers its import for social wellbeing. While dominant portrayals about the effects of work automation are often characterized by discourses of fear and hype, these have limited utility. The chapter proposes moving beyond fear and hype to consider the ways in which automation alters the organization of work and the human role. It asserts that, although essential, the human role in automation is often obscured. Drawing on the concepts of “fauxtomation,” “heteromation,” and human infrastructures, the chapter makes visible hidden forms of human labor in automated work and maintains that a positive strategy for social well-being is the recognition and revaluation of human work in automated processes.

Healthy lifestyles and their beneficial effects on sexual function and dysfunction

Sexual dysfunction is a common malady. It causes immense emotional suffering and interferes with social wellbeing. Many physical and psychological ailments are frequently implicated in its development and progression. There are several therapeutic options available for its attenuation. However, more recently, the focus has shifted significantly to several lifestyle factors that can help in its prevention. A brief review of these influences exerted by the five major lifestyles, namely, smoking, obesity, exercise, alcohol intake, and diet is done in this manuscript.

PP234 Analysis Of Discussions On Twitter On The Topic Of COVID-19 Tests: Exploring A Natural Language Processing Approach

IntroductionVarious strategies to suppress the Coronavirus have been adopted by governments across the world; one such strategy is diagnostic testing. The anxiety of testing on individuals is difficult to quantify. This analysis explores the use of soft intelligence from Twitter (USA, UK & India) in helping better understand this issue.MethodsA total of 650,000 tweets were collected between September and October 2020, using Twitter API using hashtags such as ‘#oxymeter’, ‘#oximeter’, ‘#antibodytest’, ‘#infraredthermometer’, ‘#swabtest’, ‘#rapidtest’, and ‘#antigen’. We applied natural language processing (TextBlob) to assign sentiment and categorize the tweets by emotions and attitude. WordCloud was then used to identify the single topmost 500 words in the whole tweet dataset.ResultsGlobal analysis and pre-processing of the tweets indicate that 21 percent, seven percent and four percent of tweets originated from the USA, UK, and India respectively. The tweets from #antibody, #rapid, #antigen, and #swabtest were positive sentiments, whereas #oxymeter, #infraredthermometer were mostly neutral. The underlying emotions of the tweets were approximately 2.5 times more positive than negative. The most used words in the tweets included ‘hope’ ‘insurance’, ‘symptoms’, ‘love’, ‘painful’, ‘cough’, ‘fast test’, ‘wife’, and ‘kids’.ConclusionsThe finding suggests that it may be reasonable to infer that people are generally concerned about their personal and social wellbeing, wanting to keep themselves safe and perceive testing to deliver some component of that feeling of safety. There are several limitations to this study such as it was restricted to only three countries, and includes only English language tweets with a limited number of hashtags.

Recruitment of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Utilizing Two Recruitment Techniques

The COVID-19 pandemic has limited in-person interactions and reduced access to research participants. To recruit older adults for a study on the impact of COVID-19 on physical, mental, and social wellbeing we utilized two recruitment techniques: 1) ResearchMatch, a free recruitment database, and 2) a convenience sample of residents in a retirement community. Messages were sent via ResearchMatch to 1,491 adults age 65 and over. In total, 228 individuals responded over 2 weeks; 194 responded in the first 24 hours. Eighty-four completed the online survey. For the retirement community, recruitment information was shared during a Zoom townhall meeting; 44 expressed interest and 30 completed the study (half over the phone with a research assistant). We will discuss differences between the older adults recruited by each strategy (e.g., the ResearchMatch group was highly educated; more staff needed to interview retirement community participants). Overall, these were effective recruitment techniques during challenging times.

Lifelong Spiritual Learning: Religious Older Adults Going Digital

This qualitative study sought to explore the role of online religious learning in alleviating distress and enhancing wellbeing in later life. Twenty-six religious Jewish individuals aged 70–96 were personally trained in their homes to use an experimental spiritual learning website. Their experiences were documented for six months via interviews, media ethnographies, and monthly follow-ups. Analysis identified the participants’ initial ambivalent attitudes towards online religious learning, which extended the discussion of cultural barriers to the integration of digital technologies for religious observance and the maintenance of communal boundaries. However, this research group’s experience highlighted the intellectual, social, and emotional benefits garnered by participation in online religious learning in later life. The findings indicate that this informal educational channel may supplement religious praxis and fill the lives of older religious adults with positive rewards and, thereby, improve their psychological and social wellbeing.

Association of COVID-19 employment disruption with mental and social wellbeing: evidence from nine UK longitudinal studies

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major economic disruptions. In March 2020, the UK implemented the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, known as furlough, to minimize the impact of job losses. We investigate associations between change in employment status and mental and social wellbeing during the early stages of the pandemic. Methods: Data from 25,670 respondents, aged 16 to 66, from nine UK longitudinal studies were analysed. Changes in employment (including being furloughed) were defined by comparing employment status pre-pandemic and during the first lockdown. Mental and social wellbeing outcomes included psychological distress, life satisfaction, self-rated health, social contact, and loneliness. Study-specific modified Poisson regression estimates, adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics and pre-pandemic outcome measures, were pooled using meta-analysis. Results: Compared to those who remained working, furloughed workers were at greater risk of psychological distress (adjusted risk ratio, ARR=1.12; 95% CI: 0.97, 1.29), low life satisfaction (ARR=1.14; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.22), loneliness (ARR=1.12; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.23), and fair/poor self-rated health (ARR=1.26; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.50), but risk ratios appear less pronounced compared to those no longer employed (e.g., psychological distress, ARR=1.39; 95% CI: 1.21, 1.59) or stable unemployed (e.g., psychological distress, ARR=1.33; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.62). Conclusions: During the early stages of the pandemic those furloughed had increased risk for poor mental and social wellbeing. However, their excess risk was lower in magnitude than those who became or remained unemployed, suggesting that furlough partly mitigated poorer outcomes.

Understanding New Zealand Homeowners Apparent Reluctance to Adopt Housing-Sustainability Innovations

<p>This thesis investigates why sustainability innovations are not being adopted at the expected rate when they not only reduce environmental problems but also improve health, comfort, productivity, and economic and social wellbeing. Homeowners' demonstrate an apparent preference for sustainability innovations. However, there are apparent inconsistencies in their decisions as demonstrated by the lack of success of numerous intervention schemes. The aim of this research was to understand the motivations behind New Zealand homeowners' apparent reluctance to adopt sustainability innovations such as solar water heating panels or double glazing. A mixed methods research approach was taken to account for the numerous explanations and to address the research questions and concerns. This included a preliminary study to further establish the need for this research by investigating the implied market value of sustainability through real estate advertisements; a survey to identify homeowners engaging in this behaviour and their reasons for doing so; and a series of verbal report interviews to develop a qualitative insight of the thought processes behind their decisions. Numerous groups of homeowners were identified; the focus of this research however were those who displayed apparently unreasonable behaviour in that despite knowing what the logical answer should be they still said that they were not willing-to-pay full price for the innovation. This group were found to represent the largest proportion of homeowners suggesting that our time and resources need to be focussed primarily on convincing this large group of homeowners. The cause of these homeowners apparently unreasonable behaviour was observed to be due to an exaggerated perception of risk. In addition to the obvious risks that the innovation might not suit their house or that the financial return would not occur, these homeowners seemed averse to being seen to be different from the average homeowner. It is proposed that the findings from this research can be used to plan interventions that either change behaviour or align policy and other marketing responses to the characteristics this group of homeowners displayed.</p>