Digital Commons Network^™

Conscious And Unconscious Bias: The Hidden Pandemic Of Biases In Healthcare Exacerbated By Covid-19, Ibtisam Rauf, Abigail Hartmann, Alexandre Koumtchev, Syed Anjum Khan, Rahul Kashyap

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

There are limited data on unconscious bias in healthcare, but there is consistent evidence that it alters clinical decision-making. COVID-19 exacerbated many pre-existing disparities, and this paper seeks to identify, deconstruct, and propose mitigation strategies for a few of them.

Discussion

Five of the largest disparities amplified by the pandemic are discussed in this paper. Older people, Black people, uninsured people, rural communities, and people with lower education levels have been disproportionally affected in both morbidity and mortality.

Conclusions

The disparities discussed above did not occur in a vacuum but are the result of systemic issues. Equity starts with …

A Qualitative Inquiry On Smokers’ Perceptions Of Smoking Cessation During Covid-19, Sajid Iqbal, Rubina Barolia, Kiran Iftikhar, Pammla Petrucka, Jeniefer Anastasi, Faris Farooq Saeed Khan, Naheed Feroz Ali

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: This qualitative exploratory study explores smokers’ perspectives regarding smoking cessation processes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Purposive sampling was employed to conduct semi-structured interviews with cigarette smokers visiting cardiac and pulmonary clinics at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Thematic analysis was performed to identify themes from the participants’ responses.
Results: Three themes emerged from the thematic analysis. These were smoking cessation facilitators, smoking cessation barriers, and COVID-19 impacts on smoking cessation. Awareness and education, threat of acquiring health problems, religious beliefs and family or support system behave as smoking cessation facilitators. While, role modeling, associating smoking to …

Assessing Covid-19 Booster Hesitancy And Its Correlates: An Early Evidence From India, Geetanjali C. Achrekar, Kavita Batra, Yashashri Urankar, Ravi Batra, Naved Iqbal, Sabiha A. Choudhury, Deepti Hooda, Roohi Khan, Suraj Arora, Aditi Singh, Francesco Chirico, Manoj Sharma

School of Medicine Faculty Research

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 mutants, waning immunity, and breakthrough infections prompted the use of booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to fight against the pandemic. India started booster doses in January 2022 and it is critical to determine the intention of booster dose uptake and its correlates. Therefore, the current cross-sectional study aimed to investigate booster dose acceptability and associated predictors among the Indian population. A convenience sampling technique was utilized to recruit a sample of 687 Indian residents. A 55-item psychometric validated survey tool was used to assess booster dose acceptability, vaccine literacy and vaccine confidence. Univariate, bivariate, and …

Covid-19 And Singularity: Can The Philippines Survive Another Existential Threat?, Robert James M. Boyles, Mark Anthony Dacela, Tyrone Renzo Evangelista, Jon Carlos Rodriguez

Asia-Pacific Social Science Review

In general, existential threats are those that may potentially result in the extinction of the entire human species, if not significantly endanger its living population. Among the said threats include, but not limited to, pandemics and the impacts of a technological singularity. As regards pandemics, significant work has already been done on how to mitigate, if not prevent, the aftereffects of this type of disaster. For one, certain problem areas on how to properly manage pandemic responses have already been identified, like the following: (a) not being able to learn from previous experiences, (b) the inability to act on warning …

Aplikasi Health Belief Model Terhadap Perilaku Preventif Covid-19 Pada Kelompok Lansia, Fitriani Fitriani, Teungku Nih Farisni, Yarmaliza Yarmaliza, Fitrah Reynaldi, Zakiyuddin Zakiyuddin, Veni Nella Syahputri, Dewi Susanna

Perilaku dan Promosi Kesehatan: Indonesian Journal of Health Promotion and Behavior

Background. Indonesia is one of the countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The elderly are the most severely affected group due to the severity/morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 disease. West Aceh Regency is one of the red zone areas with confirmed cases of COVID-19. Aim. This study aims to analyze the COVID-19 prevention behavior in the elderly group. Method. This type of research was descriptive-analytic with a quantitative approach. The sampling technique used total sampling. The data collection used a questionnaire instrument. This study's data analysis used three univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses. Results. The results showed that 69.8% of …

Gambaran Pengetahuan, Sikap, Dan Praktik Pencegahan Covid-19 Pada Penderita Hipertensi, Hilda Amalia, Hadi Pratomo

Perilaku dan Promosi Kesehatan: Indonesian Journal of Health Promotion and Behavior

Background. Depok City is the highest city with the number of confirmed COVID-19 (49.567 cases) and cumulative deaths (920 deaths) in West Java on 30 Mei 2021. Hypertension patients must be more disciplined in COVID-19 prevention because they are more likely to experience severe COVID-19 disease development. Objective. This study aims to describe the knowledge, attitude, and practice of COVID-19 prevention among hypertension patients in Depok City. Method. This study used a cross-sectional study of hypertension patients in Depok City, West Java, from August to September 2021. Data collected used an online survey (google form). Results. The results showed the …

Efektivitas Permainan Roda Putar Terhadap Pengetahuan Dan Sikap Siswa Mengenai Covid-19 Di Sd Cahaya Pengharapan Abadi Deli Serdang, Gamalielya Gera Simanjuntak, Lita Sri Andayani

Perilaku dan Promosi Kesehatan: Indonesian Journal of Health Promotion and Behavior

Background. In 2020 the world experienced a COVID-19 pandemic that required educational institutions, namely schools to be closed, as a result of which 157,166 students dropped out, including 59,443 elementary school students. WHO suggested that schools reopen with strict health protocols, but many elementary school students still do not comply with health protocols. Objective. Knowing the effectiveness of the spinning wheel game on students' knowledge and attitudes about COVID-19 at Cahaya Pengharapan Abadi Elementary School, Deli Serdang. Method. Using the Pre-Experimental Design research design with the One Group Pretest-Postest method. The population of students in class V at Cahaya Pengharapan …

Stigma And Solidarity Among Covid-19 Patients In The Philippines, Jaye Bekema

Asia-Pacific Social Science Review

Pandemic management strategies often reinforce the trope of the uncooperative and disease-spreading poor; they who are to be blamed for transmission and therefore must be subdued to protect the population. Although counternarratives to this proposition seek to explain from the lens of political economy why people who are poor behave the way they do, they do not, at the bottom, assail the central idea that the poor behave in ways inconsistent with the aims of public health. The interrogation of this central idea is what this research aims to contribute towards using original data from interviews with 21 COVID-19 survivors …

Predictors Of Intention To Vaccinate For Covid-19 In The Philippines: Do Trust In Government And Trust In Vaccines Really Matter?, Melvin A. Jabar, Ador R. Torneo, Luis F. Razon, John Benedict Felices, Hazel Ann Marie R. Duya

Asia-Pacific Social Science Review

This paper interrogates the influence of trust in government, trust in vaccines, and access to vaccine-related information as predictors of intention to vaccinate for COVID-19 among Filipinos. It also examines the relationship between social- and personal-related measures and the intention to vaccinate. Data for this article were collected from an online survey involving 1,953 respondents, conducted from July 28 to August 2020 before the trials were completed and emergency use authorizations were issued for any of the currently approved COVID-19 vaccines. Multinomial regression results show that trust in vaccines, sex, income, perceived risk exposure, and perceived health status were significant …

Deep Learning Paradigm For Cardiovascular Disease/Stroke Risk Stratification In Parkinson's Disease Affected By Covid-19: A Narrative Review., Jasjit S Suri, Mahesh A Maindarkar, Sudip Paul, Puneet Ahluwalia, Mrinalini Bhagawati, Luca Saba, Gavino Faa, Sanjay Saxena, Inder M Singh, Paramjit S Chadha, Monika Turk, Amer Johri, Narendra N Khanna, Klaudija Viskovic, Sofia Mavrogeni, John R Laird, Martin Miner, David W Sobel, Antonella Balestrieri, Petros P Sfikakis, George Tsoulfas, Athanase D Protogerou, Durga Prasanna Misra, Vikas Agarwal, George D Kitas, Raghu Kolluri, Jagjit S Teji, Mustafa Al-Maini, Surinder K Dhanjil, Meyypan Sockalingam, Ajit Saxena, Aditya Sharma, Vijay Rathore, Mostafa Fatemi, Azra Alizad, Padukode R Krishnan, Tomaz Omerzu, Subbaram Naidu, Andrew Nicolaides, Kosmas I Paraskevas, Mannudeep Kalra, Zoltán Ruzsa, Mostafa M Fouda

Heart and Vascular Articles

Background and Motivation: Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most serious, non-curable, and expensive to treat. Recently, machine learning (ML) has shown to be able to predict cardiovascular/stroke risk in PD patients. The presence of COVID-19 causes the ML systems to become severely non-linear and poses challenges in cardiovascular/stroke risk stratification. Further, due to comorbidity, sample size constraints, and poor scientific and clinical validation techniques, there have been no well-explained ML paradigms. Deep neural networks are powerful learning machines that generalize non-linear conditions. This study presents a novel investigation of deep learning (DL) solutions for CVD/stroke risk prediction …

A Survey On Machine Learning And Internet Of Medical Things-Based Approaches For Handling Covid-19: Meta-Analysis, Shahab S. Band, Sina Ardabili, Atefeh Yarahmadi, Bahareh Pahlevanzadeh, Adiqa Kausar Kiani, Amin Beheshti, Hamid Alinejad-Rokny, Iman Dehzangi, Arthur Chang, Amir Mosavi, Massoud Moslehpour

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Early diagnosis, prioritization, screening, clustering, and tracking of patients with COVID-19, and production of drugs and vaccines are some of the applications that have made it necessary to use a new style of technology to involve, manage, and deal with this epidemic. Strategies backed by artificial intelligence (A.I.) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have been undeniably effective to understand how the virus works and prevent it from spreading. Accordingly, the main aim of this survey is to critically review the ML, IoT, and the integration of IoT and ML-based techniques in the applications related to COVID-19, from the diagnosis …

Faculty Making The Emergency Online Transition During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Effects Of Prior Online Teaching Experience And Strategies Used To Learn To Teach Online (Special Edition 2022), Edward Hebert, Ralph Wood, Kwonchan Jeon, Ismatara Reena

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: During the COVID-19 pandemic, university faculty experienced an emergency pivot to online instruction in the Spring 2020 semester. Many had no prior online teaching experience and were given little time to adapt. This study examines pre-pandemic online teaching experience and training strategies used to learn how to teach online during the emergency remote teaching semester, perceptions of change in online teaching ability and the pandemic’s impact on teaching effectiveness, and interest in future online teaching opportunities.

Method: Full-time faculty (n = 455) from four public regional universities in the southern United States completed a survey at …

Media Narrative Competition Between The U.S. And China During Covid-19, Zhenzhu Zhang

Dissertations

This study examines the narratives that were presented in Chinese and American media by using Dr. Li Wenliang (one of the first people who tried to raise the alarm about the outbreak of COVID-19), and the COVID-19 origin controversy as case studies to understand how these news stories conflicted and which tellings became dominant. The way these two cases have been depicted in the media has changed over time. Understanding how that depiction changed is important because it helps demonstrate how narratives function to frame crises. The current study uses narrative, and framing theories to support thematic analysis of news …

Non-Solvent Induced Phase Separation (Nips) For Fabricating High Filtration Efficiency (Fe) Polymeric Membranes For Face Mask And Air Filtration Applications, Ebuka A. Ogbuoji, Lauren Stephens, Amber Haycraft, Eric Woodridge, C. Escobar

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Protection against airborne viruses has become very relevant since the outbreak of SARSCoV-2. Nonwoven face masks along with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) filters have been used extensively to reduce infection rates; however, some of these filter materials provide inadequate protection due to insufficient initial filtration efficiency (FE) and FE decrease with time. Flat sheet porous membranes, which have been used extensively to filter waterborne microbes and particulate matter due to their high FE have the potential to filter air pollutants without compromising its FE over time. Therefore, in this study, single layer polysulfone (PSf) membranes were fabricated via …

Disparate Impacts Of Covid-19 Disruptions For California College Students, Sherrie Reed, Elizabeth Friedmann, Michal Kurlaender, Paco Martorell, Derek Rury, Ryan Fuller, Jessica Moldoff, Patrick Perry

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This paper documents the experience of California college students in the midst of the pandemic as their academic and home lives were disrupted. The analysis relies on a survey sent to all financial aid applicants statewide. Survey respondents include nearly 100,000 students enrolled in both two-year and four-year postsecondary institutions. Results reveal multiple stressors strained the educational experience and trajectories of many students. These stressors were not evenly distributed. In particular, students from low-income backgrounds were more likely to face increased financial stress, additional home responsibilities, and difficulty accessing the online learning environment, when compared to their higher-income peers.

The Effectiveness Of Governmental Policy Measures On Controlling The Spread Of Covid-19: Empirical Evidence From Around The World, Lobna Abdallah Yassin

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid spread of COVID-19 in China and the world dramatically affected the development in China and many countries worldwide. Different governments applied various policy measures to control the virus and prevent its spreading inside their countries. These policy measures combined with this global health crisis have serious consequences on the health system in different countries and the world economy. This thesis aims to quantitatively measure the effectiveness of the governmental policy measures that are taken during the risk management of the coronavirus across different countries on controlling the spread of the virus. Also, this thesis highlights the different policies …

The President’S Remedy–What The Hydroxychloroquine Story Teaches Us About The Need To Limit Off-Lable Prescribing Powers, Jennifer Bard

Catholic University Law Review

When the history of the first year of the United States Government’s response to the COVID-19 virus is written, there is likely to be mention of the still unexplained vehemence with which then president Donald J. Trump made use of his access to social media to promote seldom used anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, for both the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 despite the active growing opposition of most of the world’s scientists, including his own government scientists. While the use of drugs developed and approved by the FDA for different purposes to combat new diseases, off-label prescribing, is legal in the …

Anxiety Symptoms Among Extension Professionals' During The Covid-19 Pandemic With The Gad-2, Glenn D. Israel, Colleen E. Gariton, Harsha E. James

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are a common mental health disorder but often remain undetected and undertreated. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Extension professionals have worked hard to address emerging issues that communities face, possibly impacting the amount of anxiety they experience. This study determined the prevalence of anxiety symptoms among Extension professionals in the United States. Participants from 24 states completed a survey containing the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item (GAD-2) screener. Almost one-quarter of Extension professionals had a GAD-2 score greater than three, an indicator of anxiety with a possibility of generalized anxiety disorder, which …

Factors Explaining Variations In Covid-19 Deaths In Rural America, Don E. Albrecht

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, case and death rates from the disease in rural counties were significantly lower than in urban counties. This pattern changed during the summer and fall of 2020, and by December, death rates in rural counties were higher than in urban counties. This article uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau and voting and COVID-19 data from The New York Times to explore factors related to the increase in COVID-19 deaths in rural counties in the United States. Further analysis is conducted to understand variations in death rates across different types of rural counties. Multivariate regression …

Intolerance Of Uncertainty, Sensory Processing, And Related Correlates In Autistic Children During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mollie Bradley

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic increased uncertainty and anxiety for most and was especially disruptive to autistic people and their families. Autistic children were particularly vulnerable due to their intolerance for increased uncertainty and disruption to their school and therapy support. This study aimed to investigate the effect that increased uncertainty had on autistic children, specifically their sensory behaviors and stress levels and on the stress levels of their primary caregivers. Parents and guardians of 47 autistic children completed an online survey consisting of questions investigating background and demographic information, their experiences during the first six months of the pandemic, information about …

Community Outreach And Engagement In A Time Of Crisis: The Peer Research Consultants Program, Lauren Fralinger, Shatha Baydoun

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

The Peer Research Consultants (PRC) program at the University of Miami Libraries (UML), was formed in 2016 as part of the Learning Commons initiative to collocate and centralize academic services at Richter Library. Although the program had a virtual component in the form of chat and phone services when founded, it was primarily a physical setup where library student workers assisted researchers using a peer-to-peer system. In this paper, we highlight the historical trajectory of the peer research consultant (PRC) program in academic libraries using Richter Library as a case study. We argue that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic …

Anxiety Of Struggling Readers And Excelling Readers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Chelsey Taylor Lemmon

Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety is the most reported negative emotion in the academic setting. One of the specific forms of anxiety that children can experience is reading anxiety (RA). Children who experience RA are often at risk for reading failure; likewise, children who experience reading failure are likely to experience RA. Children who excel at reading can also experience anxiety, often in the form of harm avoidance. Bibliotherapy has been shown to help to mitigate the effects of specific types of anxiety in children. The purpose of this study was to understand the anxiety of children who excel at reading and children at …

Flexible Working Practices For Educated Egyptian Women In The Digital Era: A Study On Telework During The Covid-19 Pandemic And Its Potential To Reduce Gender Gap, Sarah Sherif El Ashry

Theses and Dissertations

Telework has recently gained popularity around the world, a trend that saw significant growth with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Egypt is one of the many countries that adopted this new approach in an attempt to facilitate social distancing policies. This allowed more working mothers in Egypt to experience telework practices for the first time and be able to report their experience. These circumstances have presented a great opportunity to test its simultaneous application across different sectors throughout Egypt. Therefore, it is important to reflect on the adoption of telework during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to examine …

Sport Fans' Consumption Behaviors Following The Covid-19 Pandemic And Return To In-Person Spectating, Frederick G. Grieve, Joseph C. Case

Findings in Sport, Hospitality, Entertainment, and Event Management

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine consumption of sporting events after sport leagues returned from the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 329 college-aged sport fans were recruited for the study. Participants were administered measures to assess their sport fandom, sport fandom spectator identification, sport rivalry fan perception, and behavioral consumption of sport. Data was obtained between October 2020 to January 2021 as sport leagues returned to play. Results from the current study indicated that current sport consumption is at a similar level as it was pre-pandemic. However, the methods of consumption were inconsistent. Participants in the present …

Where The Sidewalk Ends: A Call To Action For Investigating The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Fans And Consumers, Cody T. Havard

Findings in Sport, Hospitality, Entertainment, and Event Management

The current topical essay addresses the need for future researchers to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on consumers, fans, and supporters, and how organizations adapted to the health crisis. Specifically, background and ideas for research regarding the impact of COVID-19 are presented for the areas of sport, entertainment, hospitality, and event management.

Factors Associated With Covid-19 Vaccine Intentions Among South Carolina Residents, Mufaro Kanyangarara, Lauren Mcabee, Virginie G. Daguise, Melissa Nolan Ph.D., Mph

Faculty Publications

Despite evidence of vaccine safety and efficacy, vaccine hesitancy remains a major global health threat. The COVID-19 vaccine has presented unique vaccine hesitancy concerns compared to parental vaccine hesitancy towards childhood vaccines. South Carolina (SC) is home to a largely conservative population and historically has some of the lowest vaccination coverage rates in the United States of America. The goal of the current study was to identify factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine intentions among SC residents. From November 2020 to September 2021, 300,000 invitations to participate in community testing and complete an online survey were mailed to randomly selected SC …

News Flash: Content Framing Of Higher Education During The Covid-19 Campus Closures, Sara Nelson

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic swept the world in a cascade of crises, impacting every industry and individual. This study sought to analyze the prevailing narratives of higher education news coverage during the initial crisis event of COVID-19, when colleges and universities around the world closed their doors and sent students home. Historically, higher education has not been well positioned by the media in times of crisis. A tarnished reputation can lead to direct and immediate loses in enrollment, funding, rankings, selectivity of students and the financial health of an institution. The framing of media narratives plays a direct role in how …

Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Care Continuum Of Youth Living With Hiv: Qualitative Study Of The Scale It Up Program Clinical Sites, Tyra Dark, Sitaji Gurung, Mary Dooley, Kit N. Simpson, Seyram A. Butame, Sylvie Naar

Publications and Research

The study objective was to explore the impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on the clinics’ ability to provide continuous healthcare services to youth (15–24 years) living with HIV (YLWH). One focused semi-structured interview was conducted with each HIV clinic site—resulting in ten interviews. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis techniques assisted by NVIVO coding software and themes indicating barriers and facilitators to providing uninterrupted healthcare were elicited. Six themes were identified that affected the care continuum of YLWH: Timeframe of clinic preparation to address COVID-19 restrictions; impact on treatment cascade monitoring data; impact on patient care; impact on staff and …

Prison Or Paradise? Perceptions Of Communication Between Cohabitating Couples During Covid-19 Restrictions, Caroline Fenker, Olivia Fisher, Amy Hodel, Clayton Lange, Jory Swider, Jena Thompson

Student Journal of Occupational Therapy

Purpose: Due to the immediacy of the COVID-19 phenomenon, researchers recognized a need to examine the effects of restrictions on communication patterns between committed, cohabiting partners. Prior literature investigated factors contributing to communication satisfaction; however, a substantial gap remains within the occupational therapy (OT) literature. The study explored perceived satisfaction of quantity and quality of communication before and during COVID-19 restrictions between cohabitating, committed partners and its relation to occupation.

Methods: A questionnaire sent via e-mail recruited subjects from an occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) program who self-identified as having quarantined with a committed partner during COVID-19 restrictions. A mixed-methods …

Multilevel Determinants Of Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Severe Maternal Morbidity And Mortality In The Context Of The Covid-19 Pandemic In The Usa: Protocol For A Concurrent Triangulation, Mixed-Methods Study, Jihong Liu, Peiyin Hung Ph.D, Chen Liang Ph.D., Jiajia Zhang Ph.D., Shan Qiao Ph.D., Berry A. Campbell, Bankole Olatosi Ph.D., Myriam E. Torres Ph. D., Neset Hikmet, Xiaoming Li Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has affected communities of colour the hardest. Non-Hispanic black and Hispanic pregnant women appear to have disproportionate SARS-CoV-2 infection and death rates.

Methods and analysis We will use the socioecological framework and employ a concurrent triangulation, mixed-methods study design to achieve three specific aims: (1) examine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on racial/ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity and mortality (SMMM); (2) explore how social contexts (eg, racial/ethnic residential segregation) have contributed to the widening of racial/ethnic disparities in SMMM during the pandemic and identify distinct mediating pathways through maternity care and mental health; and …