Digital Commons Network^™

Digital Storytelling To Communicate Covid-19 Research Efforts, Carolyn E. Gray, Kelly Waters, Kathyrn Bizier, Brenda M. Joly

Journal of Maine Medical Center

Problem statement: COVID-19 was a once-in-a-century pandemic that hit the world in March 2020. Overnight, the SARS-CoV-2 virus threatened not only survival, but also food security, social supports, transportation issues, financial constraints, and more. Timely research became crucial to understanding how to mitigate viral spread, treat patients, and address the consequences and health implications.

Background: Advancing the infrastructure to support research in northern New England has been the focus of the Northern New England Clinical and Translational Research (NNE-CTR) Network since 2017. The NNE-CTR Network is a multi-year initiative in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire that brings together academic institutions, …

The Hidden Faces Behind The Covid-19 Vaccine, Julia Brittain

Osmosis Magazine

When you think about the COVID-19 vaccine, the names Pfizer or Moderna probably come to mind. It’s no surprise that these companies are often mentioned in discussions of the COVID- 19 vaccine. After all, in December 2020, Pfizer-BioNTech became the first biopharmaceutical company to receive emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine from the FDA, and Moderna followed shortly after.

Overcoming Vaccine Hesitancy: Evidence From Italy During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alessandro Del Ponte, Audrey De Dominicis, Paolo Canofari

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Objectives

Study design

Factors Associated With Student Engagement In Online Learning During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review, Yam B. Limbu, Christopher Mckinley

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

While extant literature reveals various factors associated with student engagement in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings are inconsistent. A systematic review of the factors influencing student engagement in online learning during the pandemic will provide state-of-the-art knowledge of existing literature and offer future research directions. This study systematically reviews factors driving college student engagement in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Performed in accordance with the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, a systematic search of four databases identified 50 eligible studies. The most prevalent factors associated with student engagement were student-related factors …

The Importance Of Public Health In College Populations: Why Vaccines Are Important, Kashish Poore

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This paper examines the importance of vaccines in college populations, where high-density living environments create unique vulnerabilities to infectious disease outbreaks. Despite vaccine mandates at most institutions, research indicates that many college students possess incomplete understanding of vaccine mechanisms and importance. The paper addresses three interconnected aspects: the biological foundations of vaccine-induced immunity, the significance of vaccination in collegiate settings, and the current state of vaccine literacy among students. Historical outbreaks on campuses, including meningitis at Princeton and mumps across several institutions, highlight the consequences of undervaccination. Social media misinformation has contributed significantly to vaccine hesitancy, particularly since COVID-19. The …

The Relationship Between Food Insecurity And Emotional Eating During The Coronavirus Pandemic In Northern California, Andreza S.B. Souza, Marcelle M. Dougan, Giselle A.P. Pignotti

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Objectives: This cross-sectional study examined the association between food insecurity and emotional eating and explored correlations between emotional eating and dietary behavior in the U.S during the pandemic. Methods: Participants (N = 515, 77.1 % female, 44.1 ± 14.7 years old) completed a validated online survey between August and November of 2020 including questions about food security and eating behaviors. A multivariable linear regression model was used to evaluate the association between food insecurity and emotional eating. Pearson correlations were calculated to assess the relationship between emotional eating and dietary behavior Results: Overall, 31.3 % of the participants experienced food …

The Conservative Response To Transformative Disruption: Voice Or Exit 100 Years After Meyer And Pierce?, Neal Mccluskey

The Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues

In 1923 and 1925, respectively, the U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Meyer v. Nebraska and Pierce v. Society of Sisters established limits on the ability of government to constrain what children’s education contains and where it occurs. The Court recognized the “right” of parents to exercise basic control over those things. One hundred years later, we are seeing a renewed emphasis on “parental rights,” both with booming growth of “school choice” programs that allow government-connected funding to follow children to educational options their parents select and efforts to constrain what public schools do. The position of conservatives on such parental …

Invasive Haemophilus Influenzae Disease At A Us Children's Hospital In The Sars-Cov-2 Era, J Chase Mcneil, David R Mcdonald, James J Dunn, Sheldon L Kaplan, Kristina G Hulten, Jesus G Vallejo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: National data previously demonstrated an increase in invasive disease due to non-type b Haemophilus influenzae from the 2000s to the 2010s. Significant shifts in the epidemiology of respiratory pathogens in children have occurred in the post-SARS-CoV-2 era. We examined pediatric invasive H. influenzae disease in the pre- and post-SARS-CoV-2 years.

Methods: Invasive H. influenzae infections were identified from culture records of the Texas Children's Hospital microbiology laboratory from January 2011 to December 2023. Invasive cases were considered those with isolation of H. influenzae from a sterile site. The annual number of cases/1000 admissions was used as a surrogate for …

Still Accounting For My Teacher’S Body: The Objective Body/Body As Objective In The Classroom/Classzoom, Leda M. Cooks, Jennifer A. Zenovich

Feminist Pedagogy

This critical commentary reflects on Cooks’ 2007 article, “Accounting for my Teacher’s Body: What can I teach/What can we learn?” by reconsidering power and body relations in light of the concept and pedagogy of body neutrality in the classroom in the 2023 COVID-19 era. The digital and physical classroom are spaces where the (embodied) body is never neutral. By extension, the body is never neutral anywhere regardless of the mindful body neutrality practices suggested by Pellizzer and Wade (2023). In this commentary, we first discuss how the teacher in physical and digital space communicates ideals of competence in performance of …

Supportive Programming During A Worldwide Pandemic And Beyond, Rainie B. Jueschke, Charissa Lynch, Anne Stokes, Tracy Van De Vate

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

In the United States, approximately 2.4 million grandparents are the primary caregivers of their grandchildren (Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center, 2024). Relative caregivers provide an important opportunity to keep families together and avoid foster home placement when children are unable to safely be cared for by parents. “Parenting again” comes with its own unique set of challenges, and the COVID-19 pandemic significantly highlighted and exacerbated these difficulties. There are many organizations nationwide that work within the field of relative caregiving, providing diverse programming designed to address the needs of this unique population. Core principles include strategies to …

Learning From Experience: What Is Successful Respite During And Post-Pandemic?, Jennifer A. Crittenden, Darlene Sansone, Kristina Brant, Jennifer Odum, Caitlin O'Brien, Lisa Mccormick

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

The COVID-19 pandemic had immediate and long-lasting impacts on both kinship families and the organizations that serve them. During the pandemic, as families navigated health challenges, economic consequences, and school and daycare closures, relatives as parents programs (RAPPs) were challenged to surmount staffing and programming hurdles to meet family needs. Despite the difficulties posed by the pandemic, RAPPs developed creative solutions to offer respite programming. Some of these programs continue to be used today, over four years after the start of the pandemic. This article describes the presentations and discussions that took place during a 90-minute workshop at the 2023 …

Counseling Students’ Perceptions Of Support During The Covid-19 Crisis: A Qualitative Study, Breahannah Hilaire, Galaxina G. Wright, Lea H, Laurie O. Campbell

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the counseling programs in clinical instruction, mentorship, and student’s perception of the university. The qualitative data presented in this paper identifies eight counseling students’ beliefs of support during their time in counseling program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was obtained through semi-structured interviews. An interpretive phenomenological analysis resulted in four themes: including higher education response, personal resources, emotions in crisis, and transitions in crisis.

Medicaid Unwinding: Due Process Violations And Impacts In Florida, Emma Page

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

No abstract provided.

Exploring Adolescents' Mental Health In Kampala, Uganda In The Context Of Covid-19: A Mixed Methods Study, Gideon Mbithi, Ahmed Sarki, Adam Mabrouk, Rachel Odhiambo, Mary Namuguzi, Joseph Atukwatse, Margaret Kabue, Stephen Mulupi, Amina Abubakar

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background: Urban areas, particularly in developing nations like Uganda, face heightened risks due to poverty, unemployment, and environmental challenges, intensifying the vulnerability of urban youth to poor mental health. This study aims to determine the psychological well-being of adolescents and to assess the risks and associated factors of mental health problems among adolescents in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in Kampala City, Uganda.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 500 adolescents aged 13–19 years residing within the five divisions of Kampala City, Uganda. We utilized standardized psychological assessment tools including the Patient Health Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Scale, …

A Prototype Online Platform For Exploring Post-Covid Academic Recovery In U.S. Public Schools: An Example From California Public Schools, Nicole Baz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project introduces a prototype online platform designed to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic achievement in public schools and districts across the United States. Leveraging data from the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the platform enables users to examine recovery rates as measured by standardized test scores. California serves as a proof-of-concept case study, demonstrating the platform's ability to explore recovery patterns in Reading Language Arts and Mathematics between 2019 and 2023. The platform provides interactive data visualizations and dashboards that facilitate analyses based on district size, resources, …

Covid-19-Related Risk, Resilience, And Mental Health Among Mexican American Mothers Across The First Year Of The Pandemic, Amy L. Non, Elizabeth S. Clausing, Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo, Kimberly D'Anna-Hernandez

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Latina mothers have been especially affected by the pandemic and historically exhibit high rates of depression and anxiety. However, few longitudinal studies have assessed the effect of the pandemic on this vulnerable population. We hypothesized that COVID-19-related stressors would associate with psychological distress among Latina mothers across the first year of the pandemic.

Methods

We investigated COVID-19-related impact, stigma, and fears across two critical time points and changes in these measures in relation to changes in maternal anxiety and depression among mothers of Mexican descent living in Southern California (n=152). Surveys were administered within 5–16 weeks of …

Analysis Of Covid-19 Prevention And Control Policy Implementation In Islamic Boarding Schools In Dki Jakarta, Dickha Adi Wibowo, Fajar Ariyanti

Journal of Indonesian Health Policy and Administration

Indonesia, as one of the countries affected by COVID-19, has implemented various efforts to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. One effort that can be implemented is the implementation of COVID-19 prevention protocols. Apart from that, according to the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Islamic boarding schools are locations with high mobility. This research aims to determine the implementation of policies related to the prevention and control of COVID-19 in Islamic boarding schools in the DKI Jakarta Province. This research used descriptive research with a qualitative approach, with the number of respondents being three Islamic boarding school leaders and students. The results …

Examining Health Insurance And Non-Medical Challenges Among Vietnamese Americans In Texas During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alexander Le, Saba Siddiqi, Celine Nguyen, Ben King, Paul Gerardo Yeh, Jannette Diep, Lauren Gilbert, Bich-May Nguyen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

When COVID-19 data on Asian Americans are available, they are frequently aggregated, concealing community-specific concerns. Consequently, there is limited COVID-19 literature on Vietnamese Americans. In this study, we investigated the association between health insurance coverage and non-medical challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Vietnamese Americans in Texas. The NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Common Survey 2 was administered electronically in English and Vietnamese and contained 23 questions about non-medical drivers of health, COVID-19 vaccination, and research participation. Vietnamese American adults in Texas were recruited between September 2021 and March 2022 via partnerships with community organizations. Responses were compared and analyzed …

Decriminalizing Disease: A Health Justice Approach To Infectious Diseases And Criminal Law, Sean E. Bland

Arkansas Law Review

Infectious diseases, also called communicable diseases, are largely a public health issue and should not be criminalized. This Article seeks to re-frame the discussion around the legal framework for infectious diseases in a way that moves beyond a punishment mindset and toward a health justice mindset. The focus in this Article is on health justice rather than traditional understandings of public health, defined as the science and practice of improving the health of people and their communities. The Article makes three novel contributions. First, it applies a health justice framework to the critique of infectious disease criminalization. Second, the Article …

Understanding The Impact Of Covid-19 On The Mental Health Of Children And Parents During The Pandemic, Whitney S. Gray

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic presented parents with stressors that affected their well-being and their life satisfaction. The pandemic caused parents to struggle with balancing their families’ needs and maintaining their happiness. Prior to the pandemic, children and adolescents had a routine that accommodated their daily functioning and provided them with social contact. The pandemic added stress with parents working odd hours at work, having to adjust to their child’s school schedules, and not being able to contribute to their support system. In addition to these daily stressors, parents had to consider the precautions surrounding COVID-19 and the worries attached to the …

The Lived Experience Of Therapists During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study Using Photovoice Methodology, Alison De La Montaigne, Catana Brown, Sarah A. Anderson, Tamara Turner

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of therapists during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: A qualitative phenomenological design using photovoice methodology for collecting data was used (Wang & Burris, 1997). The study participants included twelve therapists. Using photovoice methodology, the participants used a picture to represent their experience and wrote an accompanying narrative to address the question, “How has COVID-19 impacted your life?” Thematic analysis was used to code and develop themes for the participant photovoices and the virtual focus group transcripts (Braun & Clark, 2006). Zoom was used as the virtual platform for the virtual …

What Factors Influenced Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy? Evidence From Social Media, Huseyin Zeyd Koytak

Population Health Research Brief Series

Vaccine hesitancy is one of the most significant threats to global public health efforts. Despite the rapid development and deployment of effective vaccines, resistance to vaccination has persisted in many communities, undermining collective immunity and prolonging health crises, including most recently the COVID-19 pandemic. This brief summarizes findings from a study that used data from over 50 million tweets (later rebranded as X) from 2020 to 2022 to investigate the patterns, justifications, and socioeconomic roots of vaccine hesitancy in the United States. The authors find that Twitter users in states with lower levels of education, higher poverty and unemployment rates, …

Lessons Learned From The Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis Management In The Gaza Strip: A Qualitative Study., Belal Aljamal

Journal of the Arab American University مجلة الجامعة العربية الامريكية للبحوث

Aims of the study: The main aim of this study was to discover the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis management from health policymakers' perspective in the Gaza Strip. Methods: The researcher used a qualitative design, targeting 25health policymakers using a purposeful sampling technique and face-to-face semi-structured interviews to collect data. To analyze the interview data, the directed qualitative content analysis approach was used.

Results: All interviewees agreed that the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) managed the COVID-19pandemic well despite the insufficient resources and lack of experience. More specifically, the average of most participants’ assessments of Palestinian MoH “Preparedness” …

“Incline Your Ear To My Cry” (Psalm 88): Walter Brueggemann’S Theology Of Lament In/And The (Post)Pandemic World, Maverick Angelo M. Pelayo

Landas

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically disrupted the usual course of doing things by which the world and individuals are accustomed, and it continues to do so as many individuals and, five years on, sectors are still reeling from the multi- faceted effects of the pandemic. It is on this account that this contribution seeks to offer the role and relevance of lament when people and communities face various forms of crises. This contribution explores how the practice of lament according to Walter Brueggemann’s theology can be understood, applied, and appropriated in difficult times like this as exemplified in Psalm 88, …

Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Black Women In The Us, Brittany C Slatton, Farrah G Cambrice, Serwaa S Omowale

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black women is a critical public health concern, potentially exacerbating existing health disparities and impacting community-wide vaccination efforts.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black women in the US and identify the specific concerns and experiences shaping hesitant attitudes toward vaccination.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Qualitative study using in-depth, semistructured interviews conducted virtually between June and November 2021. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes from the interview data. Participants were recruited through social media platforms and word-of-mouth referrals from various regions of the US. Interviews were conducted remotely …

The Effect Of Covid-19 Lockdowns And Social Isolation On Adolescence, Madeleine J. Bakken

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents around the world were impacted by social isolation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Students experienced sudden school closures and isolation from classmates resulting in increased screen time, the erosion of social skills, lower academic motivation, and a period of unstructured and unfamiliar learning (Hong et al., 2022; Kannan & Veazie, 2023; Leventhal & Morishta, 2024; Menzies et al., 2024; Warford, 2019). Current research is working to measure the impact and severity of these factors. Early findings suggest that students are academically and emotionally behind where their predecessors were pre-COVID (Menzies et al. 2023; NWEA Connection, 2024). Educators and mental …

Social Comparison And Pressure: Examining The Roles Of Sex And Rank, Ashley East

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Faculty in academia face intense competition and growing expectations, often shaped by perceptions of others’ performance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these dynamics were magnified, making social comparison a critical factor in understanding academic workplace pressures. The purpose of this study is to examine the changing work pressures and social comparison tendencies among academics during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is hypothesized that social comparison tendencies will be positively related to time pressure (H1a) and telepressure (H1b), with moderation by sex (H2a and H2b) and organizational rank (H3a and H3b). Using a panel survey of 197 tenure-track and tenured faculty members in …

Covid-19 In The History Of Capitalism, Victor Wallis

Faculty Works

The obvious role of capital in generating poverty, war, and environmental breakdown has not led to a parallel recognition of how deeply it shapes the ideology and practice of healthcare. Progressives view access to healthcare as a matter of “right,” but with rare exceptions they do not focus attention on the wider determinants of health policy – from the life-conditions that shape public health to the prevalence, in capitalist countries, of market-inspired remedies. Looking at the US experience and noting how capitalist priorities have permeated official policies toward Covid-19, this essay discusses how medical objections to these policies have been …

A Teacher Preparation Program's Stakeholders' Perceptions Since Campus Closure Due To Covid-19, Laurie J. Mccormick

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

COVID-19 closed colleges and forced faculty and students to learn a new way of teaching and learning. Like most institutions, Marshall University’s College of Education and Professional Development struggled to provide the practicum experience required for teacher preparation when most public schools shifted to remote learning. This qualitative study investigated the reactions of, and ongoing impact on, a university’s college of education’s administrators, faculty, undergraduates, the institution’s instructional designers, and the Counseling Center’s director when the campus closed spring of 2020 due to the pandemic. Initial and ongoing challenges faced, and strategies implemented were categorized by the four themes that …

An Exploration Of Teacher Exodus In Predominantly African American Secondary Public Schools Amid Covid-19, Keith Demond Ford

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

For some time, K-12 teachers across America have been resigning from classrooms in large numbers. Like many of the nation’s communities, schools in American neighborhoods of color have seen an overwhelming amount of teacher resignations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to existing literature, education’s traditional systemic norms and health protocols which were initiated during COVID-19 motivated classroom teachers to leave their jobs. This qualitative study uses a phenomenological methodology as it discovers that an interrelatedness of factors influences six participants to resign from their classroom teaching roles at predominantly African American middle and high schools during and immediately following …