An Exploratory Study of Older Adults’ Emotions to Social Isolation and Their Coping Activities During COVID-19 Pandemic

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults are advised to remain in their homes and personal spaces since they are at greater risk for COVID-19 related illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths. Health professionals and caregivers are concerned that preventative measures, especially social isolation, may have long-term psychological and age-related effects among older adults. A survey prepared by the Center for Global Health at Old Dominion University, in collaboration with Healthy Chesapeake Inc., assessed social isolation, associated emotions, and daily coping activities of older adults in Chesapeake, Virginia. The target population included senior residents of the Cambridge Square Apartments, where Healthy Chesapeake Inc. offers community programs that encourage social connection and community involvement. This exploratory study examined how older adults in this environment perceived social isolation, their associated emotions, and daily coping activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 37 residents responded to the survey, of which 10.81% were males, and 89.19% were females. The results showed that respondents remained socially connected despite their limitations. Even though respondents listed various coping activities, television watching and reading were the highest recorded daily activities among older adults who had feelings of isolation or loneliness. Therefore, everyday coping activities, especially television watching, can be used to provide fun and educational activities that promote better health outcomes and longevity among older adults.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gradposters2021_healthsciences/1013/thumbnail.jp

Well-Being and Mental Health Impact of Household Flooding in Guyana, the Caribbean

Guyana has annually experienced excessive rainfall and flooding since 2005. This study investigated the general well-being and mental health problems among occupants of households affected by the December 2008 flooding in Guyana. A cross-sectional study design was used to administer validated questionnaires, which included sections on demographics, environmental exposure, general health, and personal behavior. The response rate to the survey was 70% (130/185). The findings indicate an increased self-reported poor health for study participants who smelled moldy odors inside of their home (OR: 4.1, 95% CI: 2.0‐12.0) and for individuals who had mold or mildew inside of their homes (OR: 3.0, 95% CI: 1.2‐7.5). Individuals whose homes had flooded previously were also shown to be slightly more at risk for experiencing diminished interest in daily activities (OR: 1.3, 95% CI: 0.5‐2.9) as well as diminished involvement in social activities (OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 0.7‐4.8). Also, participants who had their houses previously flooded reported an increased difficulty in concentrating (OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 0.9‐6.4). Flooding might be a possible risk factor for well-being and mental health problems among the occupants of affected households

Innovative Framework for Academic and Public Health Departments\u27 Partnership on Preparing Future Practitioners- Preliminary Data

This article presents a model to respond to current public health challenges and transform knowledge into preventive strategies. It also presents an innovative way for academic institutes and public health departments to focus on public health workforce development. Academic institutes partnership with public health departments have started fostering service-learning opportunities to engage students in public health with an emphasis on the specific public health outcomes. However, the benefit of service–learning projects on the health departments and the populations served is largely unknown. Recently, these service-learning opportunities are becoming less sustainable due to the inability of preceptors to provide the necessary support for students during the internship project. This article presents an innovative framework developed for sustainable academic health department partnership and describes the rationale for the collaboration. The evaluation of the framework suggested positive outcomes for students, the academic institution, the health department, and the communities. This framework can serve as a guide for academic institutions and public health departments whose goal is to address the current public heath challenges via using service-learning method and develop strong public health workforce

Experiences with COVID-19 Stress Among Hispanic/Latino Farmworkers

BACKGROUND: Hispanics/Latinos, particularly those that identify as foreign-born, are overrepresented in the agricultural sector in the U.S. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, this subpopulation of farmworkers was recognized as an invaluable group of essential workers unable to implement COVID-19 protections. METHODS: Previously validated COVID-19 stress scale measures were identified, adapted, and translated to collect COVID-19 stress data from Hispanic/Latino agricultural workers in two heavily agricultural counties in northeastern North Carolina. Participants were recruited using purposive convenience sampling. Data collection took place from June to November of 2021. RESULTS: The majority of Hispanic/Latino agricultural workers surveyed reported experiencing worries about catching COVID-19 (92.00%) and being infected with the virus (95.95%). A small proportion of the surveyed population indicated experiencing COVID-19 traumatic stress. More than half of participants were concerned about the impacts COVID-19 would have on their ability to see (53.42%) and provide for their families (58.33%). CONCLUSION: Farmworkers bore relatively heavy stress burdens associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Because this group is a vulnerable population at risk for adverse health outcomes, reports numerous barriers to healthcare access, and faces health and safety challenges related to acculturative stress, understanding their experiences with COVID-19 is essential for the development of protective and preventative efforts to improve outcomes among Hispanic/Latino farmworkers

Virtual Home Visits During COVID-19 Pandemic: Mothers\u27 and Home Visitors\u27 Perspectives

Background The experiences of mothers enrolled in Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program with virtual home visiting (VHV) during the pandemic remain mostly unknown. This study aimed to describe in detail the experience of home visitors and mothers with VHV during COVID-19 pandemic. This is a prerequisite for guiding future efforts to optimize MIECHV services that are provided through virtual operation. Methods Focus groups discussion were conducted with home visitors (n = 13) and mothers (n = 30) who were enrolled in BabyCare program in Virginia from January 2019 to June 2022. This included mothers who received in-person home visiting (IPHV), VHV, or both (hybrid IPHV and VHV). Inductive analysis was used to identify emergent themes from the transcripts, then coding was conducted following a codebook that was developed by the research team. Results Both mothers and home visitors considered IPHV necessary for a proper assessment of developmental milestones of children, for the assessment of the growth of the child through measuring the weight and height/length of the child, for the mothers to open up and discuss sensitive issues like domestic violence, for building a relationship between home-visitor and the parents, and for other potential benefits (comprehensive assessment of the environment around the child inside and outside the house from home visitors\u27 perspective and detecting abnormal health conditions in children from mothers\u27 perspective). Both mothers and home visitors see that VHV has some role to play but not to be a replacement for IPHV. If VHV is to be used, video conference is preferred by both mothers and home visitors, as it allows for some assessment. Conclusion Mothers and nurses considered IPHV critical for proper and comprehensive assessment of the child and the family and also essential to build the nurse-client relationship. Both mothers and home visitors considered VHV supplementary to IPHV that can be used from time to time particularly with busy mothers. VHV may have little room with parents with intellectual disabilities and the difficulty in dealing with technology seems to be no longer a major issue

Big Data Knowledge in Global Health Education

The ability to synthesize and analyze massive amounts of data is critical to the success of organizations, including those that involve global health. As countries become highly interconnected, increasing the risk for pandemics and outbreaks, the demand for big data is likely to increase. This requires a global health workforce that is trained in the effective use of big data. To assess implementation of big data training in global health, we conducted a pilot survey of members of the Consortium of Universities of Global Health. More than half the respondents did not have a big data training program at their institution. Additionally, the majority agreed that big data training programs will improve global health deliverables, among other favorable outcomes. Given the observed gap and benefits, global health educators may consider investing in big data training for students seeking a career in global health