A Visual–Emotional Analysis of Perception in the Homes of Chronic Patients during Confinement by COVID-19 in Spain

One of the highest risk groups the highest during COVID-19 were chronic patients. In addition to being a population at risk, in the lockdown they had to combine the pandemic with their own disease. Through a qualitative study of visual–emotional analysis, the perception of patients and their social environment (immediate support network) about the domestic confinement in Spain was requested during the State of Alarm in the Spring of 2020. For this, 33 participants filled out an online questionnaire with narratives and images describing their experiences. They were asked to share their experiences about quarantine from several perspectives of the housing spaces: the workplace (or alternatively, if they did not work, the most used occupational space), the least pleasant spaces or aspects of the dwelling and the most pleasant or comfortable area. The results suggested the importance for participants of natural and adequate lighting in spaces and tidiness, with both being linked to well-valued spaces. Moreover, rest was the activity most undertaken, for those who did not telework. Likewise, the narratives provided by participants were mostly positive, despite their condition, maybe due to their own coping with the disease. Dwellings were the adaptive means to tackle the situation of physical isolation as a place of protection against an external threat. The living room and bedrooms were chosen as the most prominent places. The characteristics of the dwellings conditioned the experiences lived during the quarantine of chronic patients.S

Confined Students: A Visual-Emotional Analysis of Study and Rest Spaces in the Homes

Confinement was adopted globally as a containment measure to face the COVID pandemic declared by WHO on March 2020. In Spain, the State of Alarm was established for three months. This implied the interruption of educational activities, having a higher incidence for children, since teaching would not be resumed until the following academic year, in September. This, together with the confusing initial information about COVID-19 transmission between children and their families, has made them one of the groups most vulnerable. In this study, a qualitative approach is made to secondary school students (aged 12). They were asked to share their experiences about confinement from the perspective of the home spaces, in relation to two main tasks relevant in this period: the tele-study and their relaxing time and well-being. Using images and narratives with an abstract and emotional description, the response of 46 children was obtained. A sentiment analysis was carried out from their testimonies. Results suggest a greater availability of tele-study spaces with daylighting, mainly in bedrooms, with laptops. For leisure and rest spaces, sofas, beds, and cohabitant gathering were preferred. Written testimonials were mainly positive. Housing features and family cohesion condition their resilience in situations of uncertainty, like confinement.This research was funded by Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), grant number 202060E225, entitled: “Proyecto sobre confinamiento social (COVID-19), vivienda y habitabilidad [COVID-HAB]”.S

Natural ventilation as a healthy habit during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of the frequency of window opening in Spanish homes

Since SARS-CoV-2 spread worldwide in early 2020, many countries established lockdowns for protection. With a main transmission by aerosols, ventilation was promoted. This article analyses natural ventilation of Spanish housing during the spring 2020. An online questionnaire was launched, obtaining for this study 1502 responses. The comparative window opening before and during confinement, and households, dwellings and home activity variables, were analysed. The binary logistic regression model before pandemic indicated that ventilating properly related to: a worse perceived IAQ (OR = 1.56); thermal adaptation measures, especially those that prefer to open/close windows (OR = 1.45); not having heating system (OR = 1.15); and using power to heat water (OR = 1.60). For the confinement period, the model highlighted: being an employee (OR = 1.88); using heavy clothing in the home (OR = 2.36); and again, open/close windows for adaptation (OR = 2.24). According to specific tasks in quarantine, frequent ventilation was boosted by: an increasing use of oven (OR = 14.81); and alteration of work-habits (OR = 2.70), sport-habits (OR = 1.79), and outdoor-activities (OR = 1.60). Thus, an adequate natural ventilation pattern during the quarantine was linked to low environmental comfort in general, by virtue of indoor air quality. This is corroborated by less acoustic-thermal insulation, worse indicators of heating use, and the adaptive response to opening/closing windows when external temperature changed.This research was funded by Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), grant number 202060E225, entitled: Proyecto sobre confinamiento social (COVID-19), vivienda y habitabilidad [COVID-HAB]”.S

Behavior Patterns, Energy Consumption and Comfort during COVID-19 Lockdown Related to Home Features, Socioeconomic Factors and Energy Poverty in Madrid

During spring 2020, the world was shocked at the imminent global spread of SARS-CoV-2, resorting to measures such as domestic confinement. This meant the reconfiguration of life in an unusual space; the home. However, not all households experienced it in the same way; many of them were vulnerable. A general increase in energy consumption and discomfort in many cases, led these families to suffer the ravages of confinement. This study analyzes the energy and comfort situation for the Madrid (Spain) population, according to the configuration of the homes, the characteristics of the dwellings, the vulnerability index by district, and energy poverty (measured with the 10% threshold of energy expenditure of home incomes). The results show a greater exposure, in confinement, of vulnerable and energy-poor households to scenarios of discomfort in the home, to which they could not respond, while energy consumption inevitably increased. Driven by need, energy-poor homes applied certain saving strategies, mainly resorting to thermal adaptation with clothing. This study shows the risk these households experienced in the face of an extreme situation, and invites reflection on preventive and containment measures that aim to avoid harming the disadvantaged in the future; harm that would also entail serious consequences on the health of their cohabitants.This research was funded by Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), grant number 202060E225, entitled: “Proyecto sobre confinamiento social (COVID-19), vivienda y habitabilidad [COVID-HAB]”.S

Working from Home: Is Our Housing Ready?

The COVID-19 pandemic and the precautionary measures applied globally (lockdowns and curfews) have impacted homes, including work. Working from home (WFH) has emerged as a growing trend in the post-pandemic era. The research question was: Are our homes ready for teleworking? To respond, a national prospective mixed approach was launched for Spanish households during the spring 2020 lockdown, using two online questionnaires, one quantitative and the other qualitative. Through a survey, photographs, and narratives, the study evaluates the perceived adequacy of telework spaces and their specific characteristics, the availability of digital resources and the internet. A total of 1800 surveys and over 200 images and texts related to telework environments were obtained. The results suggest that the adequacy of these spaces was insufficient for more than a quarter of the homes. Also, strong relations between the perceived workspace adequacy and a social status or stability of homes were shown and validated, despite other sociodemographic features, the home composition or habitat were not related. Some other variables statistically significant were occupation regime, type and surface of dwellings; their indoor environmental quality; the availability of exclusive spaces for teleworking; quality of digital resources; and the specific space features. The analysis was completed with qualitative insights through photos and texts. Telework, lived in this context as an experiment, needs this reflection from an environmental, resource-availability, and ergonomic point of view.This research was funded by Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), grant number 202060E225, entitled: “Proyecto sobre confinamiento social (COVID-19), vivienda y habitabilidad [COVID-HAB]”.S

From Ignorance to Distrust: The Public “Discovery” of COVID-19 Around International Women’s Day in Spain

In the weeks around March 8, 2020, Spanish political authorities moved from denying and minimizing COVID-19 (veiling international recommendations) to establishing a State of Alarm. This uncertainty scenario is a natural experiment for exploring how concealment and diffusion of critical messages in official discourse affected public and published media, information transmission, and collective risk assessment. This study explores, through Natural Language Processing (NLP) and network theory, press, and Twitter agendas those days when (after international warnings, chaos on data, and the authorization of large demonstrations) Spain made the “alarming discovery” of COVID-19. Results show a swift change in the climate of opinion, from the week before to the week after Women’s Day (March 8). Noninformation influenced agendas in terms of themes, feelings, and behaviors. The way different societies made COVID-19’s “discovery” became essential on the framing of the crisis and on the subsequent trust in authorities during the pandemic. The suppression of information in the first moments remains a key study question

Indicadores de satisfacción y hábitos de ocupación de los mayores españoles en sus viviendas durante el confinamiento Covid-19

The coronavirus pandemic has led countries to confine the population to minimize the impact of COVID-19. This measure has meant that households permanently and continuously shared the domestic space, during the validity period of the public health measure. The way of living the experience has been very different according to the socioeconomic characteristics of the population, as well as the composition of the household, affecting the way of adapting their habits, routines and occupations. For older people, particular circumstances, such as the greater tendency to live in solitude, or the work situation, has conditioned the way of experiencing this situation. The findings show a certain status and stability, which affects different areas of life. This was reflected in the qualities and satisfaction with the home, in certain maintenance of habits and routines, and in general caution when going outside.La pandemia por coronavirus ha llevado a los países a confinar a la población para minimizar el impacto de la COVID-19. Esta medida ha conllevado que los hogares compartiesen de forma permanente y continuada el espacio doméstico, durante el periodo de vigencia de la medida de salud pública. La forma de vivir la experiencia ha sido muy diferente según las características socioeconómicas de la población, así como de la composición del hogar, afectando a la forma de adaptar sus hábitos, rutinas y ocupaciones. Para las personas mayores, las circunstancias particulares, como la mayor tendencia a vivir en soledad, o la situación laboral, ha condicionado la forma de experimentar esta situación. Los hallazgos muestran cierto estatus y estabilidad, que afecta a distintos ámbitos vitales. Esto se reflejó en las cualidades y satisfacción con la vivienda, en cierto mantenimiento de hábitos y rutinas, y en y la cautela generalizada a la hora de salir a la calle

Geo-caracterización energética de la vivienda cordobesa: Aplicación de clústeres aproximativos a escala municipal.

In a context of increasing occupation of cities, where Climate Change accelerates this process due to numerous habitat alterations, the first must develop a special resilience to guarantee human survival and well-being. Among other effects, there is an increase in extreme episodes such as heat waves, which affect different cities unevenly, as well as their population, which also adapts differently. In the case of Córdoba, an increase in temperature is expected in the highest IPCC scenarios. Given this, housing, presented as a protective factor for the health and well-being of people, has to adapt, fulfilling its protective function against external weather changes. That is why an approximation of the energy characterization of cordobese homes is addressed using the information available on their energy rating, grouped into georeferenced approximation clusters. The results show a most very poor rating, also related to urban development, and mainly on the north-south axis. This suggests the need for more in-depth transdisciplinary studies, with socioeconomic and other indicators from the municipality, which help to develop more realistic, accurate and probably less costly local responses, in the face of not very optimistic scenarios.En un contexto de creciente ocupación de las ciudades, donde el Cambio Climático acelera este proceso debido a las numerosas alteraciones del hábitat, aquellas deben desarrollar una especial resiliencia, para garantizar la supervivencia y bienestar humanos. Entre otros efectos, se observa un aumento de los episodios extremos como las olas de calor, los cuales afectan de forma desigual a las distintas urbes, así como a su población, que se adapta también de forma distinta. Para el caso de Córdoba, se prevé un aumento de temperatura en los escenarios IPCC de los más elevados. Ante esto, la vivienda, presentada como un factor protector de la salud y el bienestar de las personas, ha de adaptarse, cumpliendo su función protectora frente a las inclemencias exteriores. Es por ello que se aborda una aproximación de la caracterización energética de las viviendas cordobesas utilizando la información disponible sobre su calificación, agrupada en clústeres de aproximación georreferenciados. Los resultados arrojan una calificación mayoritaria muy deficiente, relacionada también con el desarrollo urbano, y vertebrada principalmente sobre el eje norte-sur. Esto sugiere la necesidad de estudios más profundos transdisciplinarios, con indicadores socioeconómicos u otros del municipio, que ayuden a elaborar respuestas locales más realísticas, ajustadas y probablemente menos costosas, ante escenarios poco optimistas

Routines, Time Dedication and Habit Changes in Spanish Homes during the COVID-19 Lockdown. A Large Cross-Sectional Survey

Many countries chose to establish social distancing as lockdowns after the COVID-19 outbreak. Households had to adapt their day-to-day lifestyles to new circumstances, affecting routines and time dedication to tasks. This national study was carried out to find out how the confinement by COVID-19 affected Spanish households on the perceived habit changes during this period, in relation to their socio-demographic characteristics and household composition. An online questionnaire was launched during the COVID-19 lockdown, from 30 April to 22 June 2020. Descriptive statistics were analyzed, stratified by gender, on time dedication, routine, home leaving, and habit change variables. Chi-square tests were used to explore the relations of significance with socio-demographic characteristics and home composition. All contrast analyses were performed for a 95% confidence level (significance considered for p < 0.05). In total, 1673 respondents participated from different age groups, educational level, employment status and household composition. Sixty percent of respondents maintained their routines. A third tried to establish a new one, being related to women, young people, not a university student, and living with others, including minors. Regarding dedication to tasks, adults aged 35-54 years, with more cohabitants, especially women, devoted themselves intensively to the home or to care, while those under 35 were dedicated more to rest, leisure, television or reading. People with university studies were more related to teleworking. The frequency of going outside was related to gender, age, educational level and living with elders, specifically for grocery shopping and taking out garbage. Changes in habits, routines and time dedication in confinement were strongly linked to the sociodemographic and coexistence conditions in Spanish homes. The greatest impacts were suffered by women, people with children, and adults between 35-54 years of age, especially on care and domestic chores.This research was funded by Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), grant number 202060E225, entitled: “Proyecto sobre confinamiento social (COVID-19), vivienda y habitabilidad [COVID-HAB]”.S