Search results for: social health insurance

Authors: Narae Yang, Hyun Kyung Sung, Seon Mi Shin, Hee Jung, Yong Ji Kim, Tae-Yong Park, Ho Yeon Go

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The aim of this study was to build base-line data for the Korean Medicine Doctors` Visiting School Program (KMDVSP) by analyzing a student health survey filled out by the students. Korean medicine doctors assigned to 20 middle and high schools in Seong-nam visited these schools eight times in five months. During each visit, the assigned doctors performed health consultations and Korean medicine treatment, and taught health education classes. 12115 students answered self-reported questionnaires about their own physical condition at the beginning of the program. In a question about pain, 7080(58%) reported having a headache, while 4048(33%) said they had a backache, nuchal pain/shoulder pain was reported by 5993(49%), dyspepsia was present in 2736(23%), rhinitis/sinusitis was reported by 4176(34%), coughing/dyspnea by 7102(59%), itching/skin rash by 2840(23%), and constipation was reported by 1091(9%), while 2264(18%) said they had diarrhea. Increased urinary frequency/feeling of residual urine was reported by 569 students (5%), and 3324(27%) said they had insomnia/fitful sleep/morning fatigue. When asked about menstruation, 4450(83%) of the female students reported irregular menstruation or said they experienced menstrual pain. Understanding the health condition of adolescent students is the starting point to determining national health policy to prevent various diseases in the future. We have developed the pilot project of KMDVSP and collected research about students’ health. Based on this data, further studies should be performed in order to develop a cooperative program between schools and the Korean medical center.

Keywords: korean medicine doctors` visiting school program(kmdvsp), student`s health condition, questionnaires, cohort study

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Authors: Jean Gray C. Achapero, Mary Margareth P. Ancheta, Patricia Anjelika A. Angeles, Shannon Denzel S. Ao Tai, Carl Brandon C. Barlis, Chrislen Mae B. Benavidez

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Health literacy and awareness of Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a global issue that is under-addressed in the Philippines. Conducting a thorough review of the country's ability to recognize and comprehend the severity of the syndrome should be undertaken, as early treatment is essential to avoid further disorder complications. This research aims to assess the health literacy and awareness of the female residents of Barangay Dagatan, Sabang, and Marauoy Lipa, Batangas on PCOS. It followed a cross-sectional study, and data gathering was done through a pre-assessment using the Single Item Literacy Screener (SILS) and an online population-based survey questionnaire about PCOS awareness. The participants, as based on the objectives and purposive sampling method, were females aged 18-45 years old. Data were analyzed statistically using STATA 13.1 software. The study showed that 339 (76%) out of 444 respondents passed the SILS meaning the residents have proficient health literacy. Among the 339 respondents, 87% (287) had previous knowledge about PCOS. The respondents showed minimal awareness of PCOS symptoms which could be attributed to its broad spectrum of information. Respondents were shown to be most knowledgeable about PCOS physiology, treatment, beliefs, and its remedies. The respondents’ age had no significant association with their health literacy (p=0.31) and PCOS awareness (p=0.60). A significant association was noted, however, in their educational attainment linked with their health literacy (p=<0.0001) and PCOS awareness (p=0.001). It is suggested that reproductive health education even in the lower year levels must be optimized and Local Government Unit (LGU)/Non-Government Organization (NGO)-held seminars should be conducted for knowledge reinforcement. Reliable health information should be more accessible to the public and clinicians must emphasize the importance of the majority of early screening as part of routine physical examination for women of reproductive age to increase health literacy and awareness about PCOS and actively engage in the management of the disease.

Keywords: age, awareness, educational attainment, health literacy, polycystic ovarian syndrome

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Authors: Özden Kuşcu, Yağmur Kuşcu, Zeynep Çetintaş, S. Sunay Yildirim Doğru

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The purpose of this work is to evaluate the effect of the subjects “personal safety” and “protection from dangers” included in primary school curriculum on the students’ levels of knowledge about safety and protection from social dangers. The study group included 469 students between 5–11 years old with 231 preschoolers and 238 primary school students and their parents and teachers. Instruments used to collect data were “Personal Safety Interview Form” for children, “Parent Interview Form” and “Teacher Interview Form”. Forms included 15 open-ended questions about personal safety. The researchers collected the research data through one-on-one interviews with children. Results of the study revealed that preschoolers and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders did not know their home addresses and telephone numbers and their families were not aware of that. The study also showed that those who had this information were unsure as to who to share this information with. Accordingly, more should be done to increase the levels of knowledge of preschoolers and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders about personal safety and protection from dangers.

Keywords: security, social danger, elementary school, preschool

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Authors: Sanelisiwe Ndlovu

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Cities have become testbeds for automation and experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) in managing urban services and public spaces. Smart Cities and AI systems are changing most human experiences from health and education to personal relations. For instance, in healthcare, social robots are being implemented as tools to assist patients. Similarly, in education, social robots are being used as tutors or co-learners to promote cognitive and affective outcomes. With that general picture in mind, one can now ask a further question about Smart Cities and artificial agents and their moral standing in the African context of personhood. There has been a wealth of literature on the topic of personhood; however, there is an absence of literature on African personhood in highly automated environments. Personhood in African philosophy is defined by the role one can and should play in the community. However, in today’s technologically advanced world, a risk is that machines become more capable of accomplishing tasks that humans would otherwise do. Further, on many African communitarian accounts, personhood and moral standing are associated with active relationality with the community. However, in the Smart City, human closeness is gradually diminishing. For instance, humans already do engage and identify with robotic entities, sometimes even romantically. The primary aim of this study is to investigate how African conceptions of personhood and community interact in a highly automated environment such as Smart Cities. Accordingly, this study lies in presenting a rarely discussed African perspective that emphasizes the necessity and the importance of relationality in handling Smart Cities and AI ethically. Thus, the proposed approach can be seen as the sub-Saharan African contribution to personhood and the growing AI debates, which takes the reality of the interconnectedness of society seriously. And it will also open up new opportunities to tackle old problems and use existing resources to confront new problems in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Keywords: smart city, artificial intelligence, personhood, community

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Authors: Echo Wang, Andrew Li

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Transparency could be defined as the voluntary release of information by institutions that is relevant to their own evaluation. Transparency based on information disclosure is recognised to be vital for the Third Sector, as civil society organisations are under pressure to become more transparent to answer the call for accountability. The growing importance of social enterprises as hybrid organisations emerging from the nexus of the public, the private and the Third Sector makes their transparency a topic worth exploring. However, transparency for social enterprises has not yet been studied: as a new form of organisation that combines non-profit missions with commercial means, it is unclear to both the practical and the academic world if the shift in operational logics from non-profit motives to for-profit pursuits has significantly altered their transparency. This is especially so in China, where informational governance and practices of information disclosure by local governments, industries and civil society are notably different from other countries. This study investigates the transparency-seeking behaviour of social enterprises in Greater China to understand what factors at the organisational level may affect their transparency, measured by their willingness to disclose financial information. We make use of the Survey on the Models and Development Status of Social Enterprises in the Greater China Region (MDSSGCR) conducted in 2015-2016. The sample consists of more than 300 social enterprises from the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. While most respondents have provided complete answers to most of the questions, there is tremendous variation in the respondents’ demonstrated level of transparency in answering those questions related to the financial aspects of their organisations, such as total revenue, net profit, source of revenue and expense. This has led to a lot of missing data on such variables. In this study, we take missing data as data. Specifically, we use missing values as a proxy for an organisation’s level of transparency. Our dependent variables are constructed from missing data on total revenue, net profit, source of revenue and cost breakdown. In addition, we also take into consideration the quality of answers in coding the dependent variables. For example, to be coded as being transparent, an organization must report the sources of at least 50% of its revenue. We have four groups of predictors of transparency, namely nature of organization, decision making body, funding channel and field of concentration. Furthermore, we control for an organisation’s stage of development, self-identity and region. The results show that social enterprises that are at their later stages of organisational development and are funded by financial means are significantly more transparent than others. There is also some evidence that social enterprises located in the Northeast region in China are less transparent than those located in other regions probably because of local political economy features. On the other hand, the nature of the organisation, the decision-making body and field of concentration do not systematically affect the level of transparency. This study provides in-depth empirical insights into the information disclosure behaviour of social enterprises under specific social context. It does not only reveal important characteristics of Third Sector development in China, but also contributes to the general understanding of hybrid institutions.

Keywords: China, information transparency, organisational behaviour, social enterprise

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Authors: Adrita Banerjee, Ajeet Kumar Singh

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Antenatal care (ANC) from a skilled provider is important to monitor the pregnancy and reduce the risk of morbidity for mother and baby during pregnancy and delivery. The quality of antenatal care can be monitored through the content of services received and the kind of information mothers are given during their visit. Objective: The paper tries to examine the association between ANC check-ups and size/ birth weight. It also focuses on investigating the relationship between utilization of recommended prenatal care for mothers and its effect on infant survival in Nepal. Data and methods: This paper uses data from Nepal demographic Health Survey 2011. To understand the relationship bi-variate statistical analysis and logistic regressions has been done. Maternal health care utilization include ANC check-ups i.e. the type of ante-natal care providers, the number and timing of the visit. The various components of the check-ups include intake of iron tablets/syrups, intestinal parasitic drugs, etc. Results: The results show that women who had no antenatal care visits about 40% had small sized babies at the time of birth compared to women to had at least 3 ANC check up. Women who had at least 3 check-ups 17% of the babies have a small size. It has also been found that about 50 % of the women prefer ANC check-ups during pregnancies which have resulted in lowering the infant mortality by about 40% during 1996-2011. Conclusion: Ante natal care check is care and monitoring of the pregnant woman and her foetus throughout pregnancy. ANC checks have an effect on the infant health and child survival. A woman who had at least three check-ups the possibilities of adverse effect on infant health and infant survival was significantly lower. The findings argue for a more enhanced focus on ANC check-ups for improving the maternal and child health in Nepal.

Keywords: maternal, health, pregnancy, outcome

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Authors: Radoslaw Domke

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The social history of Poland in the years 1945-1990 has already been thoroughly researched based on the so-called Classical sources. Many types of archival and press sources, diaries, memoirs, and literature on the subject were analyzed. It turns out, however, that the fictional film material remains an unknown source. In the paper, the author intends to focus on the image of Polish society that emerges from the analysis of cinematography produced by the Polish People's Republic. The conclusions presented in the paper can be the basis for further research on the visual history of post-war societies.

Keywords: visual history, history of Poland, social history, cinematography

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Authors: Shabir Ahmad Sofi, Shubham Aggarwal, Sanyam Singhal, Roohie Naaz

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Biometric recognition refers to an automatic recognition of individuals based on a feature vector(s) derived from their physiological and/or behavioral characteristic. Biometric recognition systems should provide a reliable personal recognition schemes to either confirm or determine the identity of an individual. These features are used to provide an authentication for computer based security systems. Applications of such a system include computer systems security, secure electronic banking, mobile phones, credit cards, secure access to buildings, health and social services. By using biometrics a person could be identified based on 'who she/he is' rather than 'what she/he has' (card, token, key) or 'what she/he knows' (password, PIN). In this paper, a brief overview of biometric methods, both unimodal and multimodal and their advantages and disadvantages, will be presented.

Keywords: biometric, DNA, fingerprint, ear, face, retina scan, gait, iris, voice recognition, unimodal biometric, multimodal biometric

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Authors: Paola Montenegro, Maria de los Angeles Balaguera Villa

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In February 2022 Colombia achieved a historic milestone in ensuring universal access to abortion rights with ruling C-055 of 2022 decriminalising abortion up to 24 weeks of gestation. In the context of this triumph and the expansion of telemedicine services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this research studied the acceptability of self-care abortion in young people (13 - 28 years) through a telemedicine service and also explored the primary needs that should be the focus of such care. The results shine light on a more comprehensive understanding of opportunities and challenges of teleabortion practices in a context that combines overall higher access to technology and low access to reliable information of safe abortion, stigma, and scarcity especially felt by transnational migrants, racialised people, trans men and non-binary people. Through a mixed methods approach, this study collected 5.736 responses to a virtual survey disseminated nationwide in Colombia and 47 in-person interviews (24 of them with people who were assigned female at birth and 21 with local key stakeholders in the abortion ecosystem). Quantitative data was analyzed using Stata SE Version 16.0 and qualitative analysis was completed through NVivo using thematic analysis. Key findings of the research suggest that self-care abortion is practice with growing acceptability among young people, but important adjustments must be made to meet quality of care expectations of users. Elements like quick responses from providers, lower costs, and accessible information were defined by users as decisive factors to choose over the abortion service provider. In general, the narratives in participants about quality care were centred on the promotion of autonomy and the provision of accompaniment and care practices, also perceived as transformative and currently absent of most health care services. The most staggering findings from the investigation are related to current barriers faced by young people in abortion contexts even when the legal barriers have: high rates of scepticism and distrust associated with pitfalls of telehealth and structural challenges associated with lacking communications infrastructure, among a few of them. Other important barriers to safe self-care abortion identified by participants surfaced like lack of privacy and confidentiality (especially in rural areas of the country), difficulties accessing reliable information, high costs of procedures and expenses related to travel costs or having to cease economic activities, waiting times, and stigma are among the primary barriers to abortion identified by participants. Especially in a scenario marked by unprecedented social, political and economic disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the commitment to design better care services that can be adapted to the identities, experiences, social contexts and possibilities of the user population is more necessary than ever. In this sense, the possibility of expanding access to services through telemedicine brings us closer to the opportunity to rethink the role of health care models in transforming the role of individuals and communities to make autonomous, safe and informed decisions about their own health and well-being.

Keywords: contraception, family planning, premarital fertility, unplanned pregnancy

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Authors: Ernest Tambo, Ghislaine Madjou, Jeanne Y. Ngogang, Shenglan Tang, Zhou XiaoNong

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Implementing national to community-based 'One Health' surveillance approach for human, animal and environmental consequences mitigation offers great opportunities and value-added in sustainable development and wellbeing. 'One Health' surveillance approach global partnerships, policy commitment and financial investment are much needed in addressing the evolving threats and epidemics crises mitigation in African countries. The paper provides insights onto how China-Africa health development cooperation in promoting “One Health” surveillance approach in response advocacy and mitigation. China-Africa health development initiatives provide new prospects in guiding and moving forward appropriate and evidence-based advocacy and mitigation management approaches and strategies in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Early and continuous quality and timely surveillance data collection and coordinated information sharing practices in malaria and other diseases are demonstrated in Comoros, Zanzibar, Ghana and Cameroon. Improvements of variety of access to contextual sources and network of data sharing platforms are needed in guiding evidence-based and tailored detection and response to unusual hazardous events. Moreover, understanding threats and diseases trends, frontline or point of care response delivery is crucial to promote integrated and sustainable targeted local, national “One Health” surveillance and response approach needs implementation. Importantly, operational guidelines are vital in increasing coherent financing and national workforce capacity development mechanisms. Strengthening participatory partnerships, collaboration and monitoring strategies in achieving global health agenda effectiveness in Africa. At the same enhancing surveillance data information streams reporting and dissemination usefulness in informing policies decisions, health systems programming and financial mobilization and prioritized allocation pre, during and post threats and epidemics crises programs strengths and weaknesses. Thus, capitalizing on “One Health” surveillance and response approach advocacy and mitigation implementation is timely in consolidating Africa Union 2063 agenda and Africa renaissance capabilities and expectations.

Keywords: Africa, one health approach, surveillance, response

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Authors: Shuai Liu

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In corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, companies are expected to present both the positive and negative parts of the social and environmental impacts of their performance. This study investigates how the companies that listed in fortune 500 respond to this challenge by analyzing the representations of negative part especially the safety performance. It has found that in the level of genre analysis, it presented 3 major moves and 11 steps in terms of the interdiscursivity analysis. It was made up of three dominant discourse.. The study calls for greater focus on the internal and external analysis of the negative aspect of aspects of companies’ self-disclosure.

Keywords: CSR reports, negative parts, critical genre analysis, interdiscursivity

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Authors: Muhammad Arif Khan, Haroon Idrees, Imran Aziz, Sidra Mushtaq

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Social platforms like online discussion and mailing groups are well aligned with academic as well as professional learning spaces. Professional communities are increasingly moving to online forums for sharing and capturing the intellectual abilities. This study investigated dynamics of social connectivity of yahoo mailing groups of Pakistani Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals using Graph Theory technique. Design/Methodology: Social Network Analysis is the increasingly concerned domain for scientists in identifying whether people grow together through online social interaction or, whether they just reflect connectivity. We have conducted a longitudinal study using Network Graph Theory technique to analyze the large data-set of email communication. The data was collected from three yahoo mailing groups using network analysis software over a period of six months i.e. January to June 2016. Findings of the network analysis were reviewed through focus group discussion with LIS experts and selected respondents of the study. Data were analyzed in Microsoft Excel and network diagrams were visualized using NodeXL and ORA-Net Scene package. Findings: Findings demonstrate that professionals and students exhibit intellectual growth the more they get tied within a network by interacting and participating in communication through online forums. The study reports on dynamics of the large network by visualizing the email correspondence among group members in a network consisting vertices (members) and edges (randomized correspondence). The model pair wise relationship between group members was illustrated to show characteristics, reasons, and strength of ties. Connectivity of nodes illustrated the frequency of communication among group members through examining node coupling, diffusion of networks, and node clustering has been demonstrated in-depth. Network analysis was found to be a useful technique in investigating the dynamics of the large network.

Keywords: emailing networks, network graph theory, online social platforms, yahoo mailing groups

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Authors: Dagmawit Tewahido

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Purpose: This qualitative study was conducted to explore social norms around adolescent girls’ marriage practices in West Hararghe, Ethiopia, where early marriage is prohibited by law. Methods: Twenty Focus Group Discussions were conducted with Married and Unmarried adolescent girls, adolescent boys and parents of girls using locally developed vignettes. A total of 32 in-depth interviews were conducted with married and unmarried adolescent girls, husbands of adolescent girls and mothers-in-law. Key informant interviews were conducted with 36 district officials. Data analysis was assisted by Open Code computer software. The Social Norms Analysis Plot (SNAP) framework developed by CARE guided the development and analysis of vignettes. A thematic data analysis approach was utilized to summarize the data. Results: Early marriage is seen as a positive phenomenon in our study context, and girls who are not married by the perceived ideal age of 15 are socially sanctioned. They are particularly influenced by their peers to marry. Marrying early is considered a chance given by God and a symbol of good luck. The two common types of marriage are decided: 1) by adolescent girl and boy themselves without seeking parental permission (’Jalaa-deemaa’- meaning ‘to go along’), and 2) by just informing girl’s parents (‘Cabsaa’- meaning ‘to break the culture’). Relatives and marriage brokers also arrange early marriages. Girls usually accept the first marriage proposal regardless of their age. Parents generally tend not to oppose marriage arrangements chosen by their daughters. Conclusions: In the study context social norms encourage early marriage despite the existence of a law prohibiting marriage before the age of eighteen years. Early marriage commonly happens through consensual arrangements between adolescent girls and boys. Interventions to reduce early marriage need to consider the influence of Reference Groups on the decision makers for marriages, especially girls’ own peers.

Keywords: adolescent girls, social norms, early marriage, Ethiopia

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Authors: Kiurski S. Jelena, Kecić S. Vesna, Oros B. Ivana, Ranogajec G. Jonjaua

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The paper represents the dependence of ammonia concentration on microclimate parameters and photocopying shop circulation. The concentration of ammonia was determined during 8-hours working time over five days including three sampling points of a photocopying shop in Novi Sad, Serbia. The obtained results pointed out that the room temperature possesses the highest impact on ammonia release. The obtained ammonia concentration was in the range of 1.53 to 0.42ppm and decreased with the temperature decreasing from 24.6 to 20.7 °C. As the detected concentrations were within the permissible levels of The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, The National Institute for Occupational Safety and The Health and Official Gazette of Republic of Serbia, in the range of 35 to 200ppm, there was no danger to the employee’s health in the photocopying shop.

Keywords: ammonia, emission, indoor environment, photocopying procedure

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Authors: T. L. Granzyk, S. Scarborough, J. DeCosmo

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The use of health-related or medical narratives has gained increasing anecdotal and research-based support as a successful device for changing health behavior and outcomes. These narratives, in the form of oral storytelling, short films, and educational documentaries, for example, are most effective when including empathetic characters that transport viewers into the story and command both their attention and emotional response. This case study outlines how and why one large health system created a short narrative film for their internal Sepsis Awareness campaign, which told the dramatic story of a patient recovering from a missed sepsis diagnosis, leaving her a quad-amputee. Results include positive global anecdotal response to the film from healthcare professionals and patients, as well as use of the film to support legislation, ultimately passed in favor of the formation of Sepsis Awareness Workgroups in Maryland. Authors conclude that narrative films can be used successfully to initiate healthcare legislation and to increase internal and external awareness of health-related areas in need of greater improvement and support. As such, healthcare leaders and stakeholders would benefit from learning how to intentionally create, cultivate, and curate narratives from within their own health systems that elicit an empathetic response.

Keywords: healthcare policy, healthcare narratives, sepsis awareness, short films

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Authors: Michael Sinclair, Andrea Ghermandi, Sheela A. Moses, Joseph Sabu

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Passively crowdsourced data, such as geotagged photographs from social media, represent an opportunistic source of location-based and time-specific behavioral data for ecosystem services analysis. Such data have innovative applications for environmental management and protection, which are replicable at wide spatial scales and in the context of both developed and developing countries. Here we test one such innovation, based on the analysis of the metadata of online geotagged photographs, to investigate the provision of recreational services by the entire network of wetland ecosystems in the state of Kerala, India. We estimate visitation to individual wetlands state-wide and extend, for the first time to a developing region, the emerging application of cultural ecosystem services modelling using data from social media. The impacts of restoration of wetland areal extension and water quality improvement are explored as a means to inform more sustainable management strategies. Findings show that improving water quality to a level suitable for the preservation of wildlife and fisheries could increase annual visits by 350,000, an increase of 13% in wetland visits state-wide, while restoring previously encroached wetland area could result in a 7% increase in annual visits, corresponding to 49,000 visitors, in the Ashtamudi and Vembanad lakes alone, two large coastal Ramsar wetlands in Kerala. We discuss how passive crowdsourcing of social media data has the potential to improve current ecosystem service analyses and environmental management practices also in the context of developing countries.

Keywords: coastal wetlands, cultural ecosystem services, India, passive crowdsourcing, social media, wetland restoration

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Authors: Diyah Atiek Mustikawati

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Language register refers to a variety of a language used for particular purpose or in a particular social setting. Language register also means as a concept of adapting one’s use of language to conform to standards or tradition in a given professional or social situation. This descriptive study tends to discuss about the form of language register in transportation aspect, factors, also the function of use it. Mostly, language register in transportation aspect uses short sentences in form of informal register. The factor caused language register used are speaker, word choice, background of language. The functions of language register in transportations aspect are to make communication between crew easily, also to keep safety when they were in bad condition. Transportation language register developed naturally as one of variety of language used.

Keywords: language register, language variety, communication, transportation

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Authors: Mohsin Shahab, Shagufta Rehmat, Faisal F. Khan

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Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has generated health problems worldwide. Health care workers are the front-line warriors against the pandemic. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of COVID-19 (7th May 2021 to 3rd August 2021) amongst Health Care Workers (HCWs) and to assess the complications associated with it and its effects on their quality of life. Material and Method: The study was conducted in healthcare facilities which serve as pandemic hospitals in district Swat. A total of 140 healthcare workers, who were employed in the COVID-19 health care facilities, including the department of Pulmonology, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and COVID-19 wards. Participants were tested for COVIID-19 using RT PCR test. A Case Report Form (CRF) for conditions during and post COVID-19 was filled to assess the complications and quality of life of health care workers. Results: A total of 140 Health Care Workers were studied, out of which 40% were doctors, 22% nursing staff, 17% paramedic staff, 9% cleaning staff, lab technologist 6%, 2% operation theater staff, administration staff, and pharmacist. The respondents were also investigated for pre-existing illness prior to SARS-CoV-2 infection, hypertension was the most prevalent, followed by chronic heart diseases and neurological disorders. Fever was the most common symptom, recorded 76.42% in the participants, while 55.71% of participants had dry cough, 55% had a sore throat, following by chest pain 43.56%. Reinfection rate was 10%, with chest pain being recorded in 85.71%. Post disease complication analysis showed that 47.14% of the participants were diagnosed with a new diagnosis after the COVID-19 recovery. Pulmonological diseases were recorded the most as a new diagnosis in, followed by gastrointestinal and psychological problems. Conclusions: The results of the study illustrates how COVID-19 has affected the overall health and quality of life of HCWs in District Swat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, HCW's, symptoms, questionnaire, post COVID-19

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Authors: Maria Karidakis, Barbara Kelly

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The challenges precipitated by the advent of COVID-19 have brought to the fore the task governments and key stakeholders are faced with; ensuring public health communication is readily accessible to vulnerable populations. COVID-19 has presented challenges for the provision and reception of timely, accessible, and accurate health information pertaining to vaccine health messaging to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore strategies used by Aboriginal-led organisations to improve communication about COVID-19 and vaccination for their communities and to explore how these mediation and outreach strategies were received by community members. We interviewed 6 Aboriginal-led organisations and 15 community members from several states across Australian, and these interviews were analysed thematically. The findings suggest that effective public health communication is enhanced when aFirst nations-led response defines the governance that happens in First Nations communities. Pro-active and self-determining Aboriginal leadership and decision-making helps drive the response to counter a growing trend towards vaccine hesitancy. Other strategies include establishing partnerships with government departments and relevant non-governmental organisations to ensure services are implemented and culturally appropriate. The outcomes of this research will afford policymakers, stakeholders in healthcare, and cultural mediators the capacity to identify strengths and potential problems associated with pandemic health information and to subsequently implement creative and culturally specific solutions that go beyond the provision of written documentation via translation or interpreting. It will also enable governing bodies to adjust multilingual polices and to adopt mediation strategies that will improve information delivery and intercultural services on a national and international level.

Keywords: intercultural communication, qualitative, public health communication, COVID-19, pandemic, mediated communication, first nations people

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Authors: Tzay-An Shiau, Kuan-Lin Ho

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This study developed sustainability and quality of life indicators for urban passenger transportation by using Social Construction of Technology (SCOT). The initial indicators were proposed by referring to literatures and were summarized by using impact-based framework. Subsequently, the stakeholders were defined according to their interest, power and then classified into scientific, operational, policy making, policy monitoring and nonprofessional frames. The scientific frame consisted of nine scholars in transportation field. Ten representatives from Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC), Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) and bus operators were grouped into the operational frame. The policy making frame comprised of ten representatives from Department of Transportation, Taipei City Government (DOT, TCG), Department of Railways and Highways, Ministry of Transportation and Communication (DORH, MOTC), Directorate General of Highways, Ministry of Transportation and Communication (DGOH, MOTC) and Institute of Transportation, Ministry of Transportation and Communication (IOT, MOTC). The policy monitoring frame consisted of 15 representatives from Taipei City Councilor, legislator and reporter. The nonprofessional frame comprised of 72 Taipei citizens. The stakeholders were asked to evaluate the relative importance of indicators using Delphi survey method. Social construction of 14 transport sustainability indicators and 12 transport quality of life indicators were obtained.

Keywords: sustainability, quality of life, Social Construction of Technology (SCOT), stakeholder

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Authors: Seydou Drabo

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This paper examines how traditional contraceptives and abortion practices challenges the use of modern contraceptives in Burkina Faso. It demonstrates how fears and ‘superstitions’ interact with knowledge about modern contraceptives methods to determine use in a context where other way of controlling fertility (traditional contraceptives, abortion) are available to women in the public, private and traditional health sectors. Furthermore, these issues come at the time when Burkina Faso is among countries with a high fertility rate which (6.0 in 2010) and a very low used of contraceptives as only 16% of married women of childbearing age were using a contraceptive method in 2010. The country also has a young population since 33 % of the population is between 10-24 years old and this number is expected to increase by 2050, generating fears that a growing population of youth will put excessive pressure on available resources, including access to education, health services, and employment. Despite over two decades of dedicated policy attention, 24% of women of reproductive age (15-49) was estimated to have an unmet need for contraception in 2010. This paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted since march 2016 (The research is still in progress) in Burkina Faso. Data were collected from 25 women (users and non-users of modern contraceptives and /or traditional contraceptives, post abortion care patients), 4 street drugs vendors and 3 traditional healers through formal and informal interviews, as well as direct observation. The findings show that a variety of contraceptives methods and abortion drugs or methods, both traditional and modern circulate and are available to women. Traditional contraceptives called African contraceptives by some of our participants refer to several birth control method including plants decoction, magical ring, waist necklace, a ritual done with a mixture of lay coming from termite mound and menses. Abortion is a practice that is done in secret through the use of abortion drugs or through intra uterine manoeuvres. Modern contraceptives include Oral contraceptive, implants, injectable. Stereotypes about modern contraceptives, having regular menstrual cycles and adopt of natural birth control methods, bad experience with modern contraceptives methods, the side effect of modern contraceptives, irregularity of sexual activities and the availability of emergency contraceptives are among factors that limit their use among women. In addition, a negative perception is built around modern contraceptives seen as the drug of ‘white people’. In general, the information on these drugs circulates in women’s social network (first line of information on contraceptive). Some women prefer using what they call African contraceptives or inducing an abortion over modern contraceptives because of their side effect. Furthermore, the findings show that women practices and attitudes in controlling birth varies throughout different phases of their lives. Beyond global discourses and technical solution, the issue of Family planning is all about social practices.

Keywords: abortion, Burkina Faso, contraception, culture, women

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Authors: Murtadha Kareem, Oliver Faust

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Wearable biosensor systems can be designed and developed for health monitoring. There is much interest in both scientific and industrial communities established since 2007. Fundamentally, the cost of healthcare has increased dramatically and the world population is aging. That creates the need to harvest technological improvements with small bio-sensing devices, wireless-communication, microelectronics and smart textiles, that leads to non-stop developments of wearable sensor based systems. There has been a significant demand to monitor patient's health status while the patient leaves the hospital in his/her personal environment. To address this need, there are numerous system prototypes which has been launched in the medical market recently, the aim of that is to provide real time information feedback about patient's health status, either to the patient himself/herself or direct to the supervising medical centre station, while being capable to give a notification for the patient in case of possible imminent health threatening conditions. Furthermore, wearable health monitoring systems comprise new techniques to address the problem of managing and monitoring chronic heart diseases for elderly people. Wearable sensor systems for health monitoring include various types of miniature sensors, either wearable or implantable. To be specific, our proposed system able to measure essential physiological parameter, such as heart rate signal which could be transmitted through Bluetooth to the cloud server in order to store, process, analysis and visualise the data acquisition. The acquired measurements are connected through internet of things to a central node, for instance an android smart phone or tablet used for visualising the collected information on application or transmit it to a medical centre.

Keywords: Wearable sensor, Heart rate, Internet of things, Chronic heart disease

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Authors: Temitope O. Tokosi, Visvanathan Naicker

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Patient health records contain sensitive information for which an electronic patient record (EPR) system can safely secure and transmit amongst clinicians for use in improving health delivery. Clinician’s use of the behaviour of these systems is under scrutiny to assess their attributes towards health technology. South Africa (SA) clinicians responded to a pilot study survey to assess their understanding of EPR, what attributes are important towards technology use and more importantly streamlining the survey for a larger study. Descriptive statistics using mean scores was used because of the small sample size of 11 clinicians who completed the survey. Nine (9) constructs comprising 62 items were used and a Cronbach alpha score of 0.883 was obtained. Limitations and discussions conclude the study.

Keywords: EPR, clinicians, pilot study, South Africa

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Authors: Sakshi Ghai

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The word ‘emotion’ has been microscopically studied through psychological, anthropological and biological lenses and have indubitably been one of the most researched concepts as, in all situations and reactions that constitute human life, emotions form the very niche of our mutual existence. While understanding the social aspects of cognition, one can realize that emotions are deeply interwoven with language and thereby are pivotal in inducing human actions and behavior. The society or the outward social structure is the result of the inward psychological structure of our human relationships, for the individual is the result of the total experience, knowledge and conduct of man. The aim of this paper is threefold: first, to establish the relation between mental representations of emotions and its neuropsychological connection with language on a conscious and sub-conscious level; secondly, to describe how innate, basic and higher cognitive emotions affect the constantly changing state of an agent and peruse its assistance in determining the moral compass within all beings. Lastly, in the course of this paper, the concept of the architecture of mind is explored considering how it has developed an ability to display adaptive emotional states and responses, which are in sync with the language of thought. For every response to the social environment is so deeply determined by the very social milieu in which one is situated, language has a fundamental role in constructing emotions and articulating behavior. Being linguistic beings, we tend to associate emotion, feelings and other aspects of inwards mental states intrinsically with the language we use. This paper aims to devise a discursive approach to understand how emotions are fabricated, intertwined with the mental constructs further expressed and communicated through the various units of language.

Keywords: mental representation, emotion, language, psychology

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Authors: Fabiana Souza Orlandi, Juliana Gomes Duarte, Gabriela Dutra Gesualdo

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Chronic renal disease (CKD), accompanied by hemodialysis, causes chronic renal failure in a number of situations that compromises not only physical, personal and environmental aspects, but also psychological, social and family aspects. Objective: To verify the level of cognitive impairment of chronic renal patients on hemodialysis. Methodology: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study. The present study was performed in a Dialysis Center of a city in the interior of the State of São Paulo. The inclusion criteria were: being 18 years or older; have a medical diagnosis of CKD; being in hemodialysis treatment in this unit; and agree to participate in the research, with the signature of the Informed Consent (TCLE). A total of 115 participants were evaluated through the Participant Characterization Instrument and the Addenbrooke Cognitive Exam - Revised Version (ACE-R), being scored from 0 to 100, stipulating the cut-off note for the complete battery <78 and subdivided into five domains: attention and guidance; memory; fluency; language; (66.9%) and caucasian (54.7%), 53.7 (±14.8) years old. Most of the participants were retired (74.7%), with incomplete elementary schooling (36.5%) and the average time of treatment was 46 months. Most of the participants (61.3%) presented impairment in the area of attention and orientation, 80.4% in the spatial visual domain. Regarding the total ACE-R score, 75.7% of the participants presented scores below the established cut grade. Conclusion: There was a high percentage (75.7%) below the cut-off score established for ACE-R, suggesting that there may be some cognitive impairment among these participants, since the instrument only performs a screening on cognitive health. The results of the study are extremely important so that possible interventions can be traced in order to minimize impairment, thus improving the quality of life of chronic renal patients.

Keywords: cognition, chronic renal insufficiency, adult health, dialysis

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Authors: Ummeh Saika, Toshio Kikuchi

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Population growth and urbanization is a global phenomenon. As the rapid progress of technology, many cities in the international community are facing serious problems of urbanization. There is no doubt that the urbanization will proceed to have significant impact on the ecology, economy and society at local, regional, and global levels. The inhabitants of Dhaka city suffer from lack of proper urban facilities. The green spaces are needed for different functional and leisure activities of the urban dwellers. Again growing densification, a number of green space are transferred into open space in the Dhaka city. As a result greenery of the city's decreases gradually. Moreover, the existing green space is frequently threatened by encroachment. The role of green space, both at community and city level, is important to improve the natural environment and social ties for future generations. Therefore, it seems that the green space needs to be more effective for public interaction. The main objective of this study is to address the effectiveness of urban green space (Urban Park) of Dhaka City. Two approaches are selected to fulfill the study. Firstly, analyze the long-term spatial changes of urban green space using GIS and secondly, investigate the relationship of urban park network with physical and social environment. The case study site covers eight urban parks of Dhaka metropolitan area of Bangladesh. Two aspects (Physical and Social) are applied for this study. For physical aspect, satellite images and aerial photos of different years are used to find out the changes of urban parks. And for social aspect, methods are used as questionnaire survey, interview, observation, photographs, sketch and previous information of parks to analyze about the social environment of parks. After calculation of all data by descriptive statistics, result is shown by maps using GIS. According to physical size, parks of Dhaka city are classified into four types: Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large parks. The observed result showed that the physical and social environment of urban parks varies with their size. In small size parks physical environment is moderate by newly tree plantation and area expansion. However, in medium size parks physical environment are poor, example- tree decrease, exposed soil increase. On the other hand, physical environment of large size and extra large size parks are in good condition, because of plenty of vegetation and well management. Again based on social environment, in small size parks people mainly come from surroundings area and mainly used as waiting place. In medium-size parks, people come to attend various occasion from different places. In large size and extra large size parks, people come from every part of the city area for tourism purpose. Urban parks are important source of green space. Its influence both physical and social environment of urban area. Nowadays green space area gradually decreases and transfer into open space. The consequence of this research reveals that changes of urban parks influence both physical and social environment and also impact on urban life.

Keywords: physical environment, social environment, urban life, urban parks

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Authors: Rory Austin Clark

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This primary research represents an ongoing two year inductive mixed-methods project endeavouring to unravel the subjective reality of hyperconnected young adults in Western societies who have come of age with social media and smartphones. It is to be presented as well as analyzed and contextualized through a written master’s thesis as well as a documentary/mockumentary meshed with a Web 2.0 app providing the capacity for prosumer, 'audience 2.0' functionality. The media component seeks to explore not only thematic issues via real-life research interviews and fictional narrative but technical issues within the format relating to the quest for intimate, authentic connection as well as compelling dissemination of scholarly knowledge in an age of ubiquitous personalized daily digital media creation and consumption. The overarching hypothesis is that the aforementioned individuals process and make sense of their world, find shared meaning, and formulate notions-of-self in ways drastically different than pre-2007 via hyper-mediation-of-self and surroundings. In this pursuit, research questions have progressed from examining how young adult digital natives understand their use of social media to notions relating to the potential functionality of Web 2.0 for prosocial and altruistic engagement, on and offline, through the eyes of these individuals no longer understood as simply digital natives, but social media natives, and at the conclusion of that phase of research, as 'neoliberalized social media natives' (NSMN). This represents the two most potent macro factors in the paradigmatic shift in NSMS’s worldview, that they are not just children of social media, but of the palpable shift to neoliberal ways of thinking and being in the western socio-cultures since the 1980s, two phenomena that have a reflexive æffective relationship on their perception of figure and ground. This phase also resulted in the working hypothesis of 'social media comparison anxiety' and a nascent understanding of NSMN’s habitus and habitation in a subjective reality of fully converged online/offline worlds, where any phenomena originating in one realm in some way are, or at the very least can be, re-presented or have effect in the other—creating hyperreal reception. This might also be understood through a 'society as symbolic cyborg model', in which individuals have a 'digital essence'-- the entirety of online content that references a single person, as an auric living, breathing cathedral, museum, gallery, and archive of self of infinite permutations and rhizomatic entry and exit points.

Keywords: affect, hyperreal, neoliberalism, postmodernism, social media native, subjective reality, Web 2.0

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Authors: T. Aragaw, P. Gari

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In spite of social, political, and economic marginalization, women are still considered as the backbone of Ethiopia, one of the least developed countries in the world. The general purpose of this study was to assess factors that affect participation of women in politics, social and economic decisions at Kelem-Wollega Administrative Zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Data used in this paper is mainly primary, and a few secondary data were incorporated. Respondents were selected using a systematic random sampling method and were placed questionnaires containing open-ended and closed-ended. Focus group discussion was also used for the study subjects in two offices. According to the information collected from the KWAZ Development and Social Service Office, a total of 18,473 tax-paying employees are present in the Zone, which is 14% of the total population of the Zone. Among the total number of employees in the Zone, 2,617 have been recruited for this study based on the criteria stated. This showed 1.8% of them were comprised of several churches and religious owned integrated development projects in the KWAZ. The 2,103 (80.34%) study participants responded personally, and they completed and returned the questionnaire to the researchers. The study revealed that in public institutions existed in KWAZ, the majority of women were having an educational status of diploma and lower, practicing lower non-decision making and leadership positions. Conclusion: Major barriers hindering women include: Socio-cultural attitudes, lack of necessary experience, education, the burden of domestic responsibilities, and lack of role models of women leaders in the Zone. Empowerment of women via social organizations, critical involvement of the government, and Affirmative action for women is critical. Further research is needed on the scope and challenges in implementing the strategies.

Keywords: women, affirmative action, leadership, empowerment, Ethiopia

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Authors: Rasha Shoumar

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Background: Since the onset of the Syria crisis in 2011, Jordan has hosted many Syrian refugees, many of which are residing in urban and rural areas. Vulnerability of refugees has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, adding to their already existing challenge in access to medical services, rendering them vulnerable to the complications of untreated medical conditions and amplifying their risk for severe COVID-19 disease. To improve health outcomes and access to health care services in a COVID-19 context, IOM (The International Organization for Migration) provided health services including awareness raising, direct primary health care through mobile teams and referrals to secondary services were extended to the vulnerable populations of refugees. Method: 6 community health volunteers were trained and deployed to different governorates to provide COVID-19 and non-communicable disease awareness and collect data rated to non-communicable disease and access to medical health services. Primary health care services were extended to 7 governorates through a mobile medical team, providing medical management. The collected Data was reviewed and analyzed. Results: 2150 refugees in rural areas were reached out by community health volunteers, out of which 78 received their medications through the Ministry of Health, 121 received their medications through different non-governmental organizations, 665 patients couldn’t afford buying any medications, 1286 patients were occasionally buying their medications when they were able to afford it. 853 patients received medications and follow up through IOM mobile clinics, the most common conditions were hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, anemia, heart disease, thyroid disease, asthma, seizures, and psychiatric conditions. 709 of these patients had more than 3 of the comorbidities. Multiple cases were referred for secondary and tertiary lifesaving interventions. Conclusion: Non communicable diseases are highly prevalent among refugee population in Jordan, access to medical services have proven to be a challenge in rural areas especially during the COVID-19 era, many of the patients have multiple uncontrolled medical conditions placing them at risk for complications and risk for severe COVID-19 disease. Deployment of mobile clinics to rural areas plays an essential role in managing such medical conditions, thus improving the continuum of health care approach, physical and mental wellbeing of refugees and reducing the risk for severe COVID-19 disease among this group, taking us one step forward toward universal health access.

Keywords: COVID-19, refugees, mobile clinics, primary health care

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Authors: Isaiah Phillip Smith

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It is reported that alcohol consumption accounts for 3 million annual deaths globally, thus, it is a significant public health challenge internationally. The excessive consumption of alcohol is argued in literature to be related to problematic behaviors like crime, accident, fighting, violence, and unprotected sex, among others. Alcohol consumption among university students in South Africa particularly is considered endemic – with a prevalence rate of 25.27%, 32.34%, and 23.34% across universities, colleges, and high schools. Adopting the tenets of social learning and ecological theories, the culture of drinking amongst male university students is critically explored. This study found that age, gender, early exposure to alcohol, and peer pressure are significant factors contributing to alcohol consumption amongst university students. While participants acknowledged that moderate and responsible consumption of alcohol is necessary, they agree that it does not translate to responsible drinking behaviours.

Keywords: alcohol, drinking, university, students

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