scholarly journals Behavior of Callers to a Crisis Helpline Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Quantitative Data Analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Turkington ◽  
Maurice Mulvenna ◽  
Raymond Bond ◽  
Edel Ennis ◽  
Courtney Potts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Daily Basis ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
World Health ◽  
Republic Of Ireland ◽  
National Crisis ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 to be an international pandemic in March 2020. While numbers of new confirmed cases of the disease and death tolls are rising at an alarming rate on a daily basis, there is concern that the pandemic and the measures taken to counteract it could cause an increase in distress among the public. Hence, there could be an increase in need for emotional support within the population, which is complicated further by the reduction of existing face-to-face mental health services as a result of measures taken to limit the spread of the virus. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine whether the COVID-19 pandemic has had any influence on the calls made to Samaritans Ireland, a national crisis helpline within the Republic of Ireland. METHODS This study presents an analysis of calls made to Samaritans Ireland in a four-week period before the first confirmed case of COVID-19 (calls=41,648, callers=3752) and calls made to the service within a four-week period after a restrictive lockdown was imposed by the government of the Republic of Ireland (calls=46,043, callers=3147). Statistical analysis was conducted to explore any differences between the duration of calls in the two periods at a global level and at an hourly level. We performed k-means clustering to determine the types of callers who used the helpline based on their helpline call usage behavior and to assess the impact of the pandemic on the caller type usage patterns. RESULTS The analysis revealed that calls were of a longer duration in the postlockdown period in comparison with the pre–COVID-19 period. There were changes in the behavior of individuals in the cluster types defined by caller behavior, where some caller types tended to make longer calls to the service in the postlockdown period. There were also changes in caller behavior patterns with regard to the time of day of the call; variations were observed in the duration of calls at particular times of day, where average call durations increased in the early hours of the morning. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study highlight the impact of COVID-19 on a national crisis helpline service. Statistical differences were observed in caller behavior between the prelockdown and active lockdown periods. The findings suggest that service users relied on crisis helpline services more during the lockdown period due to an increased sense of isolation, worsening of underlying mental illness due to the pandemic, and reduction or overall removal of access to other support resources. Practical implications and limitations are discussed.

scholarly journals Behavior of Callers to a Crisis Helpline Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Quantitative Data Analysis

10.2196/22984 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. e22984
Author(s):  
Robin Turkington ◽  
Maurice Mulvenna ◽  
Raymond Bond ◽  
Edel Ennis ◽  
Courtney Potts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Daily Basis ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
World Health ◽  
Republic Of Ireland ◽  
National Crisis ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Background The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 to be an international pandemic in March 2020. While numbers of new confirmed cases of the disease and death tolls are rising at an alarming rate on a daily basis, there is concern that the pandemic and the measures taken to counteract it could cause an increase in distress among the public. Hence, there could be an increase in need for emotional support within the population, which is complicated further by the reduction of existing face-to-face mental health services as a result of measures taken to limit the spread of the virus. Objective The objective of this study was to determine whether the COVID-19 pandemic has had any influence on the calls made to Samaritans Ireland, a national crisis helpline within the Republic of Ireland. Methods This study presents an analysis of calls made to Samaritans Ireland in a four-week period before the first confirmed case of COVID-19 (calls=41,648, callers=3752) and calls made to the service within a four-week period after a restrictive lockdown was imposed by the government of the Republic of Ireland (calls=46,043, callers=3147). Statistical analysis was conducted to explore any differences between the duration of calls in the two periods at a global level and at an hourly level. We performed k-means clustering to determine the types of callers who used the helpline based on their helpline call usage behavior and to assess the impact of the pandemic on the caller type usage patterns. Results The analysis revealed that calls were of a longer duration in the postlockdown period in comparison with the pre–COVID-19 period. There were changes in the behavior of individuals in the cluster types defined by caller behavior, where some caller types tended to make longer calls to the service in the postlockdown period. There were also changes in caller behavior patterns with regard to the time of day of the call; variations were observed in the duration of calls at particular times of day, where average call durations increased in the early hours of the morning. Conclusions The results of this study highlight the impact of COVID-19 on a national crisis helpline service. Statistical differences were observed in caller behavior between the prelockdown and active lockdown periods. The findings suggest that service users relied on crisis helpline services more during the lockdown period due to an increased sense of isolation, worsening of underlying mental illness due to the pandemic, and reduction or overall removal of access to other support resources. Practical implications and limitations are discussed.

Novel Coronavirus 2019 Outbreak: A Global Epidemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 1458-1464
Author(s):  
Sweta Kamboj ◽  
Rohit Kamboj ◽  
Shikha Kamboj ◽  
Kumar Guarve ◽  
Rohit Dutt
Keyword(s):  
World Health ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Global Epidemic ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government ◽  
Tract Disease ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Background: In the 1960s, the human coronavirus was designated, which is responsible for the upper respiratory tract disease in children. Back in 2003, mainly 5 new coronaviruses were recognized. This study directly pursues to govern knowledge, attitude and practice of viral and droplet infection isolation safeguard among the researchers during the outbreak of the COVID-19. Introduction: Coronavirus is a proteinaceous and infectious pathogen. It is an etiological agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Coronavirus, appeared in China from the seafood and poultry market last year, which has spread in various countries, and has caused several deaths. Methods: The literature data has been taken from different search platforms like PubMed, Science Direct, Embase, Web of Science, who.int portal and complied. Results: Corona virology study will be more advanced and outstanding in recent years. COVID-19 epidemic is a threatening reminder not solely for one country but all over the universe. Conclusion: In this review article, we encapsulated the pathogenesis, geographical spread of coronavirus worldwide, also discussed the perspective of diagnosis, effective treatment, and primary recommendations by the World Health Organization, and guidelines of the government to slow down the impact of the virus are also optimistic, efficacious and obliging for the public health. However, it will take a prolonged time in the future to overcome this epidemic.

Health care in South Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 70-75
Author(s):  
Elena Frolova
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Organ Transplant ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
World Health ◽  
Malignant Neoplasms ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization

Every person who is at least somewhat familiar with the history of medicine knows the name of Christiaan Barnard, cardiac surgeon who performed the first successful heart transplant. This happened on December 3, 1967 at a hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. A man suffering from an incurable heart disease had a healthy organ transplant from a 25-yearold girl who died in a car accident. The patient lived for two weeks and died from complicated bilateral pneumonia, however, this case marked the beginning of a new era in transplantology giving hope of saving hundreds of patients. What do we know about health care of the Republic of South Africa, one of the most developed countries on the African continent? How much does the present situation allow the government to be classified as a world leader in healthcare? Unfortunately, according to the World Health Organization newsletter, South Africa at the present stage tops the sad ranking of countries by the number of HIV-infected and AIDS patients — about 7 million out of the 58 million people are infected with a dangerous virus. Unlike developed countries, where the main cause of death is pathology of the cardiovascular system, strokes and malignant neoplasms, three quarters of patients in the Republic of South Africa die due to infectious processes. Speaking about the heterogeneity of medicine, we were almost for the first time confronted with the fact that health services can be divided not only into health care for the «rich and poor», but also for the «white and black».

scholarly journals Impact of lockdown measures in abating the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons from India’s phased approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Singh ◽  
K Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
Daily Data ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
The Government ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020 and characterized the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. India enacted such measures early on for effective mitigation and suppression to reduce community transmission, including an onerous national lockdown. The impact of the health system governance is quite apparent among all stakeholders including the public in such emergency contexts. Methods We compiled the daily data on the number of COVID-19 cases, recoveries and deaths from January 30th until June 16th, 2020. Different stages were categorized from post PHEIC declaration (pre-lockdown) phase to lockdown phases and unlocking phase as implemented. The several measures adopted by the national government were structured in four broad categories as Governance and socioeconomic, travel restrictions, lockdown and public health measures. These measures were compared during each phase. Results It was revealed that while the cases are rising the phased restrictions has helped in delaying the peak and remarkably interrupted the rate of transmission. The national average doubling rate was 3 days at the beginning which improved to 22 days. The basic reproduction number remained close to 1 during the last week of lockdown. However, the initial interruption of needed aid and technical support had negative social and economic impacts on the affected population. Conclusions As the situation abates following the measures adopted by the government, an articulate strategy of unlocking through increased testing and prompt isolation needs to be developed for more effective reduction and protecting the livelihoods allowing to further relax the lockdown measures. Key messages There is need for the local government to consider a strategic easing of the lockdown for protecting the rights of the most affected population. As the transmission rates are low, the easing of lockdown can be benefited from improved testing and prompt isolation.

scholarly journals Inequitable allocation of deep community wells for reducing arsenic exposure in Bangladesh

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. van Geen ◽  
K. M. Ahmed ◽  
E. B. Ahmed ◽  
I. Choudhury ◽  
M. R. Mozumder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Arsenic Exposure ◽  
World Health ◽  
Walking Distance ◽  
Deep Wells ◽  
Shallow Wells ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Private Wells

Community wells that extend deeper than most private wells are crucial for reducing exposure to groundwater arsenic (As) in rural Bangladesh. This study evaluates the impact on access to safe drinking water of 915 such intermediate (90–150 m) and deep (>150 m) wells across a 180 km2 area where a total of 48,790 tubewells were tested with field kits in 2012–13. Half the shallow private wells meet the Bangladesh standard of 50 μg/L for As in drinking water, whereas 92% of the intermediate and deep wells meet the more restrictive World Health Organization guideline for As in drinking water of 10 μg/L. As a proxy for water access, distance calculations show that 29% of shallow wells with >50 μg/L As are located within walking distance (100 m) of at least one of the 915 intermediate or deep wells. Similar calculations for a hypothetical more even distribution of deep wells show that 74% of shallow wells with >50 μg/L As could have been located within 100 m of the same number of deep wells. These observations and well-usage data suggest that community wells in Araihazar, and probably elsewhere in Bangladesh, were not optimally allocated by the government because of elite capture.

scholarly journals Impacts of COVID-19 on the Catch of Small-Scale Fishers and Their Families Due to Restriction Policies in Davao Gulf, Philippines

2022 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edison D. Macusi ◽  
Stefenie Katrin V. Siblos ◽  
Martha Elena Betancourt ◽  
Erna S. Macusi ◽  
Michael N. Calderon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Philippines ◽  
World Health ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Catch Per Unit Effort ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Reduced Mobility ◽  
The Impact

COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization in 2020 with countries putting up several measures to mitigate and flatten the curve of hospitalizations and death from travel bans to home confinements and local lockdowns. This pandemic created health and economic crises, leading to increased incidence of poverty and food crisis especially on both agriculture and the fisheries in many developing nations including the Philippines. The specific objectives of this study were to assess the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the catch per unit effort (CPUE) of small-scale fishers and to determine what factors could influence the volume of their catch during this time of pandemic. Moreover, this also investigated the impact of COVID-19 restrictions to fishers and their families. To do that we surveyed N = 200 small-scale fishers around the Davao gulf using semi-structured questionnaire and inquired on the impact of the COVID-19 to their fishing operation, catch, fishing costs, and their families. The collected socioeconomic variables, including emotional responses to the pandemic were then related to the CPUE and the volume of catch. The results show that fishers were highly affected by the pandemic due to the lockdown policy imposed in the fishing villages during the earlier phases of restrictions by the government. Fishers were affected in terms of the volume of their catch, also fishing costs, and emotionally as they were also frustrated due to the impacts of the hard lockdown. The restricted fishing access was found to have important and major set-back on the fishing operations of fishers and the same was experienced also by the middlemen given the low fish price and reduced mobility of the fish traders. COVID-19 also impacted the fishers, and their families through lack of mobility, food inadequacy, travel restrictions and their children’s education.

scholarly journals Are Languages losing their voice in the Institutes of Technology in the Republic of Ireland?

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Una Rose Carthy
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
International Mobility ◽  
Republic Of Ireland ◽  
Institutes Of Technology ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

A recent nationwide investigation conducted in the Republic of Ireland suggests that there is a disconnect between current practices in the IoT/TU sector and the national priorities set in the government’s Languages Connect Strategy. The government aims to increase the number of third level students learning languages to 20% and increase the level of participation in international mobility programmes; however, language provision in IoTs across the country is slowly disappearing off the radar and the proportion of third level students availing of Erasmus Plus remains low. The empirical study, which investigated the impact of institutional language policy on attitudes towards languages, revealed that the appetite for both language teaching and mobility is not currently being met in the majority of IoTs/TUs. There is clearly a need to provide institutional support in the IoTs, in order to bring these HEIs into step with government policies.

scholarly journals A Study on Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sectors of Indian Economy

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
World Health ◽  
Indian Economy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
The Government ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

COVID-19 emerged in China in December. The World Health Organization declares this virus as Global Disaster in March. The coronavirus has affected the social, economic, political dimensions of the nations globally. In this study, the authors consider the impact of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on the different activities of primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors of the Indian Economy and various policies and reforms have been taken by the government. The secondary data is collected to put down this literature. Each sector of the economy faces chaos due to coronavirus. Migrant workers or laborers go to their state in the lockdown, a ban on materials, electronics imported from china, supply chain disruption, disturbance in the cash flow are some of the majors' reasons that lead to the uncertainty in different sectors. A fund issued by the Government can be utilized effectively to give benefits to employees, workers, farmers, organizations, and industries.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria: Misconception Among Individuals, Impact on Animals and the Role of Mathematical Epidemiologists

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluwasegun Micheal Ibrahim ◽  
Damilola Daniel Ekundayo
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Good People ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Virus ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, to be a pandemic. Since the declaration, Nigeria economy has been greatly impacted thus resulting in a recession. This paper considers a couple of misconceptions among Nigerian people in the COVID-19 pandemic era thereby causing the spread of the novel virus and hence making the situation difficult for the government to handle. In particular, we discuss the first and second waves of the pandemic as it affects the Nigerian people. The impact of the pandemic on animals and the role of mathematical epidemiologists in combatting the spread is discussed herein. We give some recommendations that could be adopted by the government and the good people of Nigeria to reduce the further spread of the virus.

scholarly journals Dampak Instruksi Physical Distancing dari Pemerintah dalam Mencegah Penyebaran Virus Corona pada Pembelajaran Jarak Jauh (PJJ) Peserta Didik MI/SD di Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Eliza zalsabila ◽  
Anis Fuadah Z.
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Large Family ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Physical Distance ◽  
World Health ◽  
Corona Virus ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Health in life is very important. In dressing, food, and all activities in life must be carried out cleanly to maintain good health for ourselves and the environment. At the end of 2019 unrest arises in all corners of the earth due to the emergence of a new type of virus, the corona / covid-19 virus. Corona virus is a large family of viruses that attack the respiratory syndrome system. Viruses that have never been identified in humans before, according to WHO (World Health Organization) corona virus is zoonosis, which means transmitted between animals and humans. In this journal the title of the Impact of Physical Distance Instructions from the Government in Preventing the Corona Virus Spread on the Distance Learning of MI / SD Students in Indonesia. By raising the title aims to provide education to the general public in the face, prevent, and continue to live in a situation of unrest such as this. The journal is written in a descriptive form and also uses the literature method that is relevant to the title of the journal being raised.   Keywords: Corona Virus, Prevention, Distance Learning  

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