The house is a machine for everything: the role of the built environment in group homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: Individuals living in group homes during the COVID-19 pandemic faced unique challenges and health risks related to living in shared spaces. This study aimed to assess the experiences of living and working in a group home during the pandemic and to explore the role of the built environment. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted longitudinal working groups with group home residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities and serious mental illness, group home staff, and families/caregivers of residents from December 2020 through December 2022. Common themes highlighting ways in which group home residents, staff, and caregivers perceived the built environment to impact living in a group home during the COVID-19 pandemic were identified. RESULTS: Resonant themes centered around increased risk of COVID-19 infection, ad hoc spatial adaptations for infection control, space-related challenges due to isolation and quarantine requirements, and limited access to public spaces. CONCLUSION: Group home residents and staff experienced multiple health and wellness challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic related to their surrounding built environment. Mechanisms to engage group home residents in modifications of their built environment may improve the effectiveness of infection control policies while acknowledging individual autonomy.

Promoting resilience in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic with a brief online intervention.

INTRODUCTION: The psychological wellbeing of healthcare workers has been impacted by the high levels of stress many have experienced during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a brief online course focused on introducing evidence-based skills that could increase resilience and decreases emotional distress in healthcare workers during the pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Employees of a large healthcare system completed a mental health survey at baseline, and then one month and two months after some employees participated in an online resilience-enhancement course consisting of three 12-19 min videos focused on mindfulness, mentalization, and self-compassion. RESULTS: A total of 554 participants completed the baseline survey, endorsing moderate to high levels of emotional distress. Of those who completed all three assessments and participated in the course (n = 38), significant improvements in resilience and reductions in emotional distress were found one and two months later, in comparison to those who did not participate in the course (n = 110). DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that a brief, online intervention can improve the mental health of healthcare workers during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beyond quarantine: a history of leprosy in Puerto Rico, 1898-1930s

Dos tempos bíblicos ao período moderno, a hanseníase tem sido associada a estigmas. Essa marca de desonra, fisicamente presente nas feridas e nos membros desfigurados do 'leproso', e incorporada a sua identidade, lençou a doença aos rincões mais obscuros da sociedade. O presente artigo usa fontes primárias, escritas em espanhol, para reconstruir a história social da lepra em Porto Rico a partir de 1898, quando os Estados Unidos anexaram a ilha a seu território. As políticas de saúde pública desenvolvidas em Porto Rico até a década de 1930 foram específicas devido a uma combinação de fatores políticos, científicos e sociais. O país sofreu influência das prioridades sanitárias dos Estados Unidos e desenvolveu suas políticas de controle da lepra sobre os vestígios do sistema de saúde da Espanha colonial. No início da ocupação norte-americana, extrema segregação agrediu a liberdade e os direitos individuais dos pacientes, em nome da proteção à sociedade. Como resultado, as vidas desses hansenianos foram irrevogavelmente transformadas