Information technology & media sociology in a (still) pandemic world

The current period of disruptive social change is inextricably bound up with new means and modes of communication, information, and media streams. The Communication, Information Technologies & Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association (CITAMS) locates these factors at the center of our collective interests, investigating them through a plethora of methods, theories, and empirical cases. Each year, CITAMS runs a special issue in ICS showcasing select works presented at the previous year's American Sociological Association conference and the affiliated Media Sociology preconference. Papers in the 2022 CITAMS Special Issue reflect a social context defined by a prolonged global pandemic and wrought by democratic uncertainty. Across these social circumstances, technology and media loom large. Simultaneously, everyday life continues and classic CITAMS scholarship sustains relevance for the ways people interact, construct identity, consume, and mobilize. All of this and more are contained in the pages of this year's Special Issue, from which readers can get a sense of what CITAMS has to offer and consider how their own work may fit within the broad CITAMS umbrella. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Coping Orientation of Academic Community in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Multi-Country Survey Study

In this paper, we have mapped the coping methods used to address the coronavirus pandemic by members of the academic community. We conducted an anonymous survey of a convenient sample of 674 faculty/staff members and students from September to December 2020. A modified version of the RCOPE scale was used for data collection. The results indicate that both religious and existential coping methods were used by respondents. The study also indicates that even though 71% of informants believed in God or another religious figure, 61% reported that they had tried to gain control of the situation directly without the help of God or another religious figure. The ranking of the coping strategies used indicates that the first five methods used by informants were all non-religious coping methods (i.e., secular existential coping methods): regarding life as a part of a greater whole, regarding nature as an important resource, listening to the sound of surrounding nature, being alone and contemplating, and walking/engaging in any activities outdoors giving a spiritual feeling. Our results contribute to the new area of research on academic community's coping with pandemic-related stress and challenges.

The Sociological Role of Empathy in the Classroom

Teaching during a global pandemic has prompted many discussions about how faculty can best support students and create classrooms where deep learning and engagement occur. In this conversation, we argue there is a role for empathy in college classrooms. We present data from interviews with faculty at a small, Midwestern, teaching-focused university during the fall of 2020. We map these perspectives onto the empathy paths framework and suggest that the therapeutic and instrumental paths are most useful for understanding empathy in the classroom. We also discuss why it is important for faculty to think about empathy and the role sociology can play in these conversations. Finally, we present a series of empathetic practices individual faculty can incorporate into their pedagogy and structural supports that departments and universities can provide to help faculty engage in empathetic practices in the classroom.

Finding Strength in Times of Crisis? Post-Traumatic Growth During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Saudi Arabian Perspective

This paper contributes to the Covid-19 literature by exploring the concept of post-traumatic growth (PTG) utilizing a mixed methods approach. The study examines to what extent the participants experienced positive growth and renewal arising from the prolonged period of lockdowns and emergency online learning. Exploring the experiences of 552 female undergraduate students in a private Saudi Arabian university, an online survey was utilized to gather the data. All the students had experienced online education as a result of the pandemic. The findings indicate the participants underwent a diversity of personal growth experiences. In addition, they also developed different coping mechanisms. The study provides insights into the responses of the students to the issues they were facing during the pandemic. It identifies ways in which participants experienced personal growth as well as a shift in perspective about their lives. There are implications for educators, counselors and policymakers emerging from this study. AD -, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ;, Netherlands ;, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Changes in state policy for promoting a healthy lifestyle. (A historical aspect).

Healthy lifestyle promotion from the perspective of state policy, journalism, healthcare, sociology, and psychology was analyzed. The objective of the study was to analyze changes in the financial and agitation state policy aimed at increasing the motivational activity of citizens of the Russian Federation towards a healthy lifestyle (HLS) in the Soviet era and at the post-Soviet stage and assess the effectiveness of these measures. The effectiveness of the Soviet propaganda of healthy lifestyles among the population was evaluated. Crisis phenomena in public health, low persuasiveness of the media presentation of the healthy lifestyle value, the COVID-19 pandemic, difficulties in implementing corporate health promotion programs in the workplace at individual en-terprises, and ignoring gender stereotypes in attitudes to health are the reasons that contribute to the adherence of Russian workers to unhealthy behaviors, that cause an increase in the incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases. The historical aspect of changes in state policy for health promotion made it possible to determine the tasks in developing health-saving programs.Copyright © 2023, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

The Other Side of 2020: Questioning Everything—Doing Something

In February of 2020, everything around the world changed. By mid-March, the majority of the world was locked down. Teachers were called on to create a sense of "normalcy” for their students. And we tried. During that process, though, as a teacher, I started to truly question what I was teaching and—more importantly—HOW I was teaching. This reflective essay offers a critical interrogation of my own pedagogical choices during and because of the COVID-19 pandemic . . . and so many other "moments” that have led up to it. I contend that we need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves, "Are we doing this right?” The following offers my starting point.

‘You Took me Back to the sea:' Using Narrative to Explore and Inform the Practice of Social Work with Dying People

This article centres on a qualitative interview extract, the ‘Story of the Pebble', in which a West African Hospital Social Worker Ado, working in a UK context, and identifying as a Shaman, describes successfully trusting his instincts to create a symbol for a dying patient. Despite criticisms from colleagues, Ado's capacity to understand his patients needs are justified both before and after her death.The article discusses significant themes from the interview extract, including the meaning of professionalism, practice wisdom and cultural influences in a UK social work context, as well as through Ado's heritage and identification as a Shaman. The article considers holistic patient care in a medical context and suggests this has some useful lessons for social workers, particularly those involved with dying people. Although the extract, and wider research study from which it is drawn, pre-date the Covid 19 pandemic, this is referenced throughout, linking the interview extract to ways of helping practitioners and educators to consider people holistically at end of life. AD -, Chichester, UK ;, Chichester, UK

FAIR TAXATION UNDER THE GLOBAL ANTI-BASE EROSION RULES?

In 2021 the OECD launched the Global Minimum Company Tax to implement the Action 1 of the BEPS Project. This instrument has seen as a good mechanism to prevent company avoiding taxes at the global level and to stop existence of the harmful tax regimes worldwide, as well as a good mechanism to achieve fair taxation in the era of global digitalization. However, the broke-out of the COVID-19 pandemic and, consequently, the close of the national borders, then armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, boost financial crisis and the crises in almost all social and industrial spheres at the global level. Such unwilling trend, between all, has influenced behavior of the companies and the initial optimism of the OECD and other international organizations that the global minimum company tax, at the very end, would end existence of the harmful tax regimes, tax avoidance and unfair taxation, dropped significantly. Therefore, at the very end of the 2022 and the beginning of the 2023, the OECD launched consultation document on tax certainty in the application of the Pillar Two of the global minimum tax known as a GloBE (Global Anti-Base Erosion) Model Rules. This paper deals with mentioned issue and actual problems that the application of the GLoBE rules is faced with.

Reflexivity and Practice in COVID-19: Qualitative Analysis of Student Responses to Improvisation in Their Research Methods Course

The improvisations needed to adapt to COVID-19 teaching and learning conditions affected students and faculty alike. This study uses chaos theory and improvisation to examine an undergraduate communication research methods course that was initially delivered synchronously/face-to-face and then transitioned to asynchronous/online in March 2020. Reflective writings were collected at the end of the semester with the 25 students enrolled in the course and follow-up interviews conducted with six students. Thematic analysis revealed that available and attentive student-participant, student-student, and student-instructor communication complemented learner-centered and person-centered goals, but unavailable or inattentive communication, especially with participants and students in the research team, contributed to negative perceptions of learner-centered goals. Implications explore how communication research methods pedagogy may achieve greater available, attentive, and learner/person-oriented goals through modeling, resourcing, reflexivity, and appreciation in online and offline course delivery to enhance shifts in communication pedagogy, whether voluntarily or involuntarily initiated by faculty.

Challenges faced in biomedical waste management by waste handlers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care hospital: a qualitative study

Introduction : Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) saw an overhaul in the biomedical waste management (BMWM) practices. Waste handlers were at the brunt of these changes. If the challenges pertaining to BMWM at the ground level are better understood, more effective measures to overcome them can be formulated. Objectives: 1. To identify myths and concerns regarding BMWM in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. 2. To explore the challenges faced in BMWM amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 3.To explore opportunities and future perspectives of BMWM. Method: In-depth interviews were conducted among 17 purposively selected Class IV health care workers during August to November 2021 in a tertiary care institute in Mumbai. Data was reported using thematic analysis. Results: Three major themes - challenges and concerns faced by BMW handlers, enablers/motivators, opportunities and future practices were generated from the transcripts. Various challenges faced by waste handlers were- difficulties in segregation and transport of BMW, exhaustion from PPE usage and fear of acquiring and spreading COVID-19 from work, stigma faced from public, and handling COVID-19 deaths. Support from family and colleagues, incentives and a positive change in public perception enabled them to work. Forming redressal committees, addressing job security concerns and timely provision of good quality equipment can improve hospital waste management measures in the future. Conclusion: It is of utmost importance to address challenges faced by waste handlers in BMWM. Onus should also be on periodic training in BMWM.

Unpacking Privilege in Pandemic Pedagogy: Social Media Debates on Power Dynamics of Online Education

As one of the world's major social media hubs dedicated to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Facebook mega-group Pandemic Pedagogy provides a panoramic perspective of the key concerns educators and students face amid a public health crisis that forces redefinition of what constitutes effective education. After several months of instruction under pandemic conditions, two central themes emerged as the most extensively discussed and the most intensively contested: (1) rigor versus accommodation in calibrating standards for students, and (2) ways to improve engagement during classes conducted through videoconferencing, especially via Zoom. Both themes reveal deeply embedded systems of privilege and marginalization in the structures and methods of online education. The pandemic starkly exposes disparities in access, equity, and inclusivity. Addressing these challenges will require explicit measures to acknowledge these power imbalances by rethinking what counts as effective teaching and learning rather than relying on institutions to revert to business as usual after this pandemic abates.

Separation and Discrimination: The Lived Experience of COVID-19 Survivors in Philippine Isolation Centers

Social isolation in times of pandemic can affect the well-being of individuals infected with a contagious disease. This study explores the lived experience of the 12 COVID-19 survivors placed in community-based isolation centers in Cebu City, Philippines and whose cases were mild and asymptomatic. In describing their lived experience, we employed Max van Manen's phenomenology of practice. Results show that the COVID-19 survivors have suffered more from the consequences of separation and discrimination than the disease's physiological effects. Educating the whole community about social responsibility and ethical behavior in dealing with COVID-19 survivors is essential to minimize social stigma and discrimination.

Heading for the Future After COVID-19: Reflections and Recommendations on Teaching Processes in a Rapidly Changing Learning Landscape

The COVID-19 pandemic posed numerous challenges for instructors and students. Professors, for example, struggled to quickly and effectively migrate face-to-face courses to remote teaching modalities. What had not been anticipated, however, were the additional challenges to be managed when returning to face-to-face and in-person teaching. This reflective essay provides some insight into how faculty at the University of Puerto Rico attempted to modify teaching practices to re-engage disengaged students as they returned to the campus classroom. Also, recommendations about how to move forward by applying a pedagogy of renewal are made.

Zukunftserwartungen der Österreicher*innen während der Coronakrise

ZusammenfassungWas kommt nach der Coronakrise? Die Forschungsnotiz befasst sich mit den Zukunftserwartungen der Österreicher*innen während der ersten Phase der Coronapandemie. Die Daten des Austrian Corona Panel Project zeigen, dass die Zukunftserwartung für Österreich und die Erwartungen an die eigene Zukunft stark divergieren. Während mehr als 60 % Prozent der Befragten glauben, dass sich die Situation in Österreich verschlechtern wird, gehen nur 26 % von einer Verschlechterung ihrer eigenen Lebensumstände in den nächsten Jahren aus.Anhand von Einschätzungen der Befragten zu den drei von Anhut und Heitmeyer postulierten Krisenzuständen – Struktur, Regulation, Kohäsion – lässt sich veranschaulichen, dass Vertrauen in die gesellschaftlichen Institutionen ein wesentlicher Indikator dafür ist, wie optimistisch oder pessimistisch die Menschen in Österreich ihre eigene und die gesellschaftliche Zukunft beurteilen. Darüber hinaus ist es die Wahrnehmung bestehender materieller Ungleichheiten, welche sowohl die Einschätzung der Entwicklung der persönlichen, aber auch der Lebensumstände in Österreich bestimmt. Zudem sind diejenigen, die der Politik und dem öffentlichen Leben Relevanz zusprechen, pessimistischer, wenn es um die Zukunft des Landes geht.Alternate :What will come after the Corona crisis? The research note discusses the Austrians' expectations for the future during the first phase of the Corona pandemic. Data from the Austrian Corona Panel Project illustrates that there is an inherent difference between the future expectations for Austria and the expectations for the individual future. While more than 60% believe that the situation in Austria will get worse within the next years, only 26% think so when it comes to their own future.

A New Space in the Search for Meaning of Conservative-Pious Elders: Social Media

Population growth, urbanization, differentiations in family structure, Factors such as the diversification of economic activities have produced a new social reality. Elderly individuals face this reality. Individuals aged 65 and over had limited transportation and communication opportunities during their childhood and youth. They had lived a quiet life in their childhood because the change was slow. However, individuals aged 65 and over are trying to keep up with today's digital age, where speed is decisive. Today, internet cables and wireless networks surrounding the world are the driving force of change. Some of the internet users over the age of 65 were also using the internet in the middle age period. However, after age 65, there is a significant increase in the number of people acquainted with the internet. With the spread of smartphones, access to the internet has become more accessible. Therefore, the presence of the elderly in social networks has become visible. The elderly have eased the restrictions and prohibitions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic with social media. In this process, some elderly people became social media members with the influence of their children, grandchildren and friends. Over time, the time spent by the elderly on social networks has increased. Thanks to the internet, people could move without depending on time and space. Social media, which has entered people's lives since the beginning of the 2000s, has allowed people to produce their content. In this way, the elderly have engaged in activities that add meaning to their lives in the digital environment. Searching for life's meaning is as old as human history. People both question the problematic situations such as illness, accident, and helplessness they experience and turn to actions that will alleviate these troubles and give them happiness. In particular, religion guides the elderly in this regard. Religion affects the online and offline lives of the elderly. These people make religious shares on social media. In this regard, social networks are a new subject of analysis for social research. In this context, the research topic is the role of social media in the search for the meaning of individuals aged 65 and over who consider themselves religious and conservative. The problem of our research: how do social networks make up the meaningful world of religious, conservative individuals aged 65 and older? Also, how do the elderly produce solutions to the meaning crises they experience? For this purpose, two focus group interviews of 4 people were conducted. In addition, 23 people were interviewed in depth. Of the people interviewed, 13 are women, and 18 are men. These numbers are determined according to the proportion of men and women using social media in Turkiye. In this context, the research topic is the role of social media in the search for the meaning of individuals aged 65 and over who consider themselves religious and conservative. The problem of our research: how do social networks make up the meaningful world of religious, conservative individuals aged 65 and older? Also, how do the elderly produce solutions to the meaning crises they experience? For this purpose, two focus group interviews of 4 people were conducted. In addition, 23 people were interviewed in depth. Of the people solicited, 13 are women, and 18 are men. These numbers are determined according to the proportion of men and women using social media in Turkiye. Studies on the search for meaning in life are generally studies in psychology. The search for meaning is the product of an individual effort from this perspective. However, our study approaches the issue from a sociological point of view and discovers the connection of meaning with other individuals. In this respect, the social media experiences of the elderly are included in the analysis. Thanks to social networks, the elderly can find their schoolmates and express their thoughts on the agenda. Again, the elderly can express their anger here. For this reason, it has emerged that social media adds meaning to their lives. Using social media in a balanced way, not at the level of addiction, can contribute to the search for purpose of the elderly. For this reason, courses can be organized for the elderly to improve their ability to act in the digital space.

Guimarães NA, Hirata HS. O Gênero do Cuidado: desigualdades, significações e identidades. São Paulo: Atêlie Editorial, 2020

A obra Gênero do Cuidado: desigualdades, significações e identidades1, publicada em 2020, emerge como um marco, justamente em tempos em que a palavra cuidado elevou-se - na emergência pandêmica - quase como palavra de ordem. Nestes tempos, evocar o cuidado em suas versões teóricas, históricas e sociológicas, contribui com o campo da saúde coletiva como leitura obrigatória. Ao tensionar o cuidado como campo relacional, nas relações materiais de produção, reconhecemos as assimetrias de poder e dominação que o atravessam. Nesse sentido, na urgência de memorializar os quase 700 mil mortos no Brasil, em virtude da pandemia, precisamos perguntar quem são estes mortos, e como o Cuidado precisa ser reconhecido como política e direito. Cabe interrogar a presença das pessoas ausentes, nas mortes inventariadas, nas desigualdades e nos descuidos, quase como um testemunho à la Luc Boltansky2.Urge interpretar a pandemia nas relações entre cuidado e interseccionalidade3. A interseccionalidade remete aos efeitos transversais "do racismo, cisheteropatriarcado e capitalismo”3(p.23), e também da corponormatividade, como estruturas de desumanização. A leitura interseccional faz-se necessária para fazer os mortos falarem, e perguntar sobre as expressões de discriminação que interferem no cuidado. O conceito de "fato social total”4, nas análises sobre a Pandemia de COVID-195 e sobre a Epidemia de Zika6, exige atualizações críticas em seus efeitos interseccionais, produtores de vulnerabilização.Guimarães e Hirata1, já na "Apresentação”, nos reenviam à imagem de obra: expressão de grandeza, organicidade, labor, artesanato, agenciamento. As autoras construíram uma trajetória - no sentido Bourdieusiano - de intersecções entre sociologia, economia, ciência política, para retirar o Cuidado de perigosas leituras essencialistas, reificadoras de supostas "naturezas”, das armadilhas do "bom em si”. Há que equivocar o Cuidado, interrogá-lo, encarná-lo em lugares sociais, nos planos das relações sociais, das desigualdades que sustentam a sociedade capitalista, e suas gramáticas de exclusão. A obra renova e aquece o debate sobre Cuidado, em tempos muitos e de pandemia, onde "internalização do trabalho (daqueles que puderam se confinar) no âmbito do domicílio, jogaram luz sobre múltiplas relações e contradições no provimento do cuidado e sobre a necessidade de pensarmos o futuro das nossas sociedades, fundadas num outro tipo de regime moral que tenha no cuidado um valor universal”1(p.22). Iluminamos dois aspectos: (1) o Cuidado como valor universal, fundante de um outro regime moral;(2) o confinamento para agenciar a interseccionalidade como lente interpretativa e analítica do fato social pandemia.Para questionar "o” Cuidado como um valor universal, devemos interrogá-lo como gramática, em seus idiomas e trânsitos. Nessa transitoriedade, talvez possamos valorizar os seus "circuitos” como referem as autoras no capítulo 3. Viviana Zelizer7 nos faz atentar para isso que nomeia como "dualidades perigosas”, das esferas separadas e dos mundos hostis. Sinteticamente, tais teorias sustentam o capitalismo industrial do século XIX, e se organizam complementarmente. A teoria das esferas separadas opera com organizações ou domínios antinômicos: racionalidade, eficiência e planejamento em oposição a solidariedade, sentimento e impulso. Tal teoria em diálogo com a dos mundos hostis, enuncia que se esses mundos entrarem em contato, haveria uma contaminação de uma pela outra. Ou seja, relações intimas e transações econômicas não devem moralmente se comunicar, mas há que zelar por sua separação. No entanto, Zelizer (op. Cit) nos alerta para o quanto tais teorias são falhas, sustentando casos concretos, desde mercados de leilões até trabalhos domésticos, onde as redes de relações interpessoais, na intimidade e impessoalidade, convivem em um idioma próprio e legitimo.O capítulo 1 da obra1 merece destaque. Para nós intelectuais orgânica da saúde, aprendemos e refletimos com a revisão de fôlego empreendida. Revisar histórica e sociologicamente as Teorias do Care significa reconhecer economia e política, das desigualdades na dimensão relacional do cuidado, e no papel das ondas feministas que o interpretam.O Cuidado como relacional, remete às localizações sociais de quem cuida e de quem recebe os cuidados. Por isso o Gênero do Cuidado1 comparece dialogado com raça, classe, e as desigualdades que se desvelam e interseccionam por meio das opressões e assimetrias. "Nomear, reconhecer e obscurecer”, título do capítulo 2, comparece como um trabalho sociológico e histórico, ao revisitar a emergência da palavra cuidador e suas flexões de gênero e número, no acervo de um jornal brasileiro de 1875 a 2019. Vale refletir como os anos 2000 do século 21, e sua primeira década revela-se um marco para agendas de cuidado na atenção à saúde, e marco de 80% dos anúncios identificados na pesquisa. Neste capítulo "Nomear, reconhecer, obscurecer” são menos movimentos contraditórios e mais de reintegração de lutas por reconhecimento, sem necessariamente corresponder à valorização. No capítulo 3, o Cuidado se configura o tema das interfaces, tencionando macro e microssociologia. As expressões "circuitos e cadeias” surgem como recursos para um diálogo tanto com a Sociologia das Emoções, quanto para uma Economia do Cuidado. Instiga o debate com a sobrevivência, na discussão sobre consubstancialidade e configurações mercantis e relacionais do Cuidado. No capítulo 4 as autoras nos presenteiam com análises dos dados do Censo de 2010, onde a nova Classificação Brasileira de Ocupações inclui na família das ocupações a de "Cuidadores de crianças, jovens, adultos e idosos”. O Cuidado domiciliar se configura nas mercantilizações e profissionalizações, preservando ainda uma clivagem de classe ao se analisar quem pode ter acesso ao trabalho profissional de Cuidado em domicílio. Isso nos fala não somente de gênero, mas de desigualdade de classe nas relações de Cuidado. Esse argumento nos lança ao capítulo 5, no Cuidado como "ajuda” - categoria êmica deveras presente nos estudos da saúde coletiva, nos cuidados com crianças com deficiências e condições de saúde crônicas, raras e complexas, nas quais se incluem as crianças atingidas pelo Vírus da Zika. Para as classes populares, das periferias, o cuidado ainda se sustenta pelas e nas redes de vizinhança, de pessoalidade. E aí ganham destaque as pesquisas de proximidade, onde os casos são mais que casos, e sim situações passíveis de generalização. Nos "esforços para ganhar a vida” ou nas diversas "formas de viração”, os significados remetem às retribuições em novos circuitos de trabalho relacional, os circuitos de "ajudas”. Essas reflexões nos preparam para que no capítulo 6 seja valorizada a perspectiva metodológica mais próxima às experiências, onde processos de construção narrativa são explorados. Não surpreende que para alcançar o trabalho de cuidado nas suas tessituras do corpo e sexualidade seja a "liberdade da palavra”7(p.212) a grande aposta. Para essa dimensão sensível, a sexualidade dentro das instituições dedicadas ao cuidado comparece, para reafirmar a importância do trabalho em equipes, onde a reflexividade, se valorizada, pode promover a competência profissional, na dimensão relacional de quem cuida e quem recebe. A Sociologia das Emoções, retorna como chave, para não produzir corpos assexuados ou naturalizar/banalizar o contato "com” e "entre” os corpos no cuidado. Para formar equipes precisamos retomar experiências produzindo reflexividade. No capítulo 7, o caso brasileiro emerge com pesquisas comparativas com França e Japão, tendo por centro o envelhecimento populacional e as demandas por cuidado. Para a autora o trabalho de cuidado precisa ser examinado de acordo com suas localizações de sexo, raça, classe, etnia, nacionalidade. Essas localizações nos reenviam às co figurações distintas em cada país examinado, com pontos comuns que contrastam desvalorização desse trabalho e reconhecimento de que os sujeitos dele precisam para viver, e sustentar a reprodução material. O capítulo 8 encerra o livro, com as autoras nos apresentando o Cuidado e as Crises, flexionada no seu plural. Aqui a Pandemia comparece, sendo retomadas as perspectivas de desvalorização do trabalho de cuidado e de suas cuidadoras, no Brasil e no mundo. O paradoxo se estabelece: aplaudimos quem cuida e cuidou tão intensamente nas encruzilhadas da Pandemia, e ainda não temos desenvolvido pleno reconhecimento de nossa interdependência. Esta que nos re-situa como diferenciadamente vulneráveis, frente a um Estado que Des-Cuidado, ainda não remunera dignamente, como trabalho essencial, o trabalho de cuidado e de seus/suas cuidadores/as.A obra de Nadya Guimarães e Helena Hirata se torna leitura obrigatória para pesquisadores da área de saúde coletiva, atualizando as discussões sobre o Cuidado não somente nas suas bases fenomenológicas, mas nas suas dimensões materiais. As gramáticas feministas e suas ondas, revisitadas pelas autoras, são um convite atual e importante para que a saúde coletiva encare o cuidado como política, interdependência constitutiva, e direito fundamental.

On the Frontline Against COVID-19: Provision of Community Pharmacy Services during a Public Health Crises

Objectives: During the current pandemic, it is recognised that pharmacies will often be the first point of contact with the health system for individuals with COVID-19 related health concerns or who require reliable information and advice. It is also important in the midst of the current public health crisis to reduce general practitioners' (GP) minor ailment-related workload. The aim of our study is to examine the problems in the midst of public health crisis of the current magnitude with the roles and activities of pharmacists. This information could help to inform future decisions about the restructuring of existing health services by governments, public health bodies and policy makers in response to public health crises such as COVID-19. Method(s): The study was carried out among 384 consumers using pharmacy in the regions of Armenia and Yerevan. Research instrument was questionnaire. Number of questionnaires distribution was determined by The Survey System Version 11.0. Analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 12.0). Result(s): During the study it becomes clear that very few percentage of consumers (17%) consulted by a pharmacy employees. Most of them don't get the necessary information from the pharmacy employee about medicine. Only 29 % of consumers are clearly satisfied with the answers of a pharmacy employee and 26% fully trust them. Conclusion(s): Steps should be taken for improving the professional knowledge of pharmacists about medicines and pharmaceutical care, which, in turn, can restore consumer trust in them, will help avoid self-medication errors by providing advice on medicines in response to public health crises such as COVID-19. There is a need to develop pharmaceutical care algorithms for minor ailments, national emergency drug formularies for COVID-19.Copyright © 2023

"No Justice, No Peace”: Yard Signs as Public Pedagogy and Community Engagement at the Intersection of Public Health Crises

This paper examines yard signs as a site for public pedagogy that engages two concurrent, and comorbid, public health crises: the COVID-19 pandemic and racism. Specifically, I reflect on how yard signs responding to the George Floyd murder in my own Minneapolis neighborhood exist during a kairotic moment;as myself and my students are increasingly confined to our own homes, and as the boundaries between school and home are blurred, the public health crisis of racism and the specific community response of yard signs present opportunities for examining how these signs can act as entry points into difficult conversations among neighbors, classmates, and colleagues. While such signs are certainly examples of epideictic rhetoric, participating in either "praise or blame,” I suggest that communication teachers can frame them as public pedagogy that "strikes a harmony between learning through public engagement and understanding these public encounters in the space of the classroom” (Holmes, 2016). As such, they can act not only as artifacts of community belonging, but as artifacts to promote reflection, conversation, and inquiry.

Learning through radio and television during COVID-19: perspectives of K-12 stakeholders

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional education, leading to the adoption of alternative methods, such as learning through radio and television for K-12 students. Television and radio became popularly adopted platforms to disseminate educational resources during the pandemic in developing countries, such as Nigeria. This study gathers the perspective of K-12 teachers and students during the crisis to find out the effectiveness of the utilized platforms, examine the challenges encountered, and suggest the way forward in case of future occurrence. The concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) guided the study. A qualitative methodology of interpretivism was employed using 20 participants that comprise students and teachers across the five south-western states in Nigeria. Findings show that teachers adapted their lessons to be delivered through broadcasts, while school administrators have worked closely with broadcasters to develop and implement educational content. Students have had mixed experiences, with some finding radio and television engaging, while others face challenges with engagement and adaptability. In essence, the result shows that most of the respondents though acknowledged the effectiveness of the radio and television approach to learning but opined that the lessons are not detailed enough. Furthermore, educational television broadcast is preferable to radio lessons as the visual effect contributes significantly to learning. The study concludes that broadcasters have played a critical role in delivering educational content, partnering with schools, and developing programs that align with the curriculum during the pandemic. The study discussed its implication, followed by limitations, and gave direction for future studies.

Social determinants in association with postpartum blues during the transition period of COVID-19 pandemic

Background:The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably impacted individuals' lives, extensively from mental and socioeconomic aspects, that requires someone to adapt. For postpartum mothers who also need to go through the maternal psychological adaptation phase, the pandemic could impose overwhelming emotional tension on them, increasing the risk of experiencing postpartum blues. This study aims to analyze the relationship between social factors that are affected during a pandemic with the incidence of postpartum blues on screening test results during the transition period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Banyumanik, Semarang. Subjects and Method: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Banyumanik, Semarang, from November to December 2022.39 subjects were selected using a consecutive sampling technique. The dependent variable is postpartum blues. The independent variables include marital status, employment status of the mother, employment status of the spouse, and family income level. The study instrument was EPDS questionnaire. The data were analyzed used Chi-square. Results: Out of 39 subjects, 13 (33.3%) were experiencing postpartum blues, and 26 (66.7%) were not experiencing it. Mother's employment status associated with postpartum blues. Mothers who unemployed have a risk of experiencing postpartum blues 1.65 times compared to employed, but these were not statistically significant (OR= 1.65;95% CI= 0.40 to 6.77;p= 0.727). Family income level associated with postpartum blues. Mothers with low to moderate family income reduced postpartum blues by 0.73 times compared to mothers with high income levels, but these were not statistically significant (OR= 0.73;95%CI= 0.19 to 2.80;p= 0.908). Meanwhile, marital status and spouse employment status were not related to the incidence of postpartum blues. Conclusion: Mother's employment status and family income status associated with postpartum blues. Meanwhile, marital status and spouse employment status were not related to the incidence of postpartum blues.