COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study of Healthcare Students' Perceptions of Life during the Pandemic in the United States and Brazil.

Laura A Geer,Guilherme De Lima Bruneli,Lucas Sampaio Leite,Rachel Radigan,Rosalie Barreto Belian

doi:10.3390/ijerph18179217

Abstract

Societal influences, such as beliefs and behaviors, and their increasing complexity add to the challenges of interactivity promoted by globalization. This study was developed during a virtual global educational exchange experience and designed for research and educational purposes to assess personal social and cultural risk factors for students’ COVID-19 personal prevention behavior and perceptions about life during the pandemic, and to inform future educational efforts in intercultural learning for healthcare students. We designed and implemented a cross-sectional anonymous online survey intended to assess social and cultural risk factors for COVID-19 personal prevention behavior and students’ perceptions about life during the pandemic in public health and healthcare students in two public universities (United States n = 53; Brazil n = 55). Statistically significant differences existed between the United States and Brazil students in degree type, employment, risk behavior, personal prevention procedures, sanitization perceptions, and views of governmental policies. Cultural and social differences, risk messaging, and lifestyle factors may contribute to disparities in perceptions and behaviors of students around the novel infectious disease, with implications for future global infectious disease control.

Highlights

Developing human resources capable of contributing positively to solving global public health problems is a current challenge including the evolution of education of healthcare students’ needs with the shifting global climate created by the pandemic [1,2]
Our sample population was derived from healthcare students participating in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), consisting of a partnership between the Federal University of Pernambuco located in Recife in northeast Brazil and the SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (DHSU) School of Public Health located in Brooklyn, New York in the United States [4]
Participants were asked 40 questions, which collated around the following topics: (1) demographics, (2) COVID-19 physical characteristics and response, e.g., test availability, (3) symptomatology and illness experiences including number and type of symptoms, (4) cultural influence on risk and protective behaviors such as sanitization procedures, personal protective equipment (PPE) use, (5) social world perceptions, i.e., social relationship activity, and (6) influences on mental health (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Developing human resources capable of contributing positively to solving global public health problems is a current challenge including the evolution of education of healthcare students’ needs with the shifting global climate created by the pandemic [1,2]. In this sense, higher education courses for healthcare students need to be deeply transformed to comprehend and deal with worldwide problems, regarding local, regional, and global contexts [1,3]. Societal and cultural influences add to the challenges of interactivity promoted by globalization [4].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion