Impact Of Social Distancing Research Articles

Impact of Social Distancing in the Lives of Individuals with Vision Impairments

ABSTRACT Persons with disabilities (PWDs) are likely to be one of the most vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19 because of the circumstances, such as requiring close contact with care providers, difficulty in maintaining social distancing from other people. Utilising semi-structured interviews and a thematic content analysis technique, this paper analysed the impact of COVID-19 and the corresponding social distancing measures on individuals with visual impairments in Nepal. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 14 individuals employed in various sectors. In relation to difficulties arising from social distancing, participants experienced challenges, particularly in mobility, shopping for daily goods, participation in social and cultural functions, and banking services. While participants reported mixed feelings on the behaviour from their families, they experienced avoidance from friends without disabilities and pedestrians, which was perceived by them as biases and stigma that PWDs may infect others with COVID-19. Additionally, participants were anxious about their daily living, partly due to the spread of COVID-19, inadequate awareness of market owners on the needs, and restriction measures without any assistance for PWDs.

Cognition as a part of mental health in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic: impacts on the elderly

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges, and one of the most critical aspects of this global crisis is its impact on the mental and cognitive health of people, particularly the elderly. This analysis delves into the intricate relationship between the pandemic and mental and cognitive health, emphasizing the importance of understanding and addressing these effects in a demographic group often more vulnerable to the consequences of the disease and social distancing measures. Throughout the exposition, various key aspects of mental health are addressed, from its definition as a state of holistic well-being to its connection with social, economic, and cultural factors. It is stressed that mental health extends beyond the mere absence of mental disorders and influences not only the individual but also the community as a whole. The article presents evidence on the impact of social distancing, particularly confinement, as an essential measure to control the virus's spread. While effective in terms of physical health, it has also been shown to be a source of concern for the mental health of the population, especially among the elderly. The analysis suggests that confinement has led to increased sedentary behavior and physical inactivity, which can have negative effects on both physical and mental health, particularly in vulnerable groups. Additionally, concerns and anxieties related to one's own health and that of loved ones in the context of a pandemic are highlighted. Excessive focus on bodily vigilance and constant worry about possible symptoms have contributed to widespread psychological distress, further underscoring the need to address mental health during a pandemic. The article takes a pedagogical and didactic approach by dividing human development into physical, emotional, and cognitive aspects, with a focus on cognitive aspects as the core of the analysis. It explores cognition and its relation to information processing and knowledge acquisition, leading to an understanding of the human mind and the importance of its adaptability. Research on memory loss in the elderly, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, sheds light on the complexity of cognition and how factors like attention, motivation, emotional load, and lifestyle can influence memory. While changes in short-term memory are observed, it is emphasized that semantic memory tends to remain stable, highlighting the multifaceted nature of cognition. The analysis also explores gender differences in mental and cognitive health, noting that elderly women may be more prone to experiencing mental disorders, while mortality-related impacts are more severe in elderly men. However, it is emphasized that these patterns vary by country and other social contexts, highlighting the need to address mental health in a contextualized manner. Finally, the article addresses the relationship between chronic diseases and cognitive effects, with current evidence being diverse. Some studies suggest a positive association, while others do not find a significant relationship. Additionally, the importance of physical activity in maintaining the mental and cognitive health of the elderly is emphasized. In conclusion, the analysis provides a comprehensive view of mental and cognitive health during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting its importance and the various factors that influence it. Furthermore, it underscores the need to address these aspects holistically to ensure better well-being for the elderly, both during and after the pandemic.

The route choices of pedestrians under crowded and non-emergency conditions: Two-route experiments and modeling

To study the mechanism of pedestrians' route choice behaviors under non-emergency conditions, we conducted a series of route choice experiments. Participants were required to choose between two routes. Possible controls, including bottleneck, social distancing, extra reward, were tested in the experiments. Results shows that the bottleneck effect can dramatically influence the route-choice behaviors, whereas the impact of social distancing and reward were much weaker. Five typical logit models, including Binary Logit (BL) model, Mixed Logit (ML) model, Panel Logit (PL) model, Latent Class Logit (LCL) model and Latent Class Logit including Panel effect (LCL-P) model were employed. PL and LCL models performed better in this study, while the results of LCL-P model were the best. This suggests the existence and importance of heterogeneity in route choice behavior. Two classes of pedestrians were identified, with one being comfort-seeking and the other being speed-seeking. ML model did not perform well in this study, which is contrary to some previous studies. All these results could be helpful for understanding the essence of pedestrians’ route choice behaviors.

Impact of social distancing on disease transmission risk in the context of a pandemic.

Changes in pedestrian dynamics caused by social distancing policies place new demands on pedestrian motion modeling during the pandemic. This study summarizes pedestrian movement characteristics during the pandemic, based on which, the traditional floor-field cellular automata model was improved by introducing two floor fields related to pedestrian density to simulate social distancing in crowded places. Especially, the cumulative density field guides pedestrians in route selection, thereby compensating for the limitation of the previous models in which only local repulsion was considered. By selecting an appropriate combination of parameters, the desired social distancing behavior can be observed. Then, the rationality of our model is verified by the fundamental diagram. Moreover, to assess the influences of social distancing on the risk of disease transmission, we considered both person-person transmission and environment-person transmission. The simulation results show that although social distancing is effective in preventing interpersonal transmission, an increase in environmental transmission may somewhat offset this effect. We also examined the influence of individual motion heterogeneity on infection spread and found that the containment was the best when only patients complied with the social distancing restriction. The trade-off between safety and efficiency associated with social distancing was also initially explored in this study.

Autistic Traits Related to the Importance of Interpersonal Touch and Appreciation of Observed Touch during COVID-19 Social Distancing.

Studies have confirmed the significance of touch for psychological wellbeing. Social distancing regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced people's ability to engage in interpersonal touch and caused increased an appreciation for observed touch, as well as a longing for touch within the neurotypical population. Yet, while the impact of social distancing and the importance of touch are evident in neurotypical individuals, it remains unclear how these factors manifest in autistic individuals. Previous research has related high levels of autistic traits to reduced levels of perceived pleasantness of touch and a reduced interest in interpersonal touch. Our study aimed to examine the differences in the appreciation of observed touch and longing for touch during social distancing between individuals with low and high levels of autistic traits. We conducted an online survey on autistic traits, the appreciation of observed CT-optimal touch and longing for touch. Consistent with our predictions, our results confirmed that individuals with high levels of autistic traits evaluated videos depicting CT-optimal touch less favorably compared to those with lower scores on autistic traits. Additionally, only the group with low levels of autistic traits exhibited a longing for touch during social distancing, whereas the group with high levels of autistic traits did not. The results provide insights in the appreciation of touch in relation to autistic traits during the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remote Leadership and Work Engagement: A Critical Review and Future Directions

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic shook the entire world. All sectors, industries, organisations, and more importantly, people were affected by multiple restrictions implemented by their respective governing bodies. Federal lockdowns and all the emerging laws and regulations associated with them have forced organisations worldwide to transition their operations to remote environments. The implications from the organisations’ perspective vary from leadership to management, structure to operations, and training and development to policy making. However, from the employees’ perspective, the implications vary from general well-being to work engagement, satisfaction to motivation, and followership to trust. Nonetheless, remote work has other implications, such as productivity, the impact of social distancing, work-life balance, and isolation concerns. Therefore, this article aims to present critical thinking and comprehensively analyse the existing literature on remote working, transformational leadership, and work engagement contexts. Theoretical and practical gaps are discussed, and recommendations for future research could contribute to our better understanding of remote leadership and its practical elements. Remote working environments are believed to be permanent working arrangements for many organisations and employees; hence, scholars and practitioners must explore them to further depths.

Seroconversion rate of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies and dating behaviour in HIV-PrEP users in a German metropolis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when mortality was high, social distance was the only option to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and prohibit uncontrolled spreading. As the impact of social distancing on sexual behavior was unclear, we aimed to assess the influence of sexual risk behavior on SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in HIV pre-exposition prophylaxis (PrEP) users after declaration of the pandemic. Prospective study on SARS-CoV-2 IgG-antibody seroconversion rate over time in men having sex with men (MSM) using PrEP at a single tertiary university hospital in Munich, Germany, during quarterly (Q) routine HIV-PrEP visits over 1year per participant (May 2020 - September 2021). Seroconversion was defined as at least one positive anti-nucleocapsid (anti-N) SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody test as surrogate for past infection. In addition, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), personal estimated risk behavior and sexual contacts were assessed. Seroconversion rate during the full observation period was 7.3% (9/124 subjects) by September 2021. Percentage of subjects with symptomatic STIs (T. pallidum, N. gonorrhoeae, C. trachomatis and M. genitalium) was 18.7% in Q3-20, 8.1% in Q4-20, 11.1% in Q1-21, 11.6% in Q2-21 and 9.5% in Q3-21. Perception of subjective threat of SARS-CoV-2 infection and adequacy of preventive measures decreased during the observation period. However, self-reported sex behavior remained stable during the observation period. Our cohort showed low proportion of PrEP-users with anti-N IgG by September 2021, comparable to the local incidence. Sexual behavior in this cohort did not change, despite local recommendations for social distancing.

Impacts of Social Distancing and a Potential Remedy: A Randomized Double-blind Placebo-controlled Study

Objectives: To gain insight into how social distancing impacts human life and how it may induce stress, anxiety, depressive-symptoms, sleep disturbance, and mental challenges during the pandemic; and to evaluate the effects of a complementary therapy named Smarto-One on improving these health impacts. Methods: Participants, men and women aged 20-65, were randomly assigned to the interventional Smarto-One group (n=259) or placebo group (n=68). Participants orally self-administered Smarto-One or placebo for 20 consecutive days. Online surveys were completed by the participants the day before the 20-day treatment start date and the day following treatment end date. Fifteen participates from Smarto-One group and fifteen participates from placebo group participated in electroencephalography (EEG) during sleep before and after the 20-day intervention. The primary outcome measures were sleep duration and self-evaluated stress. Results: We found 1) during social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stress/depression led to sleep disturbance and mental issues; 2) participants taking Smarto-One showed significant improvements in stress/depression levels, sleep duration and wake-up mood/symptoms compared to placebo; and 3) participants taking Smarto-One showed significantly improved deep sleep time (slow-wave sleep, SWS, N3) of non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep as measured by EEG. Conclusions: This study illustrates the value of Smarto-One as an effective remedy that improves mental health and well-being under conditions including social distancing and stress/depression.

The impact of social distancing on tourists’ preferences for anthropomorphism

Social distancing is an effective way to reduce infection risk during pandemics, such as COVID-19. It is important for the tourism industry to understand the effect of social distancing on tourist behavior to better adapt to this emerging environment. This study investigates the role of social distancing in tourists’ preferences for anthropomorphism. Based on three experimental studies, this study found that tourists tend to prefer anthropomorphism more under conditions of social distancing (vs. nonsocial distancing). This effect was induced by the higher perceived warmth of anthropomorphism when one had to practice social distancing. Such effects are only significant among tourists with higher levels of interdependent self-construal. This study makes significant theoretical contributions and provides important practical implications for tourism marketing and service design during pandemic and epidemic crises.

Repercussions of COVID-19 on the care and behavior of users of a Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Center

Objective: to analyze, in the light of Callista Roy’s model, the pandemic implications of COVID-19 on the behavior and care of users assisted at a Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Center. Methods: a qualitative study, in which 13 family caregivers of users assisted at a Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Center participated. Data collection occurred through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed through content analysis. Results: three categories emerged: The impact of social distancing on the behavior of children/adolescents assisted at the Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Center; Difficulties experienced by family caregivers with children/adolescents during the COVID 19 pandemic; Welcoming and support for children/adolescents and family members linked to the Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Center during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: children’s and adolescents’ care and behavior have undergone changes resulting from changes in social interaction and care at the Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Center. This scenario required adaptation and, through Callista Roy’s model, it was possible to better understand this adaptive process. Contributions to practice: this study allows us to better understand the problem and, consequently, improve the care offered by the team considering the reality presented.

Agent-based model for COVID-19: The impact of social distancing and vaccination strategies

In this work, we study the transmission of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. Our main aim is to analyze the disease prevalence when vaccination and social distancing strategies are used. Simulations are implemented using an agent-based model (ABM) adapted from a Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) type compartmental model. Several scenarios are simulated using the most common vaccines available in Brazil. On each scenario, different fractions of the population are affected by vaccination and social distancing measures. Results show the importance to start public health interventions to reduce the size of the epidemic. Besides, simulations show that vaccination only is not capable to control the disease spread.

To Identify the Consequence of Social Distancing on the Social Affinity Needs in the Lives of the Elderly

The present study aimed to examine the interrelatedness of three key variables: The social affinity needs of the elderly, the social needs of elderly individuals, and Social distance. To do this, a path analysis was conducted on a sample of elderly individuals. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of a complex relationship between social distance, social affinity needs and the social needs of the elderly. Social space has a positive relationship with both social affinity needs, and the social needs of the elderly, and social affinity needs have a positive relationship with the social needs of the elderly. This study provides valuable insights into the impact of social distancing on the social needs and social affinity needs of the elderly population. It highlights the need for interventions to support older adults during periods of social distancing. The previous two years were unpredictable. The epidemic has had a remarkable effect on all population subgroups. In response to the global spreading of the corona infection, the government devised social distance restrictions aimed at high-risk age groups. The indicated age group was those less than 65 years old. They are more susceptible to such a sickness due to age-related symptoms, lower antibodies, physical and psychological dependency upon one another, and especially lack of mobility. More than the danger of infection, the stigma connected to this circumstance significantly impacts the elderly. This generation faces increased mortality-related problems because of the comorbid condition. Keywords: Elderly People, Pandemic, Social distancing, Vulnerable.

The impact of social distance on the processing of social evaluation: evidence from brain potentials and neural oscillations.

Previous research indicates that social distance can influence people's social evaluations of others. Individuals tend to evaluate intimate others more positively than distant others. The present study investigates the modulating effect of social distance on the time course underlying individuals' evaluation processes of others using adequate electroencephalography methods. The results reveal that in the initial processing stage, the P2 component is larger when friends are negatively evaluated, whereas this pattern is the opposite for strangers. In the second stage, medial frontal negativity and early mid-frontal theta band activity is enhanced for negative evaluations of friends, whereas this effect is absent in social evaluations of strangers. At the late stage, the P3 is larger for positive evaluations of friends but insensitive to social evaluations of strangers, and the late mid-frontal theta is also modulated by social distance. These findings provide direct and powerful evidence that social distance modulates individuals' evaluations of others with different levels of intimacy throughout all processing stages.

The Impact of Social Distancing and Physical Distancing Policies in the Management of Artificial Tourism Objects

Social distancing and physical distancing policies are actions taken by the government to stop the spread of Covid 19. In its implementation, it has had an impact on the management of artificial tourism objects. The research data was collected directly through the interview process to the managers of artificial tourism objects and tourists directly at the research site. Data collection was also carried out for the government and the Covid 19 task force using the google form. Data was also collected secondaryly by accessing Google Scholar. The presentation of the data in this study was carried out in a descriptive-analytic manner and deductively drawing conclusions. Research findings that the application of social distancing and physical distancing on artificial tourism objects have had a direct or indirect impact on the economic and social aspects.

Impacts of social distancing, rapid antigen test and vaccination on the Omicron outbreak during large temperature variations in Hong Kong: A modelling study

BackgroundThe impacts of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and vaccine boosters on the transmission of the largest outbreak of COVID-19 (the fifth wave) in Hong Kong have not been reported. The outbreak, dominated by the Omicron BA.2 subvariant, began to spread substantially after the Spring Festival in February, 2022, when the temperature varied greatly (e.g. a cold surge event). Tightening social distancing measures did not succeed in containing the outbreak until later with the use of rapid antigen tests (RAT) and increased vaccination rates. Temperature has been previously found to have significant impact on the transmissibility. Understanding how the public health interventions influence the number of infections in this outbreak provide important insights on prevention and control of COVID-19 during different seasons. MethodsWe developed a transmission model incorporating stratified immunity with vaccine-induced antibody responses and the daily changes in population mobility, vaccination and weather factors (i.e. temperature and relative humidity). We fitted the model to the daily reported cases detected by either PCR or RAT between 1 February and 31 March using Bayesian statistics, and quantified the effects of individual NPIs, vaccination and weather factors on transmission dynamics. ResultsModel predicted that, with the vaccine uptake, social distancing reduced the cumulative incidence (CI) from 58.2% to 44.5% on average. The use of RAT further reduced the CI to 39.0%. Without vaccine boosters in these two months, the CI increased to 49.1%. While public health interventions are important in reducing the total infections, the outbreak was temporarily driven by the cold surge. If the coldest two days (8.5 °C and 8.8 °C) in February were replaced by the average temperature in that month (15.2 °C), the CI would reduce from 39.0% to 28.2%. ConclusionPreventing and preparing for the transmission of COVID-19 considering the change in temperature appears to be a cost-effective preventive strategy to lead people to return to normal life.

Evaluation of the pandemic and vaccination against COVID-19 in the health of dental academics

This study investigated the prevalence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and vaccination among dental students from public and private institutions, as well as verified the level of influence of the pandemic and vaccination on physical, mental health and academic performance. In this cross-sectional study an online questionnaire using Google Forms® was applied to dental students from a public and a private university on epidemiological data, COVID-19, vaccination and the impact of social distancing on health. The rate of COVID-19 infection in both groups was 36.8% (n=46), and when asked about the period of infection, 82.6% of these (n=38) contracted it before the first dose, but there were no statistically significant differences (χ2=2.667; p=0.102) between the groups. There was a difference between the groups tested, since 56.3% of the students from G1 were vaccinated with a second dose, compared to 29.6% from G2 (χ2= 16.554; p= 0.0009). Students were asked about the existence of risks in the dentistry course, and 76.8% considered that there are risks (n=96), with a statistically significant difference (χ2 =10.216; p= 0.001). Regarding the vaccine, 64% of the participants think it is safe (n=80), with a statistically significant difference between the groups (χ2 = 4.374; p= 0.036). Most students contracted COVID-19 before the first dose, were vaccinated with the second dose by AstraZeneca and Pfizer immunizers. The academic performance and the physical and mental health of the students were significantly affected, with the students of advanced periods and those of public universities suffering more negative impacts.

Change in Substance Use and the Effects of Social Distancing on Health-Related Quality of Life and Depressive Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic in People Living With and Without HIV.

Little is known about the impact of social distancing on health-related quality of life and depressive symptoms in older people with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic. HIV-positive and HIV-negative AGEhIV Cohort Study participants. In September-November 2020, participants completed questionnaires on social distancing, change in substance use, health-related quality of life (EQ-6D, including EQ-VAS), and depressive symptoms (PHQ-9). Associations between social distancing and (1) EQ-VAS or (2) PHQ-9 score ≥10 (clinically relevant depressive symptoms) were analyzed using fractional and binomial logistic regression, respectively. Two hundred fourteen HIV-positive and 285 HIV-negative participants were analyzed. 77.4% found social distancing important and 66.9% reported good adherence to these measures, without significant differences between HIV-positive and HIV-negative participants. In both groups, <5% reported increased smoking or recreational drug use, but more HIV-positive (12.2%) than HIV-negative (4.9%) participants (P = 0.005) reported increased/more frequent alcohol use. Median EQ-VAS was slightly lower in HIV-positive (80 IQR = 73-90) than HIV-negative (84 IQR = 75-90) participants (P = 0.041). The prevalence of clinically relevant depressive symptoms was similar (HIV-positive, 8.4% and HIV-negative, 8.8%). Worrying about contracting COVID-19 and having ≥3 (vs no) comorbidities were associated with lower EQ-VAS and finding social distancing easy with higher EQ-VAS. Worrying about contracting COVID-19 and younger than 60 years (vs ≥65) were associated with higher odds of clinically relevant depressive symptoms. HIV status was associated with neither outcome. Initially during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands, a similar majority of HIV-positive and HIV-negative participants reported adhering to social distancing. Irrespective of HIV status, concerns about contracting COVID-19 negatively affected participants' perceived current health and increased risk of depressive symptoms.

Impact of social distancing on the psychological quality of life during COVID-19 for Jordanian University students

Ever since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak from Wuhan China in December 2019, the need for Global lockdowns on a wide range emerged, thus limiting human interactions with one another. These limitations were believed to have been a direct impacting factor on people's general mental health and the psychological quality of life. To investigate the effects of social distancing on the quality of life of the humankind, more particularly the psychological variations that were caused by the said situation, a self-administered cross-sectional quasi-structured questionnaire was developed. The results of the study point out the huge impact of social distancing on the psychology of humankind. Overall, 54.2% of the students committed to social distancing during the Corona pandemic, while 13.7% of them didn’t. And for the overall impact of social distancing on the psychological quality of life, the overall mean was 1.79 out of 3, only 10.7% of students reported a high impact on their life, and 48% of them affected with medium level. Males and students with low economic status were the most physiological affected by social distancing.

Examine and analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the undergraduate learning environment

The Corona crisis has ultimately affected societies, affecting both young and elder and other economic and academic life aspects. The emergence of this crisis prevented millions of students from heading to the study benches, which negatively affected the educational level. The global health crisis of extreme severity requires diligent work and urgent action to continue the education. Therefore, most countries resorted to quick solutions that were adjusted over time to suit the requirements of the stage. This paper focuses on studying the impact of the Corona crisis on the academic level of students and the rate of interaction with the course material. First, we designed questionnaires to collect data on the impact of the Corona crisis on students in terms of communication and the psychological impact of social distancing and not attending classrooms. The data analysis also helped in finding mathematical models that show the impact of Corona on students. The results of the ANOVA test related to the academic level showed that there is a significant discrepancy between the two samples by 3.925. The (sig.) value is 0.002, confirming a significant difference between the academic level groups and the postgraduate students, who faced more difficulties in studying online with an average of 3.925 compared to diploma level students (3.52). The study also proved that the participants were more aware of following the procedures in dealing with COVID (based on the Sig value of 0.003), and the largest number of female participants was with an average square (14,184). In addition, COVID-19 reduced the contact between relatives based on the Sig value of 0.004.

COVID's Impact on Non-communicable Diseases: What We Do Not Know May Hurt Us.

Purpose of ReviewIn this review, we outline the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-communicable diseases around the world.Recent FindingsThe mechanisms of COVID-19’s impact on non-communicable diseases are both direct and indirect. The direct mechanisms include direct vascular and myocardial injury as well as pancreatic injury increasing incidence of new-onset diabetes. Indirect effects of the pandemic on non-communicable disease include delayed presentation for acute illness including STEMI and the impact of social distancing and quarantine policies on socialization, mental health, physical activity, and the downstream health impacts of inactivity and deconditioning.SummaryInternational focus has been on disease variants, infection control and management, healthcare system, and resource utilization and infection incidence. However, the impact of this pandemic on non-communicable diseases has been largely overlooked but will manifest itself in the coming years to decades.