Health Norms Research Articles

Nationwide restrictions to combat consecutive COVID-19 waves: Lessons learnt from a developing country like Bangladesh

Background: Since the first documentation of COVID-19, four waves have hit Bangladesh. This study provides an insight into the scenario of the country during each wave along with the regulations enforced to combat it and it will help the national policy makers to mitigate the loss during any future wave. Main body: Lockdowns were imposed in many phases but despite all these measures, people were reluctant to follow health guidelines, which worsened the situation. These extended restrictions hampered the country’s economy, people’s mental health, and the academic life of the students. To fight such a situation, alternative steps like stringent area-based lockdowns, imposing immediate restrictions, and ensuring compulsory quarantine for people coming from other countries can be taken. People need to be encouraged to follow health guidelines, wear masks, get vaccinated otherwise restrictions alone will not be enough to assist the country to overcome the loss during pandemic. Short conclusion: The identification of the transmitting path, as well as the conduct of contact tracing, must be constantly monitored. Strict legislation, along with people’s spontaneous inclination to obey health norms, can help the country overcome the epidemic and establish a positive outcome.

‘What effect do safety culture interventions have on health care workers in hospital settings?’ A systematic review of the international literature

Introduction: Interventions designed to improve safety culture in hospitals foster organisational environments that prevent patient safety events and support organisational and staff learning when events do occur. A safety culture supports the required health workforce behaviours and norms that enable safe patient care, and the well-being of patients and staff. The impact of safety culture interventions on staff perceptions of safety culture and patient outcomes has been established. To-date, however, there is no common understanding of what staff outcomes are associated with interventions to improve safety culture and what staff outcomes should be measured. Objectives: The study seeks to examine the effect of safety culture interventions on staff in hospital settings, globally. The research questions are: 1) what effects do interventions to improve safety culture have on staff? 2) What intervention features, safety culture domains or other factors explain these effects? 3) What staff outcomes and experiences are identified? Methods and Analysis: A mixed methods systematic review will be conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Searches will be conducted using the electronic databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Health Business Elite, and Scopus. Returns will be screened in Covidence according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mixed-methods appraisal tool (MMAT) will be used as a quality assessment tool. The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials and non-randomised studies of interventions will be employed to verify bias. Synthesis will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological guidance for mixed methods reviews, which recommends a convergent approach to synthesis and integration. Discussion: This systematic review will contribute to the international evidence on how interventions to improve safety culture may support staff outcomes and how such interventions may be appropriately designed and implemented.

The influence of personal and public health and smart applications on biking behavior in South Korea

AbstractBicycling is an important form of active transport that contributes to sustainability mobility as a result of its role in personal and public health and emissions reduction. The significance of which has grown since the COVID‐19 pandemic outbreak. However, biking studies have neglected, in theoretical terms, developing an understanding of why consumers bike. Therefore, this research designs and verifies an extended theory of planned behavior adding personal and public health and a moderator of perceived smart application usage to help explain such consumer behavior. This study is based on a digital survey of South Koreans who biked for leisure, tourism, and/or work, utilizing partial least squares‐structural equation modeling with multi‐group analysis and Fuzzy‐set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Results revealed that personal health is most important to cyclists, followed by public health, attitude, and subjective norm. Interestingly, people with perceived high usage of smart applications for biking show stronger relationships between public health and attitude and perceived behavioral control and behavioral intention than low users. In contrast, individuals with perceived low usage of smart applications for biking reveal a stronger relationship between attitude and behavioral intention than high users. The high and low user groups of smart applications also distinctively differ in levels of cycling behavior. Consequently, this work offers several theoretical and managerial implications for research and practice.

Internet-delivered psychological treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders in youth: Study protocol for exploration of cognitive biases

Introduction Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) are common in children and adolescents (CA), cause functional disability and high health care use. Internet based cognitive behavioral therapy (i-CBT) have shown promising effect in Sweden. The treatment is exposure based and target avoidance behavior. Cognitive biases regarding bodily symptoms are suggested to be part of development and maintenance of functional disorders in adults, and could therefore be an important treatment target. Little is known about cognitive biases in CA with FGID, and hence the potential importance, it is crucial to explore more in depth. This study is embedded in The Danish FGID Treatment Study which aims to test Swedish i-CBT treatment in a Danish context.Objectives1) Examine cognitive biases in CA with FGID, compared with healthy controls. 2) Asses these biases before and after treatment for FGID to investigate changes and impact on treatment effect.MethodsWe developed a novel experimental approach to examine possible cognitive biases in CA. It consists of a picture task and a FGID-specific version of the Health Norms Sorting Task. We will examine 60 CA with FGID, who are included in The Danish FGID Treatment Study before and after treatment. In addition we will perform the test on 100 healthy controls.ResultsThe results are expected to improve our understanding of maintaining cognitive factors in CA with FGID, and how these may affect outcome and change during treatment, and how they differ from the general population.ConclusionsThis study can provide new targets for treatment approaches.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Power, dentistry and oral health inequities; an introduction.

Oral health inequities at a global level persist. This is despite marked advancements in technology, service delivery, training, research and population-level initiatives such as water fluoridation. Although the social determinants of health are frequently cited in the framing, analysis and description of oral health inequities, the explicit role of power is usually omitted. Lukes described power as the capacity of actors to make change, as well as to receive and resist change. An analysis of power thus provides a better understanding of how diverse and conflicting interests of multiple actors can lead to differential oral health norms within communities. An analysis of power also demonstrates the intersectional forms of oral inequities experienced among the socially marginalised; it is not rooted in economic deprivation alone. The training and practice of dentistry itself creates intersectional forms of inequalities through race, gender and class. Dental academic spaces are overwhelmingly White, with the knowledge created thus embedded with Eurocentric values. This needs to be challenged. We aim, in this special issue, to provide an overview of the pluralist and diverse nature of contemporary global society, and to show how attempting to impose singular forms of behaviours, values and knowledge that suppress the cultures of socially marginalised communities enhances oral health inequities. Specifically, this special issue will: (1) present an overview of how power operates generally, using implicit bias examples, with a strong underpinning from the literature; (2) describe what this means for power in dentistry, drawing upon sociological literature with a specific lens on dental organisations; (3) expand understanding of post-colonial theory and how this reinforces power structures in dentistry that further enable the privileged and; (4) examine the power relationship between dentists and patients, using theoretical underpinnings and elaborating on different power paradigms in the Australian vs Asian/Korean context.

Measuring impact of storyline engagement on health knowledge, attitudes, and norms: A digital evaluation of an online health-focused serial drama in West Africa.

Background“Cest la Vie!” (CLV) is a serial drama that entertains, educates, and promotes positive health behaviors and social change for West African audiences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if watching the CLV Season 2 series online had an impact on people’s health knowledge, attitudes, and norms, focusing on populations in francophone West Africa.MethodsBetween July 2019 and October 2019, viewers of CLV and non-viewers were recruited from Facebook and YouTube. We conducted an online longitudinal cohort study that assessed changes in health knowledge, attitudes, and norms (KAN) between these groups. Participants completed a baseline survey prior to the online airing and up to three follow-up surveys corresponding to specific health stories in the series, including sexual violence, emergency contraception, and female circumcision. We used descriptive statistics to describe viewers and non-viewers, and an item response theory (IRT) analysis to identify the effect of viewing CLV on overall KAN.ResultsA total of 1674 respondents participated in the study. One in four participants (23%, n = 388) had seen one of the three storylines from CLV Season 2 (ie, CLV viewers). At follow-up, viewers were more likely than non-viewers to know when to correctly use emergency contraception (P < 0.001) and to believe that the practice of female circumcision should end (P = 0.001). Compared to people who did not see CLV, viewers of the series had 26% greater odds of answering pro-health responses at follow-up about sexual assault, emergency contraception, and female circumcision. Further, the level of engagement with specific storylines was associated with a differential impact on overall outcome questions.ConclusionsAs internet access continues to grow across the globe and health education materials are created and adapted for new media environments, our study provides a novel approach to examining the impact of online entertainment-education content on health knowledge, attitudes, and norms.

Language-based approach in achieving Sustainable Development Goals: A qualitative meta-analysis

Language-based approach in achieving Sustainable Development Goals: A qualitative meta-analysis

Character Establishment Through Physical Education

This study aims to determine the impact of learning physical education (Penjas) on the formation of student character in social emotional learning. The ultimate goal of learning physical education is overall personality development, both physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects. These aspects are carried out systematically, through participation in physical activity based on health and social norms (values, behavior, fair play, etc.). The method used in this study is an experimental method that will be carried out on UPI LabSchool Junior High School students. The instrument that will be used in this research is a social emotional competence instrument that will assess the student's character in terms of self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making. The data will be analyzed through inferential statistics using a comparison test of two averages. There are three outcomes in this research, including 1) Articles published in national journals, 2) Articles contained in international conference proceedings, 3) Intellectual Property Rights. There are two students involved in this research.

A feminist hacklab’s resilience towards anti-democratic forces

Makerspaces and hacklabs are believed to encourage a positive attitude towards gaining computer skills. Within these communities for peer production, citizens can apply cutting-edge technologies in DIY projects. In recent decades, mushrooming makerspaces and hacklabs were embraced by the tech industry and governments alike. Feminist makerspaces and hacklabs, however, as they are centred around a queer feminist agenda, have raised eyebrows. In order to foster diversity in tech development, they create safer spaces for self-expression. Here, feminist lay(wo)men* (To emphasise that the category ‘Woman’ is constructed and that more people than only those who identify as women are being included, one uses the sign * after the term ‘women’ ), makers, designers, artists and tinkerers experiment with open-source hardware and software. Art and design projects emerging from feminist hacklabs focus on issues of representation and democratic participation in digital media, as well as on ways of reclaiming one’s own body. This article tries to unpack how, after an exhibition on sexual health norms, a feminist hacklab was attacked by local right-wing and conservative politicians. The attack resulted in the defunding of the feminist hacklab. But it also started a transformation process within the collective, as members became aware of critical interferences of diffracting marginalisations. The crisis triggered a discussion on how each member was threatened to very different degrees; for example, there was more at stake for members depending on their legal status in the country. The right-wing and conservative campaign against the feminist hacklab damaged the initiative, but at the same time it pushed the collective to generate increased vehemence and resilience.

Социально-диспетчерская деятельность специалистов школьного психолого-педагогического консилиума в современных условиях развития инклюзивного образовательного процесса

The state policy in the field of education poses new practical tasks, in particular, to learn how to include students with conditions that differ from the norm of health in an inclusive educational space, preserving and strengthening their health. The socio-dispatching activity of the school concilium is considered in the article as a key mechanism that ensures a decent quality of life for schoolchildren in the conditions of a protective clinical and pedagogical regime and an individual educational route. It has been practically established that teaching staff can competently navigate medical issues, take into account the special educational needs of students. Research methods. 68 referrals of students to medical specialists subscribed by the school concilium of the Moscow State Educational Institution «Secondary School No. 25 of Nizhneudinsk», whose professional work was seen to be of high importance for the educational process, were studied. The conducted research allowed us to draw the following conclusions: the effectiveness of providing social and pedagogical assistance from the school concilium specialists can reach 89.7% success rate and contribute to the formulation of new diagnoses, clarification or modification of previously given medical recommendations to students; 94.1% of constructive appeals to the health care system can subsequently have a qualitative impact on the special conditions of teaching schoolchildren. The analysis of social dispatching activities is carried out, problematic issues are raised, possible solutions are outlined. Therefore, the results of the study may be of interest to medical specialists; teachers working in the modern conditions of the implementation of Federal programs in the system of central and territorial PPCs, school conciliums, higher educational institutions; representatives of the legislature.

The resistance to mainstream assumptions about retribution in Job and Tobit as theologically positive deviance

This article uses material from organizational studies and medical anthropology and sociology to address the value of the idea that bodily dysfunction or illness depart from a norm of health. It argues that examples of positive deviance can be found in the books of Tobit and in Job. Positive deviance describes behavior that notably departs from expected norms, albeit in a direction that a referent group finds positive. In much of the Hebrew Bible, there is a tight connection between the ideas of wrongdoing, bodily suffering, and retribution. However, the books of Tobit and Job are examples of a departure away from this norm. In Job and Tobit the portrayal of circumstances in the text depart from expected norms with a view to encouraging the referent group (i.e., audiences) towards a positive assessment of the departure. The character Tobit, in line with dominant thought about retribution assumes his blindness is a result of some inadvertent or inherited sinfulness. However, Tobit’s characterisation and dramatic irony prevents audiences agreeing with Tobit’s assessment of circumstances. Similarly, the advice of Job’s friends betrays their assumption that his physical condition must be retribution for wrongdoing. However, Job’s characterisation and dramatic irony prevents audiences agreeing with his friends. More shockingly, the character Yahweh departs from the expected role and becomes a deviant actor. Through resisting simplistic assessments of somatic distress as caused by retribution for wrongdoing, both books are examples of positive deviance that encourage audiences towards more positive norms.

COVID-19 vaccination service

The purpose of this paper is to discuss potential legal complications as well as the protection of health care employees involved in COVID-19 immunization services at HSFs. COVID-19 instances are increasing at an alarming rate, and strict health norms are falling behind. COVID-19 vaccinations are critical to halting the virus's transmission in the community, reducing disease-related suffering and mortality, boosting herd immunity, and protecting the community from COVID-19 while social and economic activities are restored. COVID-19 vaccination, on the other hand, continues to confront obstacles as a result of public rejection. This scientific publication is based on a normative legal approach. The public's refusal of the COVID-19 vaccine results in a plethora of complications, including public misconceptions and suspicions of vaccination conspiracies by healthcare professionals. According to a review of the literature, health workers who provide COVID-19 vaccination services in Indonesia are legally protected if they follow established procedures. Medical Practice Law No. 29 of 2004, Presidential Regulation No. 14 of 2021, Health Minister of Republic Indonesia Regulations No. 269 and 290, and Decree of the Minister of Public Health HK.01.07/Menkes/413/2020 concerning Coronavirus Disease Prevention and Control 2019 all provide legal protection for health workers.

Optimization of Single-Dose VSV-Based COVID-19 Vaccination in Hamsters.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in global effects on human health, economic stability, and social norms. The emergence of viral variants raises concerns about the efficacy of existing vaccines and highlights the continued need for the development of efficient, fast-acting, and cost-effective vaccines. Here, we demonstrate the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of two vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-based vaccines encoding the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein either alone (VSV-SARS2) or in combination with the Ebola virus glycoprotein (VSV-SARS2-EBOV). Intranasally vaccinated hamsters showed an early CD8+ T cell response in the lungs and a greater antigen-specific IgG response, while intramuscularly vaccinated hamsters had an early CD4+ T cell and NK cell response. Intranasal vaccination resulted in protection within 10 days with hamsters not showing clinical signs of pneumonia when challenged with three different SARS-CoV-2 variants. This data demonstrates that VSV-based vaccines are viable single-dose, fast-acting vaccine candidates that are protective from COVID-19.

Bioethical and social constructions of life extension and longevity

This paper explores life span extension and longevity as one aspect of life course, focusing on the bioethical and social implications of the rise of longevity in modern societies. We juxtaposed Potter?s categorisation of types of survival with the opposing views about life extension. This ethical and ideological contrast is especially pro?nounced when it comes to human enhancement, which improves human capacities and functioning above and beyond the statistical norm of human health. In the medi?um and long term, these interventions would change not only the human species, but also social roles and relation?ships. The crux of social and bioethical concern could be expressed through the questions: from what age do we start extending human life, and for whom? Does the exten?sion of life lead to the re-establishment of our social roles from youth, or is it just a romantic image of our previous life stage? This study concludes that both paternalistic approaches to life extension and those avoiding modern medical treatments of diseases related to aging are faced with similar epistemological and social reductionism.

The Spread, Rise, and Fall of University Students' Interconnected Internet Public Opinion in the Age of Big Data.

With the interconnected network's quick growth and widespread adoption, it has only made sense that it would serve as a hub for the dissemination of ideologies and cultural information as well as an amplifier for public opinion. The world is dualistic. The popularity of the connected network has both positive and negative effects on society. It makes people's lives more convenient, but it also has some drawbacks. Public opinion will quickly build up on the interconnected network as network communication becomes a significant method of disseminating social information, and the number of public opinion events on the interconnected network will also rise. Accurately understanding the law of higher education students' online public opinion to effectively direct and utilise online public opinion to carry out ideological education for students and to realise the establishment of students' good values, mental health, and behavioural norms, it is necessary to understand how to spread and rise and fall in the era of big data work. The parameter inversion model of online public opinion is established in this article based on the aforementioned issues. The parameter inversion algorithm is used to calculate the trend value of online public opinion, and the degree of fitting between the trend value of actual data and the trend value of parameter inversion is compared. The study discovered that the experiment's fitting value is as high as 90%. The model's prediction of the overall trend of the event development is correct, indicating that the model parameters are inverted, even though the actual public opinion data are affected by a variety of random factors, so some deviations may occur at local points. The internal law of the evolution of events that spread public opinion has been discovered, and it can be used to accurately describe the evolution and development of the public opinion dissemination process as it is driven by its internal mechanism. In the age of big data, this article analyses and summarises the rise, fall, and distribution of online public opinion among students at institutions of higher education. It also serves as a guide for monitoring and directing online public opinion in colleges and other institutions of higher education.

Особенности психического выгорания педагогов средней общеобразовательной школы с ограниченными возможностями здоровья

The scientific relevance and social significance of the problem of mental burnout are determined mainly by the maladaptive nature of its manifestations. In the format of inclusive education, the phenomenon of mental burnout becomes important for teachers who have health limitations that reduce the adaptive potential of the individual. The aim of the study was to study the manifestations of mental burnout in secondary school teachers with disabilities. The analysis of the results of an empirical study allows us to focus on the features of the studied manifestations of mental burnout, concerning the frequency of their occurrence, the degree of severity and qualitative originality of teachers with disabilities in comparison with teachers with a conditional norm of health. The results of the study indicate reduced adaptive capabilities of teachers with disabilities in relation to the development of mental burnout and allow us to outline an effective direction of appropriate preventive work.

Features of the Professional Intention of University Students with Disabilities

The author represents a qualitative and meaningful analysis of the results of an empirical study of the professional orientation of university students with disabilities. The obtained results indicate the corresponding statistically-significant differences in the subject area, professional intentions and the status of the professional identity among university students with disabilities and students with a conditional norm of health. The analysis of the results of the empirical study demonstrates the immaturity of the professional awareness of students with disabilities, which consists in the absence of taking into account the existing limitations in their future profession, a low level of awareness of its essence and the opportunities it provides, as well as the problematic nature of the status of their professional identity. This allows us to assert that the relevant vector of educational and professional activity of students with disabilities in higher education should be the directed development of an adequate professional orientation and its components, in addition, taking into account the nature of health limitations.

Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management Variables and Predictors.

Guided by the Self and Family-Management framework, relationships between diabetes distress, self-efficacy, resilience and outcomes of A1c, quality of life and health status were explored. A cross-sectional descriptive design was used. Seventy eight individuals were enrolled from US clinics. Data were analyzed to test for associations, main effects and interactions and predictors of self-management. Results indicated low diabetes distress (M = 20.53), high self-efficacy (M = 7.32), moderate resilience (M = 80.27), and mean A1c 7.35%/56.88 mmol/mol. Seventy six percent of participants scored above the mental health norm, and 46% scored above the physical health norm. The average weighted quality of life score was -1.74. Diabetes distress was negatively associated with self-efficacy, resilience, physical health, mental health, and quality of life. Self-efficacy was positively associated with resilience, physical health, and quality of life. Resilience was positively associated with physical health, mental health and quality of life. Positive associations were found between quality of life, and physical and mental health. No associations were found between A1c and variables in the study. Multiple significant interactions were found with A1c, mental health and quality of life outcomes. Terms in the model included treatment regimen, years since diagnosis, provider collaboration, and history of diabetes self-management education. Distress was a significant predictor of health status and quality of life. The results confirm self-management facilitators self-efficacy and resilience and barrier diabetes distress and their relationships with outcomes in the framework. This study contributes to the understanding of the emotional aspect of diabetes. Continuing this work will allow researchers to better understand self-management, support self-management efforts and better outcomes.

Человек в современной медицине – от восстановления здоровья к улучшению

The article analyzes the dynamics of the development of medical models of treatment of deviations from the health norm, discusses the issue of changing ideas about the human health in medicine. It is shown that as a result of changes in the conceptual understanding of health and the process of its restoration, the principle of achieving a commercially profitable, fast and controlled result is introduced into modern medicine, as a result of that the process of medical treatment is standardized and regulated. But the preservation of object optics of views in the medical industry, as shown in the article, becomes ineffective, moreover, risky in a situation of moving boundaries of the human health norm. To overcome the existing risks, new institutes and practices of ethical examination of health standards are being introduced into medicine. It is shown that the accepted deliberative practices of ethical expertise only introduce a procedure for taking into account the patient’s position regarding the boundaries of their health standards and the limits of medical intervention. At the same time, the patient’s position is considered as something ready, initially given, in other words, the classic “human project” continues to be defended in medicine.

‘Why aren’t you on PrEP? You’re a gay man’: reification of HIV ‘risk’ influences perception and behaviour of young sexual minority men and medical providers

Public health models and medical interventions have often failed to consider the impact of reductionist HIV ‘risk’ discourse on how sexual minority men interpret, enact and embody biomedical knowledge in the context of sexual encounters. The aim of this study was to use an anthropological lens to examine sexual minority men’s perception of HIV risk and experience within the medical system in order to examine the influence of risk discourse on their health, behaviour and social norms. In-depth interviews (n = 43) were conducted with a racially, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of young sexual minority men and explored HIV-related beliefs and experiences, as well as their interactions with healthcare providers. Findings suggest that the stigmatisation of behaviours associated with HIV appears to be shaped by three key forces: healthcare provider perceptions of sexual minority men as inherently ‘risky’, community slut-shaming, and perceptions of risk related to anal sex positioning. Stigmatising notions of risk appear to be embodied through sexual health practices and identities vis-à-vis preferred anal sex positions and appear to influence condom use and PrEP initiation.