Related Policy Changes Research Articles

Framing Themes of Palm Oil in Google Images English-Language Advertisements

The need to analyse the framing themes used for palm oil in a language largely used by business professionals which is English, is a response to the implementation of RED II and other related policy changes that have affected the palm oil industry since 2018. This study examines the framing themes employed in English-language palm oil advertisements post-2018, sourced from Google Images, utilising a content analysis approach. The study aims to investigate the framing themes employed in English-language palm oil advertisements sourced from Google Image Findings reveal that there are positive and negative framings used, influenced by geopolitical factors. The study contributes to our understanding of how palm oil and palm oil industry are portrayed in advertisements, offering valuable insights for policymakers, communication strategists, and researchers interested in the societal and environmental implications of this pivotal economic pillar of South-East Asian countries.

NEED FOR EFFECTIVE TALENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN BANKING -A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Over a decade the banking practices in the country has been experiencing sea change with the implementation of number policy related changes, rise in privatisation and also due to technology upgradations. Modern-day banking activities have become more complex and complied with high-end technology intervention. It makes bank employees more sensitive towards their job. Thus, retain the existing work force with required skill sets is a dauting task for the administrations of banks. Talent management activities of banks generally revolve around employee engagement monitoring their performance, establishing connectivity between employee and the banking institution and they’re by achieving bank’s goal. It is concluded that talent management is an emerging issue and most focused topic in Indian banking sector. This task compliance with stringent procedures and time consuming too. Hiring talent in this pursuit and retaining them involve myriad steps to make the employees i.e., stimulate them to learn new concept and practice it in their day-to-day work adopt continuous training and monitor the performance of the employees KEY WORDS: Talent Management, Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks, Competition

Coastal microplastic pollution: Understanding coastal community stakeholder perceptions and resolution priorities

While scientific research and media coverage has led to some legislation and policy changes in relation to the plastic pollution problem, in general these developments have been uncoordinated. In 2022 the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) resolution to end plastic pollution became the first legally binding provision to address the problem; it includes a requirement for multi-level stakeholder action agendas. In this research, we examine how key stakeholders with management responsibilities within a coastal area on the south coast of the United Kingdom view the issue of coastal microplastics. We find that stakeholders are susceptible to the same influences as the public and are focussed on the global rather than the local issues of plastic pollution. We also find that visitors to these coastal areas appear to be unconcerned about the potential threat caused by MP either due to a lack of awareness or assessment of risk. The research also highlights the management priorities amongst the stakeholders and makes recommendations for a more localised approach to implementing management policies in the future.

A Qualitative Exploration of Spanish-Speaking Latina Women’s Experiences Participating in WIC Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BackgroundMore than one-third of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants identify as Latino, but participation has been declining and individuals who speak predominantly Spanish face additional barriers to participation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were changes in WIC eligibility and benefits that may have been differentially accessible to Spanish-speaking Latina participants due to factors such as language barriers and lack of awareness of changes. Understanding Spanish-speaking Latinas’ experiences with the WIC program generally and during the pandemic can inform efforts to equitably implement future emergency food response policies and improve the WIC program and Latina participant enrollment more broadly. ObjectiveThis study aimed to understand the perceptions and experiences of Spanish-speaking Latina WIC participants with the WIC program generally and with COVID-19 pandemic–related policy changes made to the WIC program. DesignQualitative in-depth interviews were conducted virtually in Spanish in August 2022 using a semi-structured guide. Participants/settingStudy participants were 18 Spanish-speaking Latina adult WIC participants living in North Carolina recruited using convenience sampling. AnalysisAll interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded in Spanish. Thematic analysis with inductive coding was used to derive key themes. ResultsPerceptions about the WIC program in this sample were mixed. Participants felt positively about the healthfulness of foods included in the WIC food packages but expressed concern about the monthly benefit amounts being too low and the cultural appropriateness of food options. Pandemic policy changes, such as remote appointments and the Cash Value Benefit increase were perceived positively; however, barriers to using benefits during this time included limited communication from WIC agencies, food shortages, and concerns about not being granted US citizenship or permanent resident status due to use of WIC (ie, public charge rule). Social networks played an important role in learning about and enrolling in WIC and navigating food shortages during the pandemic. ConclusionsConcerns about the cultural appropriateness of foods provided, communication challenges, and the public charge rule emphasized the need for resources dedicated in the WIC program to improving Spanish-speaking Latina women’s experiences with WIC.

Development Strategy of Halal Tourism Objects in Medan City

This study aims to analyze the development strategy of halal tourism objects in Medan City. This study uses SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis method to evaluate the internal and external factors that affect the development of halal tourism in this city. The analysis results show that Medan City has significant strengths, such as rich cultural potential, nature tourism, accommodation and ease of communication. However, there are weaknesses such as halal services that need to be improved, service quality, and less effective promotion. Significant opportunities were also identified, including the rapidly growing halal tourism market and the potential for increased international cooperation. However, threats such as competition from similar destinations, security issues, economic fluctuations, and related policy changes need to be addressed. The results of this study indicate the need for a targeted and sustainable development strategy to capitalize on the potential of halal tourism in Medan City. Therefore, the Medan City government undertakes a strategy that involves improving service quality, effective promotion, and stronger cooperation with stakeholders. This strategy is expected to develop Medan City as an attractive and sustainable halal tourism destination.

Association of Medicaid expansion with dental emergency department visits overall and by states’ Medicaid dental benefits provision

BackgroundEvidence on the association of Medicaid expansion with dental emergency department (ED) utilization is limited, while even less is known on policy-related changes in dental ED visits by Medicaid programs’ dental benefits generosity. The objective of this study was to estimate the association of Medicaid expansion with changes in dental ED visits overall and by states’ benefits generosity.MethodsWe used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s Fast Stats Database from 2010 to 2015 for non-elderly adults (19 to 64 years of age) across 23 States, 11 of which expanded Medicaid in January 2014 while 12 did not. Difference-in-differences regression models were used to estimate changes in dental-related ED visits overall and further stratified by states’ dental benefit coverage in Medicaid between expansion and non-expansion States.ResultsAfter 2014, dental ED visits declined by 10.9 [95% confidence intervals (CI): -18.5 to -3.4] visits per 100,000 population quarterly in states that expanded Medicaid compared to non-expansion states. However, the overall decline was concentrated in Medicaid expansion states with dental benefits. In particular, among expansion states, dental ED visits per 100,000 population declined by 11.4 visits (95% CI: -17.9 to -4.9) quarterly in states with dental benefits in Medicaid compared to states with emergency-only or no dental benefits. Significant differences between non-expansion states by Medicaid’s dental benefits generosity were not observed [6.3 visits (95% CI: -22.3 to 34.9)].ConclusionsOur findings suggest the need to strengthen public health insurance programs with more generous dental benefits to curtail costly dental ED visits.

Resolving the Water Crisis: There's a Way, But Is There the Will?

In this issue paper, the authors refine the definition of water sustainability to account for temporal dynamics and spatial variability, identify specific challenges that must be resolved in the very near future to avoid catastrophic outcomes on levels ranging from economic disruption to survival of mankind, discuss related policy changes and potential effectiveness, and describe several technologies available to achieve water security and sustainability. While water quality certainly poses formidable challenges, in this piece we emphasize and address challenges associated with dynamic water supply availability. Our future as a society will depend upon how well and how rapidly we navigate these challenges in the coming years. As such, the main objective is to encourage private and public sector practitioners to consider revising existing programs, and to update current industry business models in a manner that promotes expedited solutions, alignment of beneficial goals, and motivates the biggest consumers of water to adopt modern data collection and decision support technologies.

Association Between Statewide Medicaid Opioid Policy and Postoperative Opioid Prescribing among Surgeons at a Large Safety-Net Hospital.

Restrictive state and payer policies may be effective in reducing opioid prescribing by surgeons, but their impact has not been well studied. In 2017, Washington Medicaid implemented an opiod prescribing limit of 42 pills, prompting a large regional safety-net hospital to implement a decision support intervention in response. We aimed to evaluate the effects on surgeons' prescribing. We retrospectively studied postoperative opioid prescribing (quantity of pills prescribed at discharge) to opioid-naïve surgical patients at a regional safety-net hospital from 2016 to 2020. We investigated associations between the policy and opioid prescribing by using interrupted time series analysis, adjusting for clinical and sociodemographic factors. A total of 12,799 surgical encounters involving opioid-naïve patients (59% male, mean age 52) were analyzed. Opioids were prescribed for 75%. From 2016 to 2020, the mean prescribed opioid quantity decreased from 36 pills to 17 pills. In interrupted time series analysis, the Medicaid policy implementation was associated with an immediate change of -8.4 pills (95% CI -12 to -4.7; p < 0.001) per prescription and a subsequent rate of decrease similar to that prepolicy. In a comparison of changes between patients insured through Medicaid vs Medicare, Medicaid patients had an immediate change of -9.8 pills (95% CI -19 to -0.76; p = 0.03) after policy implementation and continued decreases similar to those prepolicy. No immediate or subsequent policy-related changes were observed among Medicare patients. In a large regional safety-net institution, postoperative opioid prescriptions decreased in size over time, with immediate changes associated with a state Medicaid policy and corresponding decision support intervention. These findings pose implications for surgeons, hospital leaders, and payers seeking to address opioid use via judicious prescribing.

Моделирование влияния различных сценариев национальной политики и финансирования в области ВИЧ-инфекции на социальные и демографические показатели России

A number of governmental anti-HIV strategic programs are being implemented today in Russia; however, as of 2020, only 74.5% of the infected were aware of their status and only 67.4% of them were receiving the therapy. Under such conditions, it seems reasonable to assess future social and economic consequences depending on various scenarios of centralized financing of anti-HIV activities in the future. With the use of mathematic modelling, an economic analysis was performed for the “no change” scenario of maintaining costs for HIV control at the level of 2020, and a prognosis was made for 4 possible scenarios of national policy changes in relation to federal expenditures: a 25% and 50% increase in expenditures from the level of 2020, a “maximum extensive scenario” (which assumes reaching the upper limit of expenditures with approximately 60% growth while maintaining the current structure of costs), and an “intensive” scenario with an increase in nominal expenditures and shifting costs to purchasing newer third-generation antiretroviral therapy regimens. According to the modelling results, the current financial strategy (the “no change” scenario) in nominal terms will result in HIV mortality growth up to 25 thousand cases annually, the economic burden over the period of 2020–2030 will exceed RUB 4 bln and will not let achieving the national target of “90-90-90” by 2024. Under this scenario, Russia would remain the leader in HIV prevalence among the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The “no change” scenario would result in indirect economic losses of RUB 3,481.06 bln per year, with epidemiological parameters still high. The most efficient scenario turned out to be the “maximum extensive scenario” that suggests an increase in federal budget expenditures on combating HIV infection by approximately RUB 20 bln annually. This course of events would allow reducing HIV mortality to 5.4 cases per 100 thsd population by 2030, which is comparable to the current HIV mortality in Spain, Italy and Switzerland, and reducing HIV mortality by 111,9 thsd cases to a level comparable to that of the USA, Chile and New Zealand in 2019. The economic benefit from the implementation of this scenario in 2020–2030 would amount to RUB 1,663.02 bln due to decreased direct non-medical and indirect costs in the form of GDP growth and reduced payments of pensions and disability benefits.

"Truly Listen to Us": Recommendations for Health Professionals to Bolster Wellbeing of Nonbinary Individuals.

Trans-affirming providers play significant roles in the health and wellbeing of nonbinary individuals. Yet, healthcare mistreatment is well-documented among gender-diverse patients, leading to clients withholding information and avoiding care for fear of experiencing bias. Concurrently, healthcare providers report feeling ill-equipped to serve nonbinary patients, often perpetuating cisnormative binary attitudes. The literature has established the challenges to accessing healthcare and the need for gender-affirming care. However, little is known about nonbinary people’s perspectives on how best to deliver gender-affirming care that is inclusive of nonbinary patients. This participatory action PhotoVoice study identified community member recommendations for healthcare providers to bolster the wellbeing of nonbinary individuals through improved access to gender-affirming healthcare. Data were collected through group discussions, photography, and photo-elicitation interviews. Drawing upon research results, the authors identify recommendations for improving interpersonal care, increasing access to gender-affirming care, and advocating for related environmental and policy changes.

Groundwater Option in Raw Water Source Selection and Related Policy Changes in Finland

Since the late 1800s, the source selection – surface water or groundwater – for urban water supply has faced several policy changes in Finland. First, groundwater was favored. In 1920, driven by cost and reliability issues, one major city turned to surface water which was a sourcing determination for the country. After WWII, groundwater gradually gained preference motivated by reliability, including managed aquifer recharge since 1970. Instead of identified policy decisions, this shift was based on accumulated strategy. Since the 1980s security issues have favored groundwater while environmental concerns manifest themselves controversially. As a sub-study, treated lake water and groundwater were tasted by 167 persons of whom 86% preferred the latter. An additional expert survey (n=14) showed several benefits for groundwater. Combining these findings, groundwater has several advantages over surface water for Finnish urban water. Yet, for the futures, we need to keep both water sources in as good condition as possible.

Mortality Risk from : A Comparison of Modeling Approaches to Identify Disparities across Racial/Ethnic Groups in Policy Outcomes.

Background:Regulatory analyses of air pollution policies require the use of concentration–response functions and underlying health data to estimate the mortality and morbidity effects, as well as the resulting benefits, associated with policy-related changes in fine particulate matter ()]. Common practice by U.S. federal agencies involves using underlying health data and concentration–response functions that are not differentiated by racial/ethnic group.Objectives:We aim to explore the policy implications of using race/ethnicity-specific concentration–response functions and mortality data in comparison to standard approaches when estimating the impact of air pollution on non-White racial/ethnic subgroups.Methods:Using new estimates from the epidemiological literature on race/ethnicity-specific concentration–response functions paired with race/ethnicity-specific mortality rates, we estimated the mortality impacts of air pollution from all sources from a uniform increase in concentrations and from the regulations imposed by the Mercury Air Toxics Standards.Results:Use of race/ethnicity-specific information increased premature mortality estimates in older populations by 9% and among older Black Americans by 150% for all-source pollution exposure. Under a uniform degradation of air quality and race/ethnicity-specific information, older Black Americans were found to have approximately 3 times higher mortality relative to White Americans, which is obscured under a non–race/ethnicity-specific modeling approach. Standard approaches of using non–racial/ethnic specific information underestimate the benefits of the Mercury Air Toxics Standards to older Black Americans by almost 60% and overestimate the benefits to older White Americans by 14% relative to using a race/ethnicity-specific modeling approach.Discussion:Policy analyses incorporating race/ethnicity-specific concentration–response functions and mortality data relative to nondifferentiated inputs underestimate the overall magnitude of mortality burden and the disparity in impacts on older Black American populations. Based on our results, we recommend that the best available race/ethnicity-specific inputs are used in regulatory assessments to understand and reduce environmental injustices. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9001

Climate Change Vulnerability of Marginal and Small Farmers in Nuapada District, Odisha

This study attempts to measure the level of livelihood vulnerability of farmers to climate change in Nuapada. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used based on primary and secondary data. The study found that marginal and small farmers in the study area have different differential livelihood vulnerability to climate change. The study has used composite approach in which seven dimensions including 34 indicators were studied. Composite of factors such as low level of education, lack of access to credit, lack of access to critical irrigation were associated with the relatively higher Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) values. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that seven socio-economic variables account for 44% of variation in livelihood vulnerability index; three variables among them viz. number of household income sources, landholding size and highest level of education in household were found to have significant impact on LVI. The findings of the study conclude that there is differential vulnerability to climate change in the same context which was mostly determined by various socioeconomic factors. Thus climate change related studies and policies (which mostly limit district as the measuring unit) must expand their scope to understand and act on differential vulnerabilities in the same district.

CRITICISM IN COVID-19 RESPONSES AT VOLUNTEER ACCOUNT @PANDEMICTALKS (NORMAN FAIRCLOUGH'S CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS MODEL)

The Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia since March 2020 has tested the Indonesian government's capabilities in various aspects, including public health communication. The existence of communication media both from the Government and the mass media is considered insufficient in providing information related to Covid-19. The advancement of the internet and new media has made social media, especially Instagram, play a vital role in disseminating information related to Covid-19. The information gap that occurs encourages netizens to collaborate to fill it. One of the information volunteers regarding Covid-19 is the Instagram account @pandemictalks, with educational content and criticism of the handling of Covid -19 in Indonesia. This study captures how the discourse on the handling of Covid-19 was put forward by the volunteer account @pandemictalks. This study uses Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis Model, this model dissects discourse not only from the linguistic aspect but also into the social aspect and the context involved in it. This study provides an overview of the various forms of criticism that @pandemictalks conveyed, their production and distribution, social changes that occurred, and related policy changes in them.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on population mental health policy: A Swiss case study

Abstract This presentation will explore the mental health response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland with a focus on prevention and early intervention. To describe the pandemic context, the continuous literature screening on the secondary health impact of the pandemic measures on the mental health of children, adolescents and young adults in Switzerland will be used that Julia Dratva and the author lead on behalf of the Swiss School of Public Health and the Federal Office of Public Health. These findings will be complemented with selected results from the longitudinal Swiss Corona Stress Study that focuses on stress, anxiety and depression, the longitudinal COVID-19 Social Monitor that contains indicators on well-being and mental health, and the longitudinal &amp;lt;&amp;lt;Health in Students during the Corona Pandemic &amp;gt;&amp;gt; study that assesses student depression and anxiety during the pandemic. As a major finding, all three studies observed significant increases in psychological stress during the second Covid-19 wave. In the Swiss Corona Stress Study, for instance, 18% of participants reported severe depression symptoms in November 2020 relative to 12% in May, 9% in April during the lock-down, and 3% prior to the pandemic. The presentation will then describe the specific mental health responses. For instance, psychiatrists and psychotherapists were allowed to bill treatment by telephone and the recommendations and billing options have been regularly adapted in response to the developments. However, these changes have not yet affected medium-term mental health policies. Similarly, the continuous screening of the scientific literature is established as a short-term measure. It is reviewed periodically and extended only as needed. The presentation will discuss policy changes in relation to the long-term strategies and their present implementation state. Finally, it will draw initial comparisons with other European countries discuss implications for the future mental system in Switzerland.

The impact of non-medical cannabis legalization and other exposures on retention in longitudinal cannabis research: a survival analysis of a prospective study of Canadian medical cannabis patients

BackgroundDespite repeated calls by medical associations to gather evidence on the harms and benefits of cannabis, there are ongoing methodological challenges to conducting observational and clinical studies on cannabis, including a high rate of patients that are lost to follow-up (LTFU). This study explores factors potentially associated with retention in a large prospective study of Canadian medical cannabis patients, with the goal of reducing the probability that patients will be lost to follow-up in future cannabis research.MethodsThe Tilray Observational Patient Study (TOPS) was a multi-site, prospective study assessing the impact of medical cannabis over 6 months in a broad population of authorized Canadian cannabis patients. The study took place from 2016 to 19, and we conducted a series of exploratory analyses including a Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and logistic regressions to assess the potential association between study retention and variables including patient characteristics, cannabis and prescription drug use, quality of life, and the legalization of non-medical cannabis.ResultsOverall, 1011 participants were included in this analysis, contributing 287 patient-years of data. Retention was 728 (72%) at 3 months, and 419 (41.4%) at 6 months. Our analyses found significantly lower adjusted odds of retention following legalization (AOR 0.28, 95% CI 0.18–0.41), and in patients that used prescription opioids at baseline (AOR 0.62, 95% CI 0.46–0.85), while increased odds of retention were found in patients with a higher baseline psychological score (AOR 1.43, 95% CI 1.08–1.90) or that used anti-seizure medications at baseline (AOR 1.91, 95% CI 1.30–2.81).DiscussionTOPS provided a unique opportunity to examine patient characteristics and other variables that may be associated with retention in prospective medical cannabis studies. Our findings highlight some of the challenges of conducting medical cannabis research at a time when patients have a multitude of cannabis access options, including legal adult dispensaries and a robust illicit market. High LTFU rates can impact the validity of studies, and potentially lead to misestimations of the harms and benefits of medical cannabis use. Despite being a multi-site prospective study, this was a convenience sample, thereby limiting the generalizability of these findings. Additionally, data regarding the use of cannabis was self-reported by patients, so is subject to potential recall bias.ConclusionWe found evidence that external policy changes that affect access to cannabis such as the legalization of non-medical adult use and patient characteristics associated with patient physical/psychological capacity can impact retention in prospective medical cannabis studies. Evidence-based strategies to reduce study burden on participants, such as minimizing in-person visits by providing digitized internet-based surveys and phone or telemedicine follow-up options as well as ensuring adequate participant compensation could improve retention. Additionally, policy-related changes aimed at improving access to medical cannabis, including increased cost-coverage and community-based distribution, could encourage patients to remain in the federal medical cannabis program and thereby reduce LTFU in associated studies.

Spatial association of mobility and COVID-19 infection rate in the USA: A county-level study using mobile phone location data

IntroductionHuman mobility has been a central issue in the discussion from the beginning of COVID-19. While the body of literature on the relationship of COVID transmission and mobility is large, studies mostly captured a relatively short timeframe. Moreover, spatial non-stationarity has garnered less attention in these explorative models. Therefore, the major concern of this study is to see the relationship of mobility and COVID on a broader temporal scale and after mitigating this methodological gap. ObjectiveIn response to this concern, this study first explores the spatiotemporal pattern of mobility indicators. Secondly, it attempts to understand how mobility is related to COVID infection rate and how this relationship has been changed over time and space after controlling several sociodemographic characteristics, spatial heterogeneity, and policy-related changes during different phases of Coronavirus. Data and methodThis study uses GPS-based mobility data for a wider time frame of six months (March 20-August’20) divided into four tiers and carries analysis for all the US counties (N = 3142). Space-time cube is used to generate the spatiotemporal pattern. For the second objective, Ordinary Least Square (OLS), Spatial Error Model (SEM), and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) were used. ResultThe spatial-temporal pattern suggests that the trip rate, out-of-county trip rate, and miles/person traveled were mostly plummeted till the first wave reached its peak, and subsequently, all of these mobility matrices started to rise. From spatial models, infection rates were found negatively correlated with miles traveled and out-of-county trips. Highly COVID infected areas mostly had more people working from home, low percentages of aged people and educated people, and high percentages of poor people. ConclusionThis study, with necessary policy implications, provides a comprehensive understanding of the shifting pattern of mobility and COVID. Spatial models outperform OLS with better fits and non-clustered residuals.

Design thinking in applied informatics: what can we learn from Project HealthDesign?

The goals of this study are to describe the value and impact of Project HealthDesign (PHD), a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that applied design thinking to personal health records, and to explore the applicability of the PHD model to another challenging translational informatics problem: the integration of AI into the healthcare system. We assessed PHD's impact and value in 2 ways. First, we analyzed publication impact by calculating a PHD h-index and characterizing the professional domains of citing journals. Next, we surveyed and interviewed PHD grantees, expert consultants, and codirectors to assess the program's components and the potential future application of design thinking to artificial intelligence (AI) integration into healthcare. There was a total of 1171 unique citations to PHD-funded work (collective h-index of 25). Studies citing PHD span medical, legal, and computational journals. Participants stated that this project transformed their thinking, altered their career trajectory, and resulted in technology transfer into the commercial sector. Participants felt, in general, that the approach would be valuable in solving contemporary challenges integrating AI in healthcare including complex social questions, integrating knowledge from multiple domains, implementation, and governance. Design thinking is a systematic approach to problem-solving characterized by cooperation and collaboration. PHD generated significant impacts as measured by citations, reach, and overall effect on participants. PHD's design thinking methods are potentially useful to other work on cyber-physical systems, such as the use of AI in healthcare, to propose structural or policy-related changes that may affect adoption, value, and improvement of the care delivery system.

Deviations in criminal filings of child abuse and neglect during COVID-19 from forecasted models: An analysis of the state of Oklahoma, USA

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to risk factors for child abuse and neglect and disrupted conventional abuse surveillance. ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to assess how counts of criminal charges have been affected by COVID-19 social distancing measures and related policy changes. Participants and SettingThis study used publicly available court filings pertaining to child abuse and neglect from Jan 1, 2010 to June 30, 2020. MethodsAutoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) algorithms were constructed with case data from January 2010 to January 2020 to forecast trends in criminal charges for February to June 2020. These forecasted values were then compared to actual charges filed for this time period. ResultsCriminal cases filed between February and June 2020, had an overall 25.7 percent lower average than forecasted. All individual months had progressively lower cases than forecasted with the exception of March. June had the largest deviation from forecasted with 60.1 percent fewer cases than predicted. ConclusionsAlthough risk factors for child abuse have increased due to COVID-19, these findings demonstrate a declining trend in child abuse charges. Rather than a decreasing incidence of child abuse and neglect, it is more likely that less cases are being reported. The results warrant immediate action and further investigation in order to address the dangers this pandemic poses for children in abusive situations.

Impact of COVID-19 Related Policy Changes on Buprenorphine Dispensing in Texas.

To measure the change in the daily number of patients receiving buprenorphine and buprenorphine prescribers during the early phase of the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Texas. Counts of the number of patients filling and number of providers prescribing buprenorphine were calculated for each weekday between November 4, 2019 and May 12, 2020. The change in daily patients and prescribers between March 2, 2020 and May 12, 2020, was modeled as a change in slope compared to the baseline period using autoregressive, interrupted time series regression. The rate of change of daily buprenorphine prescriptions (β = -1.75, 95% CI = -5.8-2.34) and prescribers (β = -0.32, 95% CI = -1.47-0.82) declined insignificantly during the COVID-19 period compared to the baseline. Despite a 57% decline in ambulatory care utilization in the south-central US during March and April of 2020, health services utilization related to buprenorphine in Texas remained robust. Protecting access to buprenorphine as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold will require intensive efforts from clinicians and policy makers alike. While the presented results are promising, researchers must continue monitoring and exploring the clinical and humanistic impact of COVID-19 on the treatment of substance use disorders.