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SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19
Published in Patricia G. Melloy, Viruses and Society, 2023
The New York Times recently examined the results from “The American Time Use Survey” conducted by the U.S. Labor Department, looking at data from May to December 2020 versus the same time in 2019. Parents spent much more time juggling activities in 2020, including keeping an eye on their children while they were doing other things. As many as one-third of workers worked from home. However, White and Asian workers were more likely to work from home than Black and Hispanic workers (Casselman and Koeze 2021). As of the end of 2021, many workers who moved to remote work are still working that way. This situation has been described as a “massive and unplanned remote-work experiment” (Sinatra Ayres 2021). As workers become accustomed to working outside the office, employers will be asked to be more flexible, giving workers more say in how they structure their workday and when workers will be required to be in the workplace versus working remotely (Sinatra Ayres 2021).
Using Digital as a Tool, Not Being the Tool of the Technology Giants
Published in Connie White Delaney, Charlotte A. Weaver, Joyce Sensmeier, Lisiane Pruinelli, Patrick Weber, Deborah Trautman, Kedar Mate, Howard Catton, Nursing and Informatics for the 21st Century – Embracing a Digital World, 3rd Edition, Book 2, 2022
Peter Klein, Bob Barker, Kevin Bryant, Alexander M.K. Mackenzie
A confluence of events has made ‘personal branding' and ‘digital branding' more important than ever for health professionals. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated the trend toward telehealth and remote work. Patients can now learn a tremendous amount about nursing, medicine or medical teams responsible for their care from online bios and social media. From a trust and confidence perspective, this can cut both ways.
Case Studies in Applied Informatics during COVID-19
Published in Connie White Delaney, Charlotte A. Weaver, Joyce Sensmeier, Lisiane Pruinelli, Patrick Weber, Nursing and Informatics for the 21st Century – Embracing a Digital World, 3rd Edition, Book 3, 2022
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was able to promote collaboration of diverse stakeholders to quickly respond to the complex factors involved in a global pandemic. Almost 20 apps and digital platforms were created or reformatted to provide information resources such as patient education, pandemic communication, tracking of COVID-19 positive patients, contact tracing, medication and care management and to support a social media campaign. Additionally, the apps and digital platforms allowed for minimal disruptions to daily life and included education, telehealth, remote work and other key functions. Although the multiple apps and platforms facilitated a well-coordinated approach to the pandemic and healthcare management, a decrease in the number of apps and platforms enabled by integrating the technology would provide greater efficiency and visibility for a future digital pandemic risk communication approach.
Association between physical and mental health variables among software professionals working at home: a secondary analysis
Published in International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 2022
Prabhu Muniswamy, Irene Grace Peter, Varadayini Gorhe, Baskaran Chandrasekaran
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has forced millions of employees to work from home (WFH) and this is expected to be continued in the foreseeable future so as to mitigate the spread of the virus. ‘Remote work or tele-work’ can be defined as ‘flexible working in locations remote from the typical office environment where, worker has no personal contact with colleagues but contact them and performs official duties using technology’ [1,2, p. 17]. Further, tele-workers are termed in different ways: tele-commuters, home-sourced or work-at-home employees. WFH has resulted in high sedentary behaviour (SB) such as prolonged sitting or high occupational work time and low physical activity (PA) due to limited outdoor activities and restriction on sporting facilities [3]. High sitting time (daily sitting time more than 6 h per day) was found to increase cardiovascular disease-related mortality (women, 37% and men, 16%) [4]. Globally, 7.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] [5.4, 9.0]) of all-cause mortality and 7.6% (95% CI [6.1, 9.3]) of cardiovascular disease deaths are found to be attributed to physical inactivity [5]. Hence, interventions that are designed to address the low PA or high SB in context specific settings like workplaces are contemplated to prevent cardiometabolic disease risk and regulate mental health in desk-based office workers [6,7].
Self-care among healthcare social workers: The impact of COVID-19
Published in Social Work in Health Care, 2021
J. Jay Miller, Jennifer Reddin Cassar
Participants who reported working mostly remotely since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic engaged in significantly fewer self-care practices on four of the five domains when compared to those who had not been working remotely. Significant differences were detected in Professional Development, Life Support, Cognitive Awareness, and Daily Balance domains, which showed that the mean self-care scores for those currently working remotely was significantly lower than those who were not working remotely. This finding is interesting given previous debates about remote work. While some argue that remote work arrangements are beneficial due to the flexibility it affords employees, others have asserted it allows for more home distractions, and as such, employees may be less productive (Fonner & Roloff, 2010; Gajendran & Harrison, 2007; Golden, 2006). A 2017 Gallup Poll that examined workplace issues concluded that employees who work remotely are more engaged and enthusiastic, IF that remote work is limited to 20% (or less) of their work time. Because participants in this study reporting working mostly remotely, this may be impacting self-care. Though not part of the current study, there are other factors such as homeschool, inadequate agency supports for virtual work, etc. may add additional strain for individuals working from home.
“You never stop being a social worker:” Experiences of pediatric hospital social workers during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic
Published in Social Work in Health Care, 2021
Abigail M. Ross, Samantha Schneider, Yudy F. Muneton-Castano, Adolfo Al Caldas, Elizabeth R. Boskey
Findings also highlighted both the challenges and opportunities afforded by remote work and adoption of telehealth. Challenges of working from home included difficulties accessing and implementing technology off site, isolation and loneliness, competing demands of work and family, and blurred boundaries that caused work to expand beyond traditional work hours. These challenges have been noted across professions during the sudden shift to remote work caused by the pandemic (Restubog et al., 2020). While it is possible that many of these challenges may resolve with time, findings underscore the need for expanded departmental and hospital guidelines related to work hours and availability for those working remotely, as well as the need for increased availability of child care supports at the local, state, and federal levels.