A study of 160 people in the United States finds associations between worries around COVID-19 and substance use. The authors warn that the pandemic may increase the risk of substance abuse in some people and advocate for specific interventions to protect mental health.

Beyond the physical effects of the novel coronavirus, the onset and continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically affected people’s mental health in the United States and worldwide.

A recent study highlighted how levels of depression in the U.S. have tripled during the pandemic. Symptoms of anxiety may also be on the rise, according to recent trends in Google searches.

Understandably, the pandemic generates fear in many people, as the world finds itself in an unprecedented situation filled with uncertainty.

People manage uncertainties in different ways, but there is a risk that the stress the pandemic causes may trigger an ongoing mental health problem in some people.

A recent study led by the University of Houston, TX, finds that worry about COVID-19 may be a risk factor for substance use, which could, in turn, lead to misuse in some people.

The findings, which appear in Psychiatry Research, suggest the pandemic could adversely affect mental health for years to come.

Original Source

A new IBM (NYSE: IBM) study of global C-suite executives revealed that nearly six in ten responding organizations have accelerated their digital transformations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Traditional and perceived barriers like technology immaturity and employee opposition to change have fallen away – in fact, 66% of executives surveyed said they have completed initiatives that previously encountered resistance.

Participating businesses are seeing more clearly the critical role people play in driving their ongoing transformation. Leaders surveyed called out organizational complexity, inadequate skills and employee burnout as the biggest hurdles to overcome — both today and in the next two years. The study finds a significant disconnect in how effective leaders and employees believe companies have been in addressing these gaps. 74% of executives surveyed believe they have been helping their employees learn the skills needed to work in a new way, just 38% of employees surveyed agree. 80% of executives surveyed say that they are supporting the physical and emotional health of their workforce, while just 46% of employees surveyed feel that support.

The IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) study “COVID-19 and the Future of Business,” which includes input from more than 3,800 C-suite executives in 20 countries and 22 industries, shows that executives surveyed are facing a proliferation of initiatives due to the pandemic and having difficulty focusing, but do plan to prioritize internal and operational capabilities such as workforce skills and flexibility – critical areas to address in order to jumpstart progress.

Original Source

A new ILO analysis of the labour market impact of COVID-19 reveals a “massive” drop in labour income and a fiscal stimulus gap that threatens to increase inequality between richer and poorer countries.

GENEVA (ILO News) – The devastating losses in working hours caused by the COVID-19 pandemic  have brought a “massive” drop in labour income for workers around the world, says the International Labour Organization (ILO) in its latest assessment of the effects of the pandemic on the world of work.

Global labour income is estimated to have declined by 10.7 per cent, or US$ 3.5 trillion, in the first three quarters of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019. This figure excludes income support provided through government measures.

The biggest drop was in lower-middle income countries, where the labour income losses reached 15.1 per cent, with the Americas the hardest hit region at 12.1 per cent.

The ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. Sixth edition , says that the global working hour losses in the first nine months of 2020 have been “considerably larger” than estimated in the previous edition of the Monitor (issued on 30 June).

Original Source

COVID-19 is an “unprecedented global crisis that demands an unprecedented global response”, the chief of the UN health agency said on September 21, unveiling a plan to have two billion doses of coronavirus vaccine available by the end of 2021.

Roughly 64 per cent of the global population lives in a nation that has either committed to, or is eligible to join, the coronavirus Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, which enables participating Governments to spread the risk and costs of vaccine development and provide their populations with early access to vaccines.

Working together through the COVAX Facility “is not charity, it’s in every country’s best interest. We sink or we swim together”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

‘Vaccine nationalism’ will prolong pandemic

Speaking at a press briefing with the international vaccine alliance GAVI, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the WHO chief said that commitment agreements have been secured and the COVAX Facility would begin signing contracts with vaccine manufacturers and developers.

The overarching goal of the COVAX Facility is to ensure that all countries have access to vaccines at the same time, and that priority is given to those most at risk, according to the WHO chief.

Original Source

The COVID-19 pandemic and strategies to prevent its spread, such as self-quarantine and travel restrictions, have isolated families and intensified conditions that place people at greater risk for domestic violence. Reports of domestic violence are increasing around the world.

Domestic violence is harm inflicted by a romantic partner in the form of psychological, physical and sexual abuse, stalking, and economic and spiritual abuse. This violence disproportionately affects women and girls around the world. In the United States, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men experience domestic violence during their lifetime.

Victims usually turn to informal support resources like family and friends first to share their experiences and get support. Members in victims’ social networks are in a position to help in ways that social service and health care providers may not be. In fact, women seek formal support resources, like social services and police, far less frequently than they reach out to family and friends. Ethnic minority and immigrant women seek formal support resources even less than white women.

Family and friends, therefore, can have a powerful impact. Victims who receive support from people they are closest to experience less future violence, injury, suicide, depression and other negative health outcomes. Engaging and supporting family and friends in the prevention of domestic violence has never been more important. The COVID-19 global pandemic has revealed the boundaries of our current social services in reaching women in need.

Original Source

Lockdown lowered the spread of COVID-19 in New York City by 70 percent, according to a forthcoming study.

For the study, scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene looked at how successful public health interventions — such as school closures, stay-at-home orders and face masks — were on the widespread COVID-19 transmission rates happening in the city from March until its “reopening” in June. The scientists found that these measures were highly effective at reducing coronavirus infection rates.

In fact, the success rate of New York City’s lockdown was even higher than what was seen in Wuhan, China. According to the Columbia University press release, “the new study is in line with previous modeling studies estimating that lockdowns reduced COVID-19 transmission by 58 percent in Wuhan, China, 45 percent in Italy, and 77 in France.”

Original Source

Parents and children surveyed about the COVID-19 pandemic in late April and early May of 2020 – when most schools and day care providers closed their doors – said they had become more stressed out.

In response to our questions about their feelings and thoughts, these 183 parents in Western states who were between the ages of 18 and 55 years old replied that their mental and physical health and interactions with others have deteriorated. Most of the families who participated were white (66.7%), 21.3% were Latino, 7.1% identified as mixed race or “other” and 4.9% were Black.

Parents who had lost their jobs and other sources of income, were unable to see family or friends, struggled to oversee their children’s schoolwork or had many anxiety and depressive symptoms were more likely to feel stressed, as indicated by responses to 10 items each on a scale of 0-4. They were also more likely to be at risk for abusive parenting.

At the same time, parents said they were finding ways to alleviate stress and its consequences. For example, parents who perceived that they had more control over their lives during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and who felt like they had enough people who they could rely on for comfort, support and encouragement were less likely to feel stressed out or exhibit signs that they were at risk of abusive parenting.

Original Source

Women leaders around the world have had considerably more success in slowing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and its general outcomes, and two economists can now explain why.

Only 19 countries around the world are currently led by women, and throughout the first few months of the pandemic, most of them had in common a relative success in fighting the virus. From Bangladesh to Norway to Iceland, a study reveals that some characteristics that are typical to women in leadership positions were instrumental in the success of these countries: “It required big thinking, empathy, and good communication skills,” Dr. Uma Kambhampati, Professor of Economics at the University of Reading and co-author of the study, told Forbes.

After seeing memes trending on social media of successful leaders dealing with COVID-19 being women, Dr. Kambhampati and her colleague, Supriya Garikipati, Associate Professor in Development Economics at the University of Liverpool, decided to look at whether this statement was accurate or not.

To do so, they matched each female-led country with another “neighbor” country led by a male, that is similar in terms of population, age, GDP per capita, health expenditure etc. For example, New Zealand was paired with Ireland and Germany with the United Kingdom. The results were clear, even when the researchers tried dropping countries with outstanding results (good and bad) and matching with other countries. “What we were surprised [by] is how systematic and robust it was,” Dr. Kambhampati said. For example, they tried looking at the data without New Zealand, Germany, and the United States, and the results still overwhelmingly showed that women leaders were doing better.

Original Source

New study by the University of New Mexico looks at shifts in community behaviors

Gabe Sanchez, professor of political science and director of the University of New Mexico’s (UNM’s) Center for Social Policy, is part of an interdisciplinary research team looking at how the pandemic is impacting behaviors of the US population as a result of the pandemic.

“Because we were able to move quickly, we are one of the few teams have data from early on in the pandemic,” Sanchez explained. “We’ve been able to get information from thousands of respondents across the country to look at variation in behavior based on where people live, as states have responded in different ways and entered different phases of quarantine.”

The National Panel Study of COVID-19 began in March and focuses on how different ethnicities and political party affiliations have influenced behavior patterns during the pandemic. This new study launched at the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has unique data reveals behavioral pattern changes within communities.

In response to the pandemic, The University of Kansas Health System launched a secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform

Technology has served as crucial weapon in the global fight against the coronavirus. It’s helped bring people together in a time when it’s safer to remain apart. More specifically, telehealth has emerged as a digital bridge, allowing enterprises such as education, research and patient care to advance, even under the paralyzing grip of COVID-19.

While some institutions and organizations are just now fully embracing telehealth, the University of Kansas Medical Center is nearly 30 years into the journey, and the institution is helping its partner, The University of Kansas Health System, and others across Kansas, harness the innovation’s power and possibilities.

Also, in response to the pandemic, the university, through its University of Kansas Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth (KUCTT), hosted two webinars that drew more than 400 Kansas providers interested in how to develop and launch a telehealth plan in the wake of the crisis.

“It’s not just us doing for us, but us trying to do for the whole state,” said Ryan Spaulding, Ph.D., vice chancellor for community engagement, who oversees the University of Kansas Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth and the university’s telehealth outreach and programming.