Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In the event of another pandemic influenza, it will be important to understand the public’s perception of quarantine and social distancing methods, as these methods will be the first line of defense in attempting to contain or lessen the severity of the outbreak until a vaccine and medications can be developed and produced in mass quantities. College students perceptions are particularly important to look at as their living situations can vary drastically from the general public, i.e. living far away from home and with roommates. This study looks at college students perceptions of quarantine and social distancing measures that could be implemented in the event of an outbreak of pandemic influenza. The data revealed that undergraduate college students in this study favored the use of government implemented quarantine and social distancing methods, except for requiring that religious services be temporarily canceled. They are also worried about the potential problems that may occur as a result of the implementation of quarantine and social distancing methods, and the only information source that the majority of them trust to give them useful and accurate information regarding an influenza pandemic in their community was their physician or other health care professional. Of most significance to the college student population, as opposed to the general public, is the place of quarantine for the other people that live in the same residence. Fifty-three percent of the respondents in this study favored quarantining the other people living in their residence in a separate quarantine facility compared to 29% in the Blendon (2006) study that surveyed the general adult population in the United States.

Background: Elderly people are vulnerable and belong to the high-risk groups of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19. Because of this, they also become more vulnerable in society due to COVID-19 restrictions. The government has used social distancing as a restriction to prevent the spread of COVID-19. People in general, and more specifically elderly people, were asked to stay at home to minimize the risk of becoming seriously ill for their own sake, and as not to overload the healthcare system. Social distancing had a negative impact on their health and well-being. Aim: To explore elderly's experience of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: The method used was a literature review, using qualitative and quantitative research.Results: Two overarching themes emerged: Psychological strain and facing a new reality, with four sub-themes: Increased loneliness, Negative emotions, New challenges and Coping strategies. Conclusions: The social distancing, related to the COVID-19 pandemic, has had a negative impact on the health of older people. Elderly people have suffered from loneliness, lack of well-being and have become isolated from society during the pandemic. They were encouraged not to burden the healthcare system and all their health promotion activities had been suspended due to the pandemic. Many elderly people have multiple illnesses and have previously experienced loneliness, which also worsened during the pandemic. The results showed an increased experience of loneliness and psychological burden. To cope with their new reality and challenges within, some older people found digital ways of socializing with each other and their relatives. It is important that society targets these high-risk groups to minimize their loneliness, depression, and subsequent increased morbidity. Keywords: COVID-19, elderly, loneliness, mental health, social distancing.

Former research has shown a strong relationship between anxiety and various negative reactions to trauma, including widespread traumatic events such as natural disasters, war, and pandemics. COVID-19 has been an ongoing, potentially traumatic event for individuals all over the world. Even individuals who have not experienced serious traumatic consequences because of the pandemic have likely had some negative experiences regarding the mandated quarantine and social distancing. This study seeks to find possible personality predictors for negative reactions, whether they be behavioral or cognitive. Participants completed several questionnaires that test personality constructs, including trait anxiety, need for affiliation, extraversion, and autonomy. Following this, the participants completed a questionnaire divided into two subscales evaluating cognitive and behavioral reactions to quarantine, developed from the list of immediate and delayed reactions to trauma created by the Center for Abuse Treatment in the United States. The most significant finding from this study is the correlation between these negative reactions- both cognitive and behavioral- and trait anxiety. Along with this, extraversion was found to correlate with negative behavioral reactions, and a need for affiliation was found to correlate with negative cognitive reactions. Each item within the reactions scale was tested in correlation with these three constructs which showed significance. These items provide implications that could potentially allow us to prevent these negative thoughts and behaviors provided that the pandemic continues extensively or in the event that another widespread traumatic event occurs in the future.

This dissertation consists of three essays in Health Economics relating to the recent challenges in the U.S. The first essay studies the impact of retirement on subsequent health and investigates the mediation effect of social network in the relationship between retirement and health. Findings reveal that retirement adversely impacts physical and mental health outcomes and a considerable portion of these effects are explained by social network changes post-retirement. In particular, shrinkage in the size of social network post-retirement deteriorates physical health and increases depression in retirees. In the second essay, we assess the differential effect of social distancing on the daily growth rate of COVID-19 infections in the US counties by considering the spatial pattern of COVID-19 spread. We also conduct a comparative analysis of the effect on urban versus rural counties, as well as low versus high socially vulnerable counties. Our analysis illustrates that a high level of social distancing compliance is needed in urban counties and in socially vulnerable areas to achieve the largest impact at curve flattening, whereas moderate-compliance is enough in reaching the peak marginal impact in rural regions and counties with low social vulnerability. In the third essay, by combining multiple data sources, we investigate how racial disparities in access to healthcare contribute to the disparity in COVID-19 infections and mortality in black versus white sub-groups. The multilevel analysis demonstrates that a higher probability of having health insurance significantly reduces disparity in COVID-19 mortality in black sub-group while it has no impact on the disparity in whites. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation uses various quantitative methods to investigate policy-relevant questions regarding the recent challenges in the U.S. economy. In the first chapter, we explore how the physical and mental health of individuals changes by retirement. The results show that retirement decreases physical health while increases depression and anxiety. We also analyze how social network changes after retirement might cause changes in the health of retirees. We find that retirees may experience worse physical and mental health than non-retirees due to losing some of their relationships after retirement. In particular, the loss of contacts increases depression and deteriorates general health. In the second chapter, we investigate how compliance with social distancing within a typical county and its neighbor counties can reduce the spread of COVID-19. We examine this question for urban versus rural counties in the US and socially vulnerable versus socially not vulnerable counties. We find a high compliance level of social distancing is needed in urban counties and in socially vulnerable areas to reach the highest impact at slowing down the COVID-19 virus spread. In the third chapter, we examine whether healthcare access inequalities (e.g., having health insurance) increase the risk of COVID-19 infections and mortality for black communities. Our results show that having health insurance decreases COVID-19 mortality in communities of color but not whites.

Cognitive reappraisal is an emotion regulation strategy that has been shown effective in down-regulating negative emotions in both psychological and electrophysiological measures. Although there are many studies on cognitive reappraisal, only recently have there been studies differentiating between various ways of employing the strategy. This event-related potential (ERP) study sets out to compare the efficiency and temporal dynamics of three cognitive reappraisal techniques – situation-focused reappraisal, social distancing, and temporal distancing – by measuring their effects on emotional responses to aversive pictures, as indexed by the affective ERP component the late positive potential (LPP). EEG data was recorded from 17 participants. The results revealed no significant differences between emotion regulation strategies and baseline for the total ERP epoch (3,000 ms). When differentiating between early (400-800 ms), mid (800-1,500 ms), and late (1,500-3,000) periods of the epoch, significance was found in some conditions, but since no significant overall LPP activity was found, these numbers are difficult to interpret.

This is a qualitative study that explores elderly Syrian immigrants’ experiences of using smartphones for information and social interaction during the coronavirus pandemic in Gavle, Sweden. The sample used in this study consists of five elderly Syrian immigrants from Gavle city. The data was collected through five semi-structured online interviews; the social capital theory was used together with previous research to analyze the results. The results show that the use of smartphones had a very important role in the social interaction of Syrian immigrants during the Coronavirus pandemic. The use of smartphones during the Coronavirus crisis reduced the negative effects of the social distancing policy, facilitated communication and interactions with family and friends, and communication with health and social services. Moreover, smartphones are a renewed source of scientific information regarding the Coronavirus pandemic worldwide. The results of this study show some simple challenges faced by this sample of elderly Syrian immigrants while using smartphones for social interactions.

This paper describes the development of a brief self-report screening measure of adherence to social distancing and self-protective behaviors in pandemic situations. It provides initial statistical evaluations of correlations between social distancing behaviors and two trait measures (social desirability and trait empathy). Items measures were designed to quantify behaviors recommended by the CDC as primary strategies to prevent and reduce the spread of the COVID-19 infection. An item pool of 29 questions was generated with the aim of estimating the frequency of specific behaviors and were written to avoid confounding the description of behavioral actions with evaluative judgements. Responses were collected from 401 young adults using an anonymous online survey. An Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted with the purpose of item reduction and subscale development. A 14-item Social Distance Scale (SDS) emerged, consisting of 4-subscales: Isolation from Community (IC), Work from Home (WH), Family Contact (FC), and Protective Behaviors (PB). The initial psychometric evaluation of the scales indicated adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The Social Distance Scale is a promising new instrument which may be applied at the population or individual level. It may be used in conjunction with COVID-19 testing to measure interactions between social distancing factors and transmission. In addition, a reliable screening measure has utility for health service providers to assess patient risk and to provide education/counseling. A secondary purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between trait empathy and social distancing. A MANCOVA was performed using the four subscales of the SDS v.1 with Empathy Group and Gender Group as fixed factors and the Socially Desirable Response Set (SDRS-5) as a covariate. The SDRS-5 was found to be a significant covariate for both the IC and PB subscales of the SDS v.1 , where higher levels of socially desirable responding lead to higher scores on IC and PB. It was hypothesized that participants high in self-reported trait empathy would demonstrate higher levels of social distancing. Indeed it was found that a significant main effect for Empathy Group emerged, where Empathy Group was significantly related to IC, WH, and PB. In line with expectations, participants in the High Empathy Group scored higher on these three dimensions of social distancing than those in the Low Empathy Group. A significant main effect for Gender Group was obtained for PB. Women were found to be significantly more likely to engage in protective behaviors such as hand washing, mask wearing, and maintaining 6 feet of distance than men.

For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. In this brief note written during a global pandemic, we consider some of the important ways this historical moment is altering the religious landscape, aiming our investigative lens at how religious institutions, congregations, and individuals are affected by the social changes produced by COVID-19. This unprecedented time prompts scholars of religion to reflect on how to strategically approach the study of religion in the time of “social distancing,” as well as moving forward. Particularly important considerations include developing heuristic, innovative approaches for revealing ongoing changes to religion, as well as how religion continues to structure social life across a wide range of contexts, from the most intimate and personal to the most public and global. Although our note can only be indicative rather than exhaustive, we do suggest that the initial groundwork for reconsiderations might productively focus on several key analytical themes, including: Epidemiology, Ideology, Religious Practice, Religious Organizations and Institutions, as well as Epistemology and Methodology. In offering these considerations as a starting point, we remain aware (and hopeful) that inventive and unanticipated approaches will also emerge.

[pt] A partir de dezembro de 2019, o mundo tomou conhecimento da existência da Covid-19 (FIOCRUZ, 2020). As peculiaridades da doença, exigiram a adoção de medidas de distanciamento social (OMS, 2020). Na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, a partir de 16 de março de 2020, foi determinado o fechamento de todas as empresas que não prestassem serviços essenciais (ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2020). Nesse contexto, as empresas se viram compelidas a adaptar as rotinas organizacionais para manter suas operações. Emergiu, então, a relevância de investigar como profissionais experienciaram suas rotinas organizacionais durante o período de isolamento social imposto pela pandemia da Covid-19. A partir de uma abordagem Fenomenográfica, foram entrevistados 30 profissionais. Das análises, retornaram três categorias descritivas: i) a preservação das rotinas organizacionais; ii) a (re)organização da dimensão tempo-espaço e iii) a capacidade de inovação. Para relacioná-las, foram identificadas quatro dimensões explicativas: i) o dinamismo nos componentes operativos das rotinas; ii) os aspectos técnicos-comportamentais dos atores envolvidos; iii) os aspectos gerenciais sobre as rotinas e iv percepção de segurança. Os achados sugerem que as concepções dos profissionais evoluíram da operação mecânica da rotina para uma percepção de engajamento coletivo para manutenção da própria empresa; do objetivo de manter os padrões preestabelecidos, para uma percepção de oportunidade para inovação e diferenciação. Além disso, o estudo reforça a indissociável relação entre os aspectos ostensivo e performativos das rotinas e os artefatos. / [en] As of December 2019, the world became aware of the existence of Covid-19 (FIOCRUZ, 2020). The peculiarities of the disease required the adoption of measures of social distancing (WHO, 2020). In the city of Rio de Janeiro, as of March 16, 2020, all companies that did not provide essential services were closed (ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2020). In this context, companies found themselves compelled to adapt organizational routines to maintain their operations. The relevance of investigating how professionals experienced their organizational routines during the period of social isolation imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic emerged. From a Phenomenographic approach, 30 professionals were interviewed. From the analyses, three descriptive categories returned: i) the preservation of organizational routines; ii) the (re)organization of the time-space dimension and iii) the capacity for innovation. To relate them, four explanatory dimensions were identified: i) the dynamism in the operative components of the routines; ii) the technical-behavioral aspects of the actors involved; iii) managerial aspects of routines and iv perception of safety. The findings suggest that the professionals conceptions evolved from the mechanical operation of the routine to a perception of collective engagement to maintain the company itself; from the objective of maintaining pre-established standards, to a perception of opportunity for innovation and differentiation. Furthermore, the study reinforces the inseparable relationship between the ostensive and performative aspects of routines and artifacts.

No / As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, manually enhanced ad-hoc solutions have helped the physical space designers and decision makers to cope with the dynamic nature of space planning. Due to the unpredictable nature by which the pandemic is unfolding, the standard operating procedures also change, and the protocols for physical interaction require continuous reconsideration. Consequently, the development of an appropriate technological solution to address the current challenge of reconfiguring common physical environments with prescribed physical distancing measures is much needed. To do this, we propose a design optimization methodology which takes the dimensions, as well as the constraints and other necessary requirements of a given physical space to yield optimal redesign solutions on the go. The methodology we propose here utilizes the solution to the well-known mathematical circle packing problem, which we define as a constrained mathematical optimization problem. The resulting optimization problem is solved subject to a given set of parameters and constraints – corresponding to the requirements on the social distancing criteria between people and the imposed constraints on the physical spaces such as the position of doors, windows, walkways and the variables related to the indoor airflow pattern. Thus, given the dimensions of a physical space and other essential requirements, the solution resulting from the automated optimization algorithm can suggest an optimal set of redesign solutions from which a user can pick the most feasible option. We demonstrate our automated optimal design methodology by way of a number of practical examples, and we discuss how this framework can be further taken forward as a design platform that can be implemented practically. / University of Bradford's COVID-19 Response Fund, the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (Computer Science National Program) under grant #TIN2017-89275-Rof the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion and European Funds (AEI/FEDER, UE)