The COVID-19 Pandemic exacerbated a multitude of systems in the United States in 2020 up to current day. The structure of non-profit organizations across the country weakened as demands escalated for free food resources with specific pressure placed on food banks and food recovery organizations. There were citizens who had not previously relied on free food services who found themselves in drive through pickups, waiting for pre-packaged food boxes or the occasional you-pick operation to feed their families and themselves. The increase in demand for free food services was reacted to by those leading and directing the free food distribution sites through a time of crisis. This qualitative study serves to analyze food recovery organization (FRO) leadership strategies and principles that guided their decision making and problem-solving skills in response to food shortages and supply chain issues. The merge of the eight pillars of transformational and servant leadership theory provided propositional pillars that were tested in practice through interviews with FRO leaders in Appalachia. The discovery of how these leadership strategies were enacted during a time of crisis will guide the development of a training curriculum for nonprofit leaders in the future. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / The COVID-19 Pandemic exacerbated a multitude of systems in the United States in 2020 up to current day. The structure of non-profit organizations across the country weakened as demands escalated for free food resources with specific pressure placed on food banks and food recovery organizations. There were citizens who had not previously relied on free food services who found themselves in drive through pickups, waiting for pre-packaged food boxes or the occasional you-pick operation to feed their families and themselves. The increase in demand for free food services was reacted to by those leading and directing the free food distribution sites through a time of crisis. This qualitative study serves to analyze food recovery organization (FRO) leadership strategies and principles that guided their decision making and problem-solving skills in response to food shortages and supply chain issues. The merge of the eight pillars of transformational and servant leadership theory provided propositional pillars that were tested in practice through interviews with FRO leaders in Appalachia. The discovery of how these leadership strategies were enacted during a time of crisis will guide the development of a training curriculum for nonprofit leaders in the future.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact worldwide and is posing a threat to the physical and mental health of world citizens. The present study examines the extent to which a sample of Swedish university students have experienced loneliness during COVID-19. Furthermore, it also examines if there is a correlation between a high degree of loneliness and increased alcohol consumption. Participants consisted of Swedish university students recruited online using opportunity sampling (N=224). Loneliness was measured using the UCLA Loneliness Scale translated into Swedish. Results showed that the sample displayed higher levels of loneliness compared to normative scores but lower levels when compared to students elsewhere who have been quarantined. A logistic regression found no connection between high degrees of loneliness and increased alcohol consumption in the sample. The results and their implications are discussed. A pre-post measurement design and longitudinal studies are encouraged for future research to evaluate long term consequences of loneliness, along with an increased focus on ways to reduce loneliness. Finally, we suggest that loneliness should continue to be a priority in research in order to fully understand the psychological impact of COVID-19. / Utbrottet av COVID-19 pandemin har haft en enorm påverkan världen över och utgör ett hot mot den fysiska och mentala hälsan. Vår studie syftade till att undersöka i vilken utsträckning ett urval av svenska universitetsstudenter upplevt ensamhet under COVID-19. Vidare har studien undersökt om det fanns ett samband mellan en hög grad av upplevd ensamhet under COVID-19 och ökad alkoholkonsumtion. Deltagarna bestod av svenska universitetsstudenter vilka rekryterades online genom bekvämlighetsurval (N=224). Deltagarna fyllde i en enkät där subjektiv ensamhet mättes med hjälp av en översatt version av UCLA Loneliness Scale till svenska. Resultaten visade att studenterna i vårt urval uppvisade högre nivå av ensamhet jämfört med normvärden, men lägre jämfört med studenter i andra länder som suttit i karantän. En logistisk regression fann inget samband mellan upplevd ensamhet och ökad alkoholkonsumtion. Resultaten och deras implikationer diskuteras. För framtida forskning uppmuntras en för- och eftermätningsdesign samt longitudinella studier att utvärdera långsiktiga konsekvenser av ensamhet, samt ett ökat fokus på sätt att minska ensamhet. Slutligen föreslås att ensamhet blir ett fortsatt fokus i forskningen för att fullt ut förstå psykologiska effekterna av COVID-19.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe critical care nurses’ experiences of moral challenges, moral distress, and moral resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific aims of this study were to: 1. Describe the moral challenges experienced by ICU nurses. 2. Describe moral resilience in terms of integrity, buoyancy, moral efficacy, self-regulation, and self-stewardship among ICU nurses (from Rushton’s framework). 3. Explore the relationship between moral distress and moral resilience to advance the concept of moral resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. FRAMEWORK: This study was undergirded by an adaptation of Rushton’s conceptual framework of moral concepts. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive design was used. Participants were recruited between January to May 2021, and a semi-structured interview guide was utilized to interview participants. RESULTS: 17 participants were interviewed for the study. Participants described the four themes of moral challenges: death and dying, pain and suffering, being alone, and being helpless and not in control. Moral resilience was described as: integrity, buoyancy, moral efficacy, self-regulation, self-stewardship, and self-perception. The relationship between moral distress and moral resilience was described as iterative and fluid. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study provided a new domain of moral resilience called self-perception and a revised adaptation of the conceptual framework for moral resilience.

This is a year-long ethnographic study of high-school student activists in the New England area that examines youth perceptions of climate change and climate change activism. Our society often devalues the opinions and experiences of young people because of the intersecting marginalized identities they inhabit, including age, race, and gender. Thus, discussions on how climate activism affects youth tend to lack the perspective of the young people themselves. Through a combination of participant-observation and semi-structured interviews, I sought to answer the following research questions: 1) How do young activists in the New England area understand climate change? 2) How does participating in a youth-centered climate justice organization impact their overall sense of well-being? About half-way through the planning of this research study, the coronavirus pandemic swept the world, which added another layer to this research study: 3) How does the COVID-19 pandemic impact youth perceptions and experiences of climate change activism? In this thesis, I argue that young people in this climate organization, through their shared experiences of cultivating social capital, expanding critical consciousness, and adaptive redefining of social relationships, develop a strong and sustained sense of community that motivates them to continue their activism. In a society that undervalues young people, these youth actively reclaim agency and use this to challenge the structures that continue to perpetuate environmental injustice. This in turn provides these young people with a heightened sense of well-being in the face of multiple existential threats that threaten their current and future existence, namely racial injustice, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential destruction of their planet. / 2022-11-23T00:00:00Z

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine teacher perception of changes in the instructional delivery and learning opportunities via technology during and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 until May 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected educational organizations. School closures in March 2020 forced teachers to change their instructional delivery from an in-person platform to a virtual platform. This disruption to the delivery of instruction with the use of technology changed the way teachers plan for learning, delivery content, present learning activities, and assessment. The urgency required teachers to develop new strategies and experiment with adaptations to their traditional instructional delivery. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of teachers as they adapted their instruction to a new platform. The theoretical framework used was change theory. The research was accomplished by interviewing 11 core-content classroom teachers from different school systems. Participants described their experiences and approach to the challenges faced while teaching during the uncertainty of the pandemic. The participants in the study described factors that influenced changes in their use of technology and how the different platforms changed the way they used technology for instructional delivery. The researcher used the Change Theory Framework to code responses and identify the internal and external factors that influenced the changes.

This study was conducted in order to understand stressful situations and stress coping strategies among employees who were working from home during the covid-19 pandemic. In attempt to bridge this knowledge gap, a critical incident approach was employed. Twelve (12) participants who were working from home were obtained purposively to participate in this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted through zoom to collect data. Critical Incident Technique was used during interviews and thematic analysis were used to analyse data. The study revealed stressors which are lack of enough resources, extra work, lack of autonomy, work future uncertainty, stress due to covid-19, lack of help when needed, difficulties to reach colleagues, job inefficient and presence of telework unsuitable jobs. Coping strategies revealed were positive mindset, seeking social support, physical exercises, self-efforts to find solution of telework challenges, working extra hours and not answering calls or emails on purpose. It was recommended that organizations should determine suitable jobs for telework, providing required resources, granting employees working autonomy, as well as establishing a channel which can be used as a means of communication among employees as well as to be used as an inspiration and encouragement channel through proving motivational adds to help employees to relive their stressful situations.

The aim of this study was to investigate management and leadership at a distance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. Eight managers from a large industrial company in Sweden currently working full time from home participated in the study, of which six were women. Semi structured interviews were carried out and the data was analyzed through thematic analysis which yielded 7 themes accompanied by 5 subthemes. Not being in the same physical space removes informal interactions, and to combat this, formalization has increased. Tasks that do not lend themselves well to formalization, such as getting a feel for co-worker’s emotional state or creative work, were found to be more difficult. The managers workdays had a high number of digital meetings, and their way of working was changed through digital adaptations. While the availability of quality social interactions with co-workers was down, digital meetings were used to keep interactions up within the work group. While work environment management was harder, work requiring heavy focus was described as more efficient when teleworking. Overall, the situation surrounding COVID-19 has been challenging for managers, but the digital space has evolved quickly, and work has still been able to function surprisingly well.

Latinx communities in the United States made up 18% of the total population, yet accounted for 33% of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. This supported the study aim to increase Latinx COVID-19 knowledge and self-efficacy for performing COVID-19 risk reduction mitigation behaviors via dissemination of the new online e-health intervention of the “Our COVID-19 Knowledge Test.” The study recruited online a largely female Latinx adult sample (N=118) with 68.6% born in the U.S. that was well-educated, given a mean education level of a bachelor’s degree; and, a mean annual household income of $50,000 to $99,000. During the pandemic year of 2020, 46.5% of the survey participants experienced moderate to maximum/extreme cultural stress, and moderately high COVID-19 related stress—while 66.9% reported depression, 78.8% anxiety, and 45.2% trauma. Their high rates of COVID-19 depression and anxiety were more than double those rates reported across samples identified globally during the pandemic. They experienced significant declines in their self-rated mental health status and physical health status from pre-pandemic to during the pandemic, high social support, and closest to a good quality of life. Supporting the value of the new “Our COVID-19 Knowledge Test” as a brief online e-health intervention, paired t-tests showed statistically significant increases in self-ratings for both COVID-19 knowledge and self-efficacy for COVID-19 risk reduction behaviors after taking the True-False test. Participants endorsed the dissemination of the new True-False “Our COVID-19 Knowledge Test” with all True answers as a brief online e-health intervention they would recommend to others as a way to learn about COVID-19. Meanwhile, on this True-False test, the sample evidenced very high knowledge of COVID-19. The sample also had a high intention to vaccinate or already vaccinated at 87%. Findings from independent t-tests, Pearson correlations, and regression analyses collectively affirmed the critical importance of having both high knowledge and high self-efficacy for performing preventive behaviors for reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission, implementing mitigation strategies, and reducing mortality. Implications and recommendations focused on the value of the genre of a True-False test, with all True answers, for disseminating evidence-based information, and countering misinformation during pandemics and public health crises. Finally, the short tools used in this study were recommended for application in future research and as screening tools.

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During the year 2020 the world was struck by the covid-19 pandemic. Due to this, many businesses asked their employees to work from home (Sheehan, 2020) and thus presented organizational leaders with new challenges. Leaders started to operate their teams through virtual communication channels.The purpose of the study is to investigate whether leadership has changed due to working at distance. To investigate this, we have brought forward a model of "optimal distance leadership" based on previous research within the field, including theories regarding leadership and communication. The previous studies tend to focus on the pros and cons of distance leadership. This study intends to review how the leadership has changed in the transition to distance work.The study is based on qualitative semi structured interviews with nuanced descriptions of management leadership. The result of the study shows that the leadership has changed. Leaders adopted a situational leadership, became more solid in their communication and more available than before the pandemic. The change can largely be explained through the model of "optimal distance leadership". / Under år 2020 drabbades världen av coronapandemin. I och med detta bad många företag sina medarbetare att arbeta hemifrån (Sheehan, 2020) och chefers ledarskap utsattes därmed för nya utmaningar. Chefer började leda på distans genom virtuella kommunikationskanaler.Syftet med studien är att undersöka om chefers ledarskap har förändrats på grund av distansarbetet. För att undersöka detta har vi tagit fram en modell om ett ”optimalt distansledarskap” som baseras på tidigare forskning inom ämnet samt teorier om ledarskap och kommunikation. Den tidigare forskningen tenderar fokusera på för- och nackdelar med distansledarskap. Denna studie avser istället att undersöka hur förändringen i ledarskapet ser ut i övergången till distansarbete.Studien baserar sig på kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med nyanserade beskrivningar av förändringen i chefers ledarskap. Resultatet i studien visar att ledarskapet har förändrats. Cheferna har bland annat situationsanpassat sitt ledarskap, blivit tydligare i sin kommunikation och blivit mer tillgängliga än innan pandemin. Förändringen kan i stora delar förklaras utifrån modellen om det ”optimala distansledarskapet”.