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Before the COVID-19 outbreak, universities were already exploring the potential of online education. Colleges and universities throughout the world became more reliant on online learning management systems (LMSs) and videoconferencing tools like "Zoom" and "Microsoft Teams" during the 2020-2021 campus' lockdowns. The transition from traditional face-to-face teaching to online learning presented significant difficulties for universities, particularly those that depended heavily on international students. The project reported in this paper was undertaken in Australia in 2021 at the request of a private higher education institution. A new student-centric version of the Moodle learning management system (LMS) was created to maximise the platform's pedagogical, communicative, and informational capabilities. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how online learning platforms that are flexible, utilise embedded interactive features and resources, and are freely available can enhance and support the delivery of quality online education. The paper discusses how well-designed learning management systems have the capacity to motivate, engage and retain students in online learning. Academics, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as those working in curriculum development and information technology at institutions of higher learning, may find this article to be of interest and value.

Universities across the globe are considering how to effect meaningful change in their higher education (HE) delivery in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting student learning preferences. This paper reports on a descriptive case- study of whole-of-institution curriculum reform at one regional Australian university, where more traditional 13-week semesters have been replaced with a 6-week immersive block model known as the Southern Cross Model. Based on a synthesis of literature in best practice HE pedagogy and principles, the case study draws on both a review of policy and staff interviews (N = 5) to outline the key changes necessary for successful HE transformation. Analysis revealed themes related to the vital roles of leadership, capacity building, monitoring the transition, staff adoption, and adequate technical systems in implementing a radical, multifaceted institutional transformation. Implications for practice at institutions considering reforming their curriculum model are also discussed. The findings from this case study indicate that an institutional transformation to an immersive block model requires both a considered change in institutional policy and process, as well as the appropriate resourcing of roles, governance committees, technical solutions, and, importantly, communities of practice.

Introduction: The administration of illicit drugs by injection is associated with considerable harm, including an increased risk of overdose. The chemical analysis of used syringes can enhance knowledge on injecting drug consumption beyond traditional data sources (self-report surveys). This additional information may be useful during significant global events like the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine a snapshot of the drugs injected at the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) in Sydney, Australia, in 2019-2020., Methods: Used syringes were collected from MSIC across three periods throughout 2019 and 2020 (February 2019, March-April 2020 and June-September 2020). Drug residues were extracted from used syringes using methanol before detection by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The chemical analysis results were compared to self-report data obtained from MSIC clients., Results: Heroin (46-53%), methamphetamine (24-34%) and pharmaceutical opioids (15-27%) were the most common drug residues detected. The chemically detected drugs had declining coherence with the drugs self-reported by MSIC clients across the time periods examined., Discussion and Conclusions: There was no significant change in the drugs injected (heroin, methamphetamine and pharmaceutical opioids) across the three periods collected throughout varying COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Changes in the frequency of other drugs injected and discrepancies between chemical analysis and self-report were potentially related to regulatory changes, degradation or misinformed sales. Routine chemical analysis of used syringes has provided an alternative information source to promote awareness of current drug trends and aid harm reduction., (© 2023 The Authors. Drug and Alcohol Review published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.)

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an overview of a peer-supported writing and wellbeing pilot program for higher degree by research (HDR) students in Australia. It proposes a six-month program is a beneficial service to HDR students that improves not only their productivity and writing confidence but assists with their perceived mental wellbeing as well. Design/methodology/approach: This paper offers a perspective of the piloted writing and wellbeing program for HDR students during the recovery period during the COVID-19 global pandemic. It includes generalized reflections of participation, content, and structure alongside future directions and further implementation. Findings: This research includes generalized, anonymous data regarding the success of the writing and wellbeing pilot program for HDR students and components to improve upon. It suggests that the overwhelming response from participants was positive, especially during various COVID-19 related lockdowns and travel restriction measures. Research limitations/implications: As this paper involves a small cohort of preliminary impressions from the pilot study, results will lack generalizability. Therefore, it is acknowledged that further research will ensue to examine the program further. Practical implications: The success, measured by adherence and wellbeing improvements, of the Write Smarter: Feel Better program can influence the way in which universities address and protect mental wellbeing of their HDR students. Originality/value: This paper fulfills an identified and growing need for mental wellbeing to be strengthened among HDR students.

Background: A longitudinal cohort study was established to investigate the well-being of children born with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Victoria, Australia., Materials and Methods: The Royal Children's Hospital cleft service database was used to identify children aged between 4 and 17 years old born with an isolated CL/P. Families of eligible children who consented to participate were asked to complete the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) between October and December 2020 and again 6-month later. SDQ results from typically developing Australian children during the COVID-19 pandemic were utilized from a previously published study., Results: 63 parents completed the baseline questionnaire, with 44 completing the 6-month follow-up. For participants at baseline, the mean age was 8.9 years, with 55% male. All outcome domains of the SDQ improved between baseline and timepoint 2, with the difference in total difficulties scores being statistically significant, indicating a reduction in total difficulties at timepoint 2, associated with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. When compared with the Australian population during the COVID-19 pandemic, Victorian children born with CL/P had lower SDQ scores for all difficulties outcome domains, with statistically significant results for conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems and total difficulties, indicating fewer difficulties for children born with CL/P., Conclusions: Children born with CL/P experienced fewer difficulties when compared with the typically developing Australian population during the COVID-19 pandemic. The level of restrictions imposed because of the pandemic also had little influence on the well-being of these children., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: The importance of primary health care (PHC) to Aboriginal Australians is widely acknowledged, as is the underservicing of the Aboriginal Australian population. Aboriginal People continue to face significant obstacles when accessing and using health care services., Objective: This study identifies environmental factors (beyond personal and service delivery) that functioned as barriers and enablers to Aboriginal Australians' experiences accessing PHC during crises and recommends approaches during future events., Design: This research utilised a case study approach. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The study was set in Lakes Entrance, a regional Victorian locality with a sizable Aboriginal community, which was affected by bushfires during 2019/2020 and COVID-19 restrictions during 2020-2021. Participants were 18 Aboriginal People over the age of 18 living in the locality during either bushfires or COVID-19., Findings: The barriers identified included the impact on PHC access of priorities other than health, including housing; financial constraints; difficulties with transport; medical bureaucracy and the physical environment of the health care setting, including appointment-making processes; interactions with medical reception staff; and waiting room environments. Enablers identified included the supportive role of the local Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHO) and their staff, which was highlighted in participant responses., Discussion: The preference of many Aboriginal people to access PHC via their local ACCHO, rather than mainstream health care services, appears even more salient during crises than in normal times. This research identified that ACCHOs are ideally placed to promote and protect the health of Aboriginal communities during crises., Conclusion: Results may help direct interventions to improve PHC access and experiences for regional Aboriginal communities both during and outside periods of crisis., (© 2023 The Authors. Australian Journal of Rural Health published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of National Rural Health Alliance Ltd.)

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant educational disruption globally. When the pandemic forced schools to switch to emergency home-schooling, parental engagement in education became more critical. Some parents found home-schooling as an opportunity to form stronger relationships with their children. Others acquired an enhanced insight into their children's schoolwork. However, the emerging literature shows that, as not all parents were equally positioned to support their children's learning at home, emergency home-schooling has resulted in a significant learning loss. Guided by the concept of capital interaction, this article reports on a qualitative case study that investigated the experiences of 20 migrant parents in Victoria, Australia. A thematic analysis of the data reveals challenges associated with parental self-efficacy, financial hardship, language and technological barriers, time constraints, and disengagement and exhaustion. Remote learning may return in the future, and we must prepare for such disruption by improving equitable access to education delivered online and at home. To this end, the paper outlines some policy ideas.

As an epoch-making event, Covid re-set understandings of teacher professionalism, raising the question what it might now mean to be a 'professional teacher'. This paper draws on data from interviews conducted in 2021 with eight academics employed in Australian teacher education programs as part of a wider study, "Critical Times: Producing the Global Graduate in a Pandemic." It uses 'big D' Discourse analysis to explore complex constructions of the 'global teacher graduate' in academics' accounts of producing such graduates during a pandemic. It focuses on an expansive Discourse of "professional teacher" that participants invoked to construct their graduates as autonomous professionals with a shared service ethos and distinctive disciplinary knowledges. Based on retrospective, occupationally defined accounts of 'teacher' and professionalism, this Discourse appears to have a generational aspect. Despite academics' hopes, it may represent experiences of saying, doing and being a 'professional teacher' no longer available in the present epoch.

While the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic upon higher education institutions has been well documented, less is known about how academics themselves responded to these rapid changes. This paper analyses the experiences of teacher education academics from Australia and New Zealand (n = 13) who were interviewed during lengthy pandemic lockdowns. Whilst rarely using the language of resistance, participants revealed multiple ways they navigated these seemingly totalising forces of neoliberalism through working to maintain quality education, collegiality, criticality and care. Using theory to help inform our understandings of resistance, our study identified three forms of resistance that were underpinned by feminist, post-structural and critical pedagogy theories. In the face of likely ongoing uncertainty into the future, paying attention to how academics navigated the pandemic provides valuable insights into forms of emergent resistance in moments of extreme precarity in higher education, and the importance of these for continuity and hope.

By the end of 2021, more than 168 million students across the globe had missed a year of face-to-face schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In NSW, Australia, most students engaged in learning from home for eight weeks during 2020 and a further 14 weeks during 2021. This study provides robust empirical evidence on how two years of disruptions to schooling affected student learning. Drawing on matched data for 3,827 Year 3 and 4 students from 101 NSW government schools, this paper compares student achievement growth in mathematics and reading for 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2021 (second year of the pandemic) student cohorts. While overall there was no significant difference between cohorts, when analysed by socio-educational advantage, we were surprised to find that students in the lowest band achieved approximately three months' additional growth in mathematics. Arguably, grave concerns about the potentially dire impact of COVID-19 on the learning of disadvantaged students were met by investments that made a difference. We argue that targeted funding and system-wide initiatives to support more equitable outcomes should remain a priority after the pandemic if Australia is to meet its aspirations for excellence and equity.

Purpose: This systematic review paper aims to examine extant empirical research involving educational technology during COVID-19 to provide an aggregated analysis of how the pandemic has influenced educational technology research. Design/methodology/approach: Using a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis systematic review and an integrative review methodology, 50 primary research studies were selected from ten top-ranked educational research journals. These studies were reviewed regarding research purposes, methodologies, instruments, educational level, geographical distribution, and findings of the studies. Findings: The findings reveal four emerging themes--influencing factors, effectiveness, challenges and teachers. The majority of the studies focused on higher education. Quantitative research design based on a questionnaire was the most adopted method of investigation by researchers. Research limitations/implications: Search parameters focused on the top 10 journals in the field of educational technology. Although this provides a level of quality, it narrowed the search. Practical implications: For practitioners and researchers, this study provides a summary of the field to better understand what knowledge we have gained on the use of educational technology to enable a more agile, knowledgeable response to education in future emergencies. Originality/value: This systematic review is unique in examining how the pandemic has influenced educational technology research. It also provides insight into gaps in the research that future researchers can use as a springboard to enable a more knowledge and a more agile approach to future emergencies.

Community-based primary care, such as general practice (GP) or urgent care, serves as the primary point of access to healthcare for most Australians and New Zealanders. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has created significant and ongoing disruptions to primary care. Traditional research methods have contributed to gaps in understanding the experiences of primary care workers during the pandemic. This paper describes a novel research design and method that intended to capture the evolving impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary care workers in Australia and New Zealand. Recurrent, rapid cycle surveys were fielded from May 2020 through December 2021 in Australia, and May 2020 through February 2021 in New Zealand. Rapid survey development, fielding, triangulated analysis and dissemination of results allowed close to real-time communication of relevant issues among general practice workers, researchers and policy-makers. A conceptual model is presented to support longitudinal analysis of primary care worker experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand, and key learnings from applying this novel method are discussed. This paper will assist future research teams in development and execution of policy-relevant research in times of change and may inform further areas of interest for COVID-19 research in primary care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listening to What Matters is an exploratory descriptive qualitative study that aimed to (1) understand how women of refugee background in Melbourne, Australia experienced access to health information and maternity and/or early parenting care during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) whether pandemic health directives had an impact on structural inequities for women of refugee background who received maternity and/or early parenting care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 41 participants including 17 women of refugee background, who identified as belonging to the Karen, Assyrian Chaldean, Iraqi, Syrian, Afghan, Sudanese, or South Sudanese communities and 24 health and social care professionals who identified as providing pregnancy or early parenting care during the pandemic in the north western suburbs of Melbourne. Interviews with women were conducted in preferred languages by community researchers. Interviews with professionals were conducted in English by researchers. Reflexive thematic data analysis included constructivist positionality and a trauma and violence informed approach. The results reported in this paper include three themes, with four accompanying subthemes, as follows: theme (1), 'Structural inequities and the toll of the pandemic'; theme (2), 'Supportive infrastructure'; and theme (3), 'Cultural safety during the pandemic'. The results demonstrate that cumulative negative impacts such as unequal access to health information, family separation and isolation, inadequate household income, and mental and social health concerns had the potential to amplify pre-existing structural inequities for women of refugee background. Community engagement facilitated by bicultural workers, interpreters, and trusted care providers facilitated fast-paced, two-way communication that built capacity and health literacy for women who were unable to speak English and unfamiliar with the health care system and, improved experiences of care. More research is needed to understand how the intersectional cumulative impacts of structural inequities have affected maternal and neonatal health outcomes for women of refugee background during the pandemic, as well as any differences in maternal and neonatal health outcomes between Australian-born and refugee background women and babies.

Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and Transverse Myelitis (TM) are within the group of immune mediated disorders of acquired demyelinating syndromes. Both have been described in temporal association following various vaccinations in case reports and case series and have been evaluated in observational studies. A recent analysis conducted by The Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN) observed an excess of ADEM and TM cases following the adenoviral vectored ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) and mRNA-1273 vaccines, compared with historically expected background rates from prior to the pandemic. Further epidemiologic studies were recommended to explore these potential associations. We utilized an Australian vaccine datalink, Vaccine Safety Health-Link (VSHL), to perform a self-controlled case series analysis for this purpose. VSHL was selected for this analysis as while VSHL data are utilised for GVDN association studies, they were not included in the GVDN observed expected analyses. The VSHL dataset contains vaccination records sourced from the Australian Immunisation Register, and hospital admission records from the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset for 6.7 million people. These datasets were used to determine the relative incidence (RI) of G040 (ADEM) and G373 (TM) ICD-10-AM coded admissions in the 42-day risk window following COVID-19 vaccinations as compared to control periods either side of the risk window. We observed associations between ChAdOx1 adenovirus vector COVID-19 vaccination and ADEM (all dose RI: 3.74 [95 %CI 1.02,13.70]) and TM (dose 1 RI: 2.49 [95 %CI: 1.07,5.79]) incident admissions. No associations were observed between mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and ADEM or TM. These findings translate to an extremely small absolute risk of ADEM (0.78 per million doses) and TM (1.82 per million doses) following vaccination; any potential risk of ADEM or TM should be weighed against the well-established protective benefits of vaccination against COVID-19 disease and its complications. This study demonstrates the value of the GVDN collaboration leveraging large population sizes to examine important vaccine safety questions regarding rare outcomes, as well as the value of linked population level datasets, such as VSHL, to rapidly explore associations that are identified., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Background: There has been high uptake of rapid antigen test device use for point-of-care COVID-19 diagnosis. Individuals who are symptomatic but test negative on COVID-19 rapid antigen test devices might have a different respiratory viral infection. We aimed to detect and sequence non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viruses from rapid antigen test devices, which could assist in the characterisation and surveillance of circulating respiratory viruses in the community., Methods: We applied archival clinical nose and throat swabs collected between Jan 1, 2015, and Dec 31, 2022, that previously tested positive for a common respiratory virus (adenovirus, influenza, metapneumovirus, parainfluenza, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus [RSV], or seasonal coronavirus; 132 swabs and 140 viral targets) on PCR to two commercially available COVID-19 rapid antigen test devices, the Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device and Roche SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Self-Test. In addition, we collected 31 COVID-19 rapid antigen test devices used to test patients who were symptomatic at The Royal Melbourne Hospital emergency department in Melbourne, Australia. We extracted total nucleic acid from the device paper test strips and assessed viral recovery using multiplex real-time PCR (rtPCR) and capture-based whole genome sequencing. Sequence and genome data were analysed through custom computational pipelines, including subtyping., Findings: Of the 140 respiratory viral targets from archival samples, 89 (64%) and 88 (63%) were positive on rtPCR for the relevant taxa following extraction from Panbio or Roche rapid antigen test devices, respectively. Recovery was variable across taxa: we detected influenza A in nine of 18 samples from Panbio and seven of 18 from Roche devices; parainfluenza in 11 of 20 samples from Panbio and 12 of 20 from Roche devices; human metapneumovirus in 11 of 16 from Panbio and 14 of 16 from Roche devices; seasonal coronavirus in eight of 19 from Panbio and two of 19 from Roche devices; rhinovirus in 24 of 28 from Panbio and 27 of 28 from Roche devices; influenza B in four of 15 in both devices; and RSV in 16 of 18 in both devices. Of the 31 COVID-19 devices collected from The Royal Melbourne Hospital emergency department, 11 tested positive for a respiratory virus on rtPCR, including one device positive for influenza A virus, one positive for RSV, four positive for rhinovirus, and five positive for SARS-CoV-2. Sequences of target respiratory viruses from archival samples were detected in 55 (98·2%) of 56 samples from Panbio and 48 (85·7%) of 56 from Roche rapid antigen test devices. 98 (87·5%) of 112 viral genomes were completely assembled from these data, enabling subtyping for RSV and influenza viruses. All 11 samples collected from the emergency department had viral sequences detected, with near-complete genomes assembled for influenza A and RSV., Interpretation: Non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viruses can be detected and sequenced from COVID-19 rapid antigen devices. Recovery of near full-length viral sequences from these devices provides a valuable opportunity to expand genomic surveillance programmes for public health monitoring of circulating respiratory viruses., Funding: Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Health services research is underpinned by partnerships between researchers and health services. Partnership-based research is increasingly needed to deal with the uncertainty of global pandemics, climate change induced severe weather events, and other disruptions. To date there is very little data on what has happened to health services research during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper describes the establishment of an Australian multistate Decolonising Practice research project and charts its adaptation in the face of disruptions. The project used cooperative inquiry method, where partner health services contribute as coresearchers. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, data collection needed to be immediately paused, and when restrictions started to lift, all research plans had to be renegotiated with services. Adapting the research surfaced health service, university, and staffing considerations. Our experience suggests that cooperative inquiry was invaluable in successfully navigating this uncertainty and negotiating the continuance of the research. Flexible, participatory methods such as cooperative inquiry will continue to be vital for successful health services research predicated on partnerships between researchers and health services into the future. They are also crucial for understanding local context and health services priorities and ways of working, and for decolonising Indigenous health research., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Issue Addressed: The COVID-19 pandemic bears many similarities to other disasters such as bushfires, earthquakes and floods. It also has distinctive features including its prolonged and recurrent nature and the social isolation induced by pandemic responses. Existing conceptual frameworks previously applied to the study of disaster, such as the Recovery Capitals Framework (RCF), may be useful in understanding experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and in guiding agencies and governments tasked with supporting communities., Methods: This paper presents an analysis of interviews conducted with residents of the Australian state of Victoria in 2020-2021. The RCF was used to analyse how participant experiences and well-being were influenced by seven forms of capital-social, human, natural, financial, built, cultural and political-with particular focus on the interactions between these capitals., Results: Social capital featured most prominently in participants' accounts, yet the analysis revealed important interactions between social and other capitals that shaped their pandemic experiences. The RCF supported a strengths-based and holistic analysis while also revealing how inequities and challenges were compounded in some cases., Conclusions: Findings can be leveraged to develop effective and innovative strategies to support well-being and disrupt patterns of compounding inequity. Applying the RCF in the context of COVID-19 can help to link pandemic research with research from a wide range of disasters. SO WHAT?: In an increasingly complex global landscape of cascading and intersecting disasters including pandemics, flexible and nuanced conceptual approaches such as the RCF can generate valuable insights with practical implications for health promotion efforts., (© 2023 The Authors. Health Promotion Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Health Promotion Association.)

The global COVID-19 pandemic challenged the world-how it functions, how people move in the social worlds and how government/government services and people interact. Health services, operating under the principles of new public management, have undertaken rapid changes to service delivery and models of care. What has become apparent is the mechanisms within which contemporary health services operate and how services are not prioritising the person at the centre of care. Person-centred care (PCC) is the philosophical premise upon which models of health care are developed and implemented. Given the strain that COVID-19 has placed on the health services and the people who deliver the care, it is essential to explore the tensions that exist in this space. This article suggests that before the pandemic, PCC was largely rhetoric, and rendered invisible during the pandemic. The paper presents an investigation into the role of PCC in these challenging times, adopting a Foucauldian lens, specifically governmentality and biopolitics, to examine the policies, priorities and practical implications as health services pivoted and adapted to changing and acute demands. Specifically, this paper draws on the Australian experience, including shifting nursing workforce priorities and additional challenges resulting from public health directives such as lockdowns and limitations. The findings from this exploration open a space for discussion around the rhetoric of PCC, the status of nurses and that which has been lost to the pandemic., (© 2023 The Authors. Nursing Inquiry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

In their 2010 book, Lorna Weir and Eric Mykhalovskiy conceptualised the role of vigilance in unknown and emerging infectious disease threats. Theirs is a macro-level account which draws on empirical data to describe vigilance as a set of technical and political arrangements that govern collection, analysis, interpretation and communication of data as it pertains to unknown threats. In this paper we expand their work to detail a conceptual analysis of the role of vigilance at the micro-level during periods of high infectious disease threat. Our data are daily press conferences and associated non-discursive tools in New South Wales (NSW), Australia during times of heightened COVID-19 risk. This paper is a conceptual analysis that draws on theories of vigilance and related concepts to show how a key aspect of vigilance is making previously unseen threats visible or present. Communications formulated and encouraged three types of vigilance as a set of governing relations: institutional or authority-based; individual outward-facing; and individual inward-facing. We also describe the relationship between vigilance and related concepts that are used in response to anticipated public threats. Authority based vigilance involved contact tracing and policing of movement and behaviours. In individual outward facing vigilance people were asked to be alert to, analyse, and react to risk in their immediate environment. Inward facing vigilance required people to gather and react to information about their own behaviours and within their own bodies. There was a relationship between different types of vigilance; as risk increased and authority-based vigilance was less successful in containing the spread of infection, individual vigilance had a stronger role to play. This extension of vigilance at the micro-level sees some of the same unintended consequences as Weir and Mykhalovskiy describe at the global level, particularly in how burdens are inequitably distributed and experienced., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: To reduce transmission risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, 'telehealth' (health care delivered via telephone/video-conferencing) was implemented into Australian maternity services. Whilst some reports on telehealth implementation ensued, there was scant evidence on women and midwives' perspectives regarding telehealth use., Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in Australia during 2020-2021 using two data sources from the Birth in the Time of COVID-19 (BITTOC) study: i) interviews and ii) surveys (open-text responses). Content analysis was utilised to analyse the data and explore telehealth from the perspective of midwives and women accessing maternity care services. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 women and 16 midwives. Survey responses were provided from 687 midwives and 2525 women who were pregnant or gave birth in 2021, generating 212 and 812 comments respectively., Findings: Telehealth delivery was variable nationally and undertaken primarily by telephone/videoconferencing. Perceived benefits included: reduced COVID-19 transmission risk, increased flexibility, convenience and cost efficiency. However, women described inadequate assessment, and negative impacts on communication and rapport development. Midwives had similar concerns and also reported technological challenges., Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth offered flexibility, convenience and cost efficiency whilst reducing COVID-19 transmission, yet benefits came at a cost. Telehealth may particularly suit women in rural and remote areas, however, it also has the potential to further reduce equitable, and appropriate care delivery for those at greatest risk of poor outcomes. Telehealth may play an adjunct role in post-pandemic maternity services, but is not a suitable replacement to traditional face-to-face maternity care., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare no personal or financial relationships that influence the development of this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a need to understand the challenges associated with wearing Personal protective Equipment (PPE). The aim in this study was to explore emergency nurses' experiences early in the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and the impact of PPE use on their practice., Methods: An explorative descriptive qualitative study was conducted between January 2022 and April 2022. Eighteen emergency nurses and six leaders participated. Semi-structured interviews (n = 21) and one focus group were conducted. Interview transcripts were analysed using Braun and Clarke's framework., Results: Two major themes were identified. The first theme was: (1) The shifting ground of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Associated sub-themes were: i) What's the go with PPE today? ii) In the beginning we were scrambling for masks; iii) Emergency is the true frontline. The second theme was: (2) Physical and emotional impacts of emergency nursing work. Sub-themes were: (i) Facing the fear of exposure; (ii) By the end of the shift I am just absolutely spent; iii) Discomfort of wearing PPE impacts on compliance., Conclusions: Healthcare leaders need to secure PPE supply chains and evaluate the effectiveness and side-effects of different PPE designs to minimise occupational harms associated with prolonged PPE use., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 College of Emergency Nursing Australasia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Australia's mandatory vaccination policies have historically allowed for non-medical exemptions (NMEs), but this changed in 2016 when the Federal Government discontinued NMEs for childhood vaccination requirements. Australian states introduced further mandatory vaccination policies during the COVID-19 pandemic for a range of occupations including healthcare workers (HCWs). There is global evidence to suggest that medical exemptions (MEs) increase following the discontinuation of NMEs; the new swathe of COVID-19 mandatory vaccination policies likely also placed further pressure on ME systems in many jurisdictions. This paper examines the state of play of mandatory vaccination and ME policies in Australia by outlining the structure and operation of these policies for childhood vaccines, then for COVID-19, with a case study of HCW mandates. Next, the paper explores HCWs' experiences in providing vaccine exemptions to patients (and MEs in particular). Finally, the paper synthesizes existing literature and reflects on the challenges of MEs as a pressure point for people who do not want to vaccinate and for the clinicians who care for them, proposing areas for future research and action.

The lockdowns and restrictions due to COVID-19 caused changes in both food accessibility and availability for people around the globe resulting in changes in food habits and behaviours. To enable a better public health response to the next pandemic, lessons must be learnt from this most recent emergency. This study aimed to examine self-reported changes in food habits and behaviours, of Australian adults during COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. A cross-sectional, convenience, Australia-wide survey, with open-ended and closed-ended questions was conducted online. Respondents were asked to report their demographic characteristics, positive food habit development, worst food-related experiences, changes in food habits and behaviours and cooking and food preparation practices during the COVID-19 restriction period. Adult Australian residents, recruited through social media advertising of the survey. Respondents (n = 764) were mostly female (86%), over 55 years of age (57%, mean age (SD) 53.4 (18.1) years), and half (51%) were not in paid employment. Nearly two-thirds (63%) developed positive food habits, including trying new recipes (54%), eating less take-away (53%) and cooking from scratch (46%) during the COVID-19 restrictions. Furthermore, respondents reported including family members in food preparation and eating together as a family. Negative experiences included being unable to buy certain foods (due to lack of stock and store limits), cooking at home, and being unable to access some food outlets. Australians experienced both positive and negative food experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown periods, with most experiencing positive changes such as cooking at home from scratch and trying new recipes and relying on less take-away. Females and those who experienced a change in employment status were more likely to develop positive new food habits., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Strict lockdowns have been employed by many of the world's nations as a public health response to COVID-19. However, concerns have been expressed as to how such public health responses disturb the human ecosystem. In this paper, we report on findings from a longitudinal study of Australian parents in which we investigated how state differences in government-mandated lockdowns affect the relationship well-being (i.e., relationship satisfaction and loneliness) of parents. We situated the study of the relational effects of strict lockdowns within the Vulnerability Stress Adaptation Model (VSAM, Karney & Bradbury, 1995) that considers the role of parents' pre-existing vulnerabilities (i.e., psychological distress and attachment insecurity), life stressors (pre-pandemic and COVID-19 stressors), and adaptive relationship processes (constructive communication and perceived partner support). A total of 1942 parents completed 14 waves of assessments of relationship satisfaction and loneliness over a 13.5-month period as well as baseline assessments of personal vulnerabilities, life stressors, and adaptive relationship processes. Parents with high relationship adaptations and low vulnerabilities evidenced the highest relationship well-being (i.e., high satisfaction and low loneliness) during changes in lockdown restrictions, while parents with moderate relationship adaptations and vulnerabilities experienced the poorest well-being. Differences in state lockdown restrictions (i.e., Victoria [long and strict lockdown policy] vs all other states) were associated with differences in relationship well-being for parents with high relationship adaptations. Specifically, Victorian parents experienced significant declines in relationship well-being compared to non-Victorian parents. Our findings provide novel insights into how government-mandated social restrictions can disrupt the relational ecology of parents., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Natural disasters and health emergencies disproportionally affect vulnerable populations causing disruptions to usual care and increasing chronic disease burden. Data and digital technologies are important tools to identify and mitigate indirect effects of emergencies. In this paper, we describe the methods used in the development of a series of digital emergency preparedness interventions to mitigate the direct and indirect consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the veteran community in Australia. The case studies demonstrate the use of data for surveillance, patient phenotyping, data-driven decision support and stakeholder communication in primary care. The intervention successfully increased appropriate healthcare use by vulnerable individuals and could be expanded to other populations.

Introduction: Longitudinal studies can provide timely and accurate information to evaluate and inform COVID-19 control and mitigation strategies and future pandemic preparedness. The Optimise Study is a multidisciplinary research platform established in the Australian state of Victoria in September 2020 to collect epidemiological, social, psychological and behavioural data from priority populations. It aims to understand changing public attitudes, behaviours and experiences of COVID-19 and inform epidemic modelling and support responsive government policy., Methods and Analysis: This protocol paper describes the data collection procedures for the Optimise Study, an ongoing longitudinal cohort of ~1000 Victorian adults and their social networks. Participants are recruited using snowball sampling with a set of seeds and two waves of snowball recruitment. Seeds are purposively selected from priority groups, including recent COVID-19 cases and close contacts and people at heightened risk of infection and/or adverse outcomes of COVID-19 infection and/or public health measures. Participants complete a schedule of monthly quantitative surveys and daily diaries for up to 24 months, plus additional surveys annually for up to 48 months. Cohort participants are recruited for qualitative interviews at key time points to enable in-depth exploration of people's lived experiences. Separately, community representatives are invited to participate in community engagement groups, which review and interpret research findings to inform policy and practice recommendations., Ethics and Dissemination: The Optimise longitudinal cohort and qualitative interviews are approved by the Alfred Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee (# 333/20). The Optimise Study CEG is approved by the La Trobe University Human Ethics Committee (# HEC20532). All participants provide informed verbal consent to enter the cohort, with additional consent provided prior to any of the sub studies. Study findings will be disseminated through public website (https://optimisecovid.com.au/study-findings/) and through peer-reviewed publications., Trial Registration Number: NCT05323799., Competing Interests: Competing interests: Burnet Institute has received investigator initiated clinical research funding form Gilead Sciences, AbbVie and Merck unrelated to this grant., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Chlamydia remains the most notified bacterial sexually transmissible infection in Australia with guidelines recommending testing for re-infection at 3 months post treatment. This paper aimed to determine chlamydia retesting and repeat positivity rates within 2–4 months among young women in Australia, and to evaluate what factors increase or decrease the likelihood of retesting. Methods: Chlamydia retesting rates among 16–29-year-old women were analysed from Australian Collaboration for Coordinated Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance of sexually transmissible infection and bloodborne virus (ACCESS) sentinel surveillance data (n = 62 sites). Among women with at least one positive test between 1 January 2018 and 31 August 2022, retesting counts and proportions within 2–4 months were calculated. Logistic regression was performed to assess factors associated with retesting within 2–4 months. Results: Among 8758 women who were positive before 31 August 2022 to allow time for follow up, 1423 (16.2%) were retested within 2–4 months, of whom 179 (12.6%) tested positive. The odds of retesting within 2–4 months were 25% lower if tested in a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-9) pandemic year (2020–2022) (aOR = 0.75; 95% CI 0.59–0.95). Among 9140 women with a positive test before 30 November 2022, 397 (4.3%) were retested too early (within 7 days to 1 month) and 81 (20.4%) of those were positive. Conclusions: Chlamydia retesting rates remain low with around a sixth of women retested within 2–4 months in line with guidelines. Re-infection is common with around one in eight retesting positive. An increase in retesting is required to reduce the risk of reproductive complications and onward transmission. Chlamydia remains as the most notified bacterial sexually transmissible infection in Australia and repeat infections can lead to significant reproductive complications, particularly for women. Guidelines recommended retesting at 3 months following a chlamydia diagnosis, but current retesting rates in line with guidelines are low, and re-infections are common. Increased efforts to improve timely retesting can aid in earlier identification, management and reduced risk of disease burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant educational disruption globally. When the pandemic forced schools to switch to emergency home-schooling, parental engagement in education became more critical. Some parents found home-schooling as an opportunity to form stronger relationships with their children. Others acquired an enhanced insight into their children's schoolwork. However, the emerging literature shows that, as not all parents were equally positioned to support their children's learning at home, emergency home-schooling has resulted in a significant learning loss. Guided by the concept of capital interaction, this article reports on a qualitative case study that investigated the experiences of 20 migrant parents in Victoria, Australia. A thematic analysis of the data reveals challenges associated with parental self-efficacy, financial hardship, language and technological barriers, time constraints, and disengagement and exhaustion. Remote learning may return in the future, and we must prepare for such disruption by improving equitable access to education delivered online and at home. To this end, the paper outlines some policy ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the end of 2021, more than 168 million students across the globe had missed a year of face-to-face schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In NSW, Australia, most students engaged in learning from home for eight weeks during 2020 and a further 14 weeks during 2021. This study provides robust empirical evidence on how two years of disruptions to schooling affected student learning. Drawing on matched data for 3,827 Year 3 and 4 students from 101 NSW government schools, this paper compares student achievement growth in mathematics and reading for 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2021 (second year of the pandemic) student cohorts. While overall there was no significant difference between cohorts, when analysed by socio-educational advantage, we were surprised to find that students in the lowest band achieved approximately three months' additional growth in mathematics. Arguably, grave concerns about the potentially dire impact of COVID-19 on the learning of disadvantaged students were met by investments that made a difference. We argue that targeted funding and system-wide initiatives to support more equitable outcomes should remain a priority after the pandemic if Australia is to meet its aspirations for excellence and equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we assess the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the Australian visual arts sector. We base our analysis on the responses of over 1500 visual artists and arts workers to a survey conducted by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA), the national peak body for the visual and media arts, craft and design sector in September 2021. NAVA employed this online survey to study the relationship between the pandemic and both the incomes and mental health of artists and arts workers. Using regression analysis, we find that there has been a significant impact for both artists and arts workers, with the severity of the impacts varying by gender, age and the availability of state‐based and Australian Government support programmes. Reduced hours and loss of contracted work and commissions due to the pandemic were both related to declines in income and mental health outcomes for artists and for arts workers. Housing stress was associated with a higher likelihood of a significant or extreme mental health impact for artists and arts workers. In addition, artists' incomes and mental health outcomes were impacted when faced with a reduced ability to sell, although some artists were able to increase their online profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate determinants of willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, core affect regarding using telerehabilitation, and digital competencies in rehabilitation professionals in Austria and Germany before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional paper-based and online survey was conducted before and during COVID-19, respectively, with three cohorts of rehabilitation professionals. Outcomes were the willingness to adopt telerehabilitation evaluated using the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology; willingness of technology use using the short scale for assessing the willingness of technology use; digital competencies and core affect using the Digital Competence Framework and semantic differential, respectively. Multivariate ordinal regression analysis was performed to determine predictors. Included were 603 rehabilitation professionals. Analysis revealed differences between Austria and Germany and before and during the pandemic for most outcomes. German residency, the pandemic, and a higher educational level were most important predictors of higher willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, digital competencies, and positive core affect. The pandemic increased most aspects of willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, digital competencies, and positive core affect. Results confirm that rehabilitation professionals with higher degrees are more prone to adopt innovations in healthcare.Registration: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00021464) The willingness to adopt telerehabilitation is associated with external factors increasing the need for alternative rehabilitation delivery, such as COVID-19, and with financial facilitators, such as reimbursement. As the willingness to adopt telerehabilitation is higher among speech and language therapists and dietitians, efforts are necessary to enhance its use in physiotherapists and occupational therapists. As a higher willingness to adopt telerehabilitation was observed in younger rehabilitation professionals and those with higher education, increasing the importance of telerehabilitation in education curricula and further knowledge transfer into practice for those already working in the field seems necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to assess the resilience of the economy of Australia following the Covid‐19 pandemic that hit the global economy in Q4 2019, in years 2020, 2021 and 2022. Quarterly growth rates (annualised) of the Real GDP of Australia and Canada are forecasted between Q2 2022 and Q4 2050. Two sets of forecasts are generated: forecasts using historical data including the pandemic (from Q1 1961 to Q1 2022) and excluding the pandemic (from Q1 1961 to Q3 2019). The computation of the difference of their averages is an indicator of the resilience of the economies during the pandemic, the greater the difference the greater the resilience. Used as a benchmark, Canada's economy shows a slightly lower resilience to the Covid‐19 pandemic (+0.37%) than Australia's economy (+0.39%) based on Q2 2022–2050 forecasts. However, driven by stronger growth than Canada, the average estimate of the Q2 2022–Q4 2050 quarterly (annualised) growth rate forecasts of Australia is expected to be +2.09% with the Q1 1961–Q1 2022 historical data while it should be +1.61% for Canada. Supported by higher growth, Australia's Real GDP is expected to overtake Canada's in Q1 2040. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many studies that have focussed on the different dimensions of employment in several industries during COVID-19. However, the impact of the pandemic on employment in the tourism industries has been underexplored. Moreover, we are not aware of any study that has considered the impact of the pandemic on employment in different sub-sectors within the tourism industries. This paper analyzes the effect of COVID-19 on employment in Australian tourism industries using fractional integration. Using quarterly data (2004-2021) and disaggregating data by sectors, we examine two samples, one ending in December 2019 and the other one in December 2021. The novelty of this study is the consideration of the effect of this pandemic on employment in different sub-sectors that constitute the tourism industry. Our results indicate that the current pandemic has not produced significant changes in the persistence of the series. The only significant changes take place for the retail trade industry that moves from mean reversion to lack of it, and the cafes and restaurants in the opposite direction. One of the implications of the results is that interventions before the pandemic, such as concerted marketing efforts, are useful to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on tourism related industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Canada and Australia, two liberal welfare states whose market-based ECEC systems consistently rank poorly on international measures, embraced similar short-term childcare policy responses to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: widespread closures, reduced capacity of centers, establishment of publicly funded emergency childcare programs for essential workers, and short-term wage subsidies for essential workers (sometimes including educators). Rooted in a feminist political economy (FPE) theoretical framework and using a what-is-the-problem-represented-to-be (WPR) methodological approach, this article explores the extent to which the first and second "waves" of the COVID-19 pandemic policy responses in Canada and Australia framed childcare as a concern about gendered, reproductive labor within political representations of the policy problems to be solved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The concept of "health security" is often used to motivate public health responses, yet the ethical values that underpin this concept remain largely unexamined. The recent Australian responses to COVID-19 serve as an important case study by which we can analyse the pre-existing literature to see what ethical values shaped, and continue to shape, Australia's response. Methods We conducted a critical interpretive literature review of academic and grey literatures within key databases, resulting in 2,220 sources. After screening for duplicates and relevance, we analysed ninety-six sources. Results First, risk and uncertainty are a leading focus, with a heavy concentration on risks to life and health. Second, free movement, safety, and security were recurringly emphasized, albeit narrowly focused upon the safety of the population. Third, legitimacy was a recurring theme, and it is here that discussions of "health security" figured highly. Conclusion Discussions of harm from government and associated official bodies fail to adequately distinguish between various senses of harm. Moreover, while the literature often discusses the balancing of rights, the steps involved in the weighing of these rights is rarely adequately explained and defended. We suggest that decision-makers should endeavour to clearly identify and defend the values undergirding their decisions in the public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore Quick Response (QR) codes (machine-readable optical labels that link to information) and how, after a period of having fallen out of favor, they have been reactivated and have come to underpin COVID-19 automation and contact-tracing efforts. During the pandemic, they were used especially for "safe entry" and other kinds of check-in to locations to facilitate contact tracing. In this context, QR codes facilitate automated decision-making in relation to infectious disease surveillance and disease outbreak control. However, the use of QR codes for contact-tracing purposes has enjoyed mixed success and its implementation has encountered several challenges, as we illustrate through a case study that explores QR codes and COVID contact tracing in Singapore and Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Australian Government implemented a range of public health response strategies and communication approaches to reduce the spread of COVID-19; however, concerns have been raised around a failure to sufficiently consider culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities in these processes. This research aimed to understand the factors that have impacted COVID-19 communication and engagement efforts during the pandemic from the perspective of key CaLD community and faith-based leaders. A further aim was to understand the processes that could be adopted to support future communication strategies, including promoting pandemic-related vaccines. Approach: This study included 29 key informant interviews with community and faith-based leaders in New South Wales, Australia. Results: The overwhelming message from community leaders was a sense of shared responsibility between their organisations and governments in communicating pertinent and accurate COVID-19 related information to CaLD communities. They expressed a sense of duty to keep their community members safe. However, community leaders and others shouldered significant costs related to resources and time that need to be acknowledged by governments in preparing for future disease outbreaks. They felt that governments should consider: 1) improving communication between governments and CaLD organisations; 2) responding to the specific CaLD needs with greater agility; 3) foregrounding social media in their communication strategy; 4) reinvesting in local public health units to know their population; 5) developing a health ambassadors model program; 6) preparing a hybrid model of translators/interpreters to fill the gap; and, 7) reimagining vaccine information campaigns to target CaLD communities better. Conclusion: Given the technical details about the COVID-19 virus conveyed in government information campaigns and the media, ensuring the most vulnerable populations, including people from CaLD backgrounds, access clear, concise and timely public health messaging from governments and community organisations requires further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An informed understanding of older adults' perceptions of the impact (positive or negative) of recurrent COVID-19 long lockdowns is important for the development of targeted interventions and resources for future restrictions. This study aimed to understand self-reported impacts of COVID-19 recurrent restrictions on older adults and how technology has been used to mitigate these. Methods: A cross-sectional national study of 257 community-dwelling older Australians based in Victoria (mean age = 67.6 years [SD = 7.2]; 20.6% male) completed an online or postal survey as part of a larger study examining the physical and mental health impacts of a second extended COVID-19 lockdown period. This secondary analysis reports on the findings from free-text responses to two open-ended questions included in that survey that asked participants to comment on the greatest impacts of the COVID-19 lockdowns (positive or negative) and the role of technology in supporting their wellbeing during this time. Responses were collected between July and September 2020. Data were analysed using content (COVID-19 impacts) and thematic (role of technology) analysis. Results: Respondents gave more negative responses (75.5%) than mixed (15.2%) and positive responses (6.2%) in reporting on the biggest impact of COVID-19 lockdowns. Inductive content analysis revealed two first-order main categories (Positive impacts and Negative impacts). Axial coding of main categories showed five second-order categories (Environmental, Physical Health, Social, Mental Health, and Personal) for both negative and positive main categories (totalling 10 second-order categories). Overall, respondents highlighted social loss as the key negative experience (70%), with acute feelings of social isolation contributing to negative impacts on mental wellbeing. The most commonly reported positive impact reported (11%) was having more time for relationships, relaxation, and new hobbies. Technology was primarily used to sustain socialisation and provide access to essential resources, services, and goods, which respondents perceived to contribute to maintaining their wellbeing. Conclusions: Findings suggest a critical need for interventions that address the social loss experienced by older adults during COVID-19 recurrent lockdowns, particularly to alleviate the associated negative impact on mental wellbeing. Recognising the positive aspect of increased time for relationships and leisure activities indicates potential areas for resilience-building strategies. The pivotal role of technology in mitigating adverse effects highlights its significance in building social connections and supporting overall wellbeing during challenging times. These implications can guide future efforts to enhance older adults' resilience, mental health, and holistic wellbeing in future public health crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 virus was unveiled to the world as a health crisis and later also as an economic crisis. For some organisations, it has become an ethical crisis. This is certainly the case for large organisations in Australia, where the way many enterprises handled a government wage subsidy called JobKeeper led to a public backlash, media pressure, and a variety of responses ranging from 'We acted legally' to the full return of the subsidy. Some organisations later reported profits, and the public response indicated concern about this behaviour, many considering it immoral despite it being legally compliant. It is, we contend, a question to which stakeholder theory can be applied, examining how organisations view and respond to the public. We use content analysis of mainstream media to provide information about public reactions and information from official sources to confirm corporate action. We show that there is a significant ethical component in the public response to the behaviour of organisations as they respond to the crisis. COVID has been an ethical, health, and financial crisis for these organisations. Public pressure, exerted in and through the media, made the general public a definite stakeholder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The visual modeling method enables flexible interactions with rich graphical depictions of data and supports the exploration of the complexities of epidemiological analysis. However, most epidemiology visualizations do not support the combined analysis of objective factors that might influence the transmission situation, resulting in a lack of quantitative and qualitative evidence. To address this issue, we developed a portrait-based visual modeling method called +msRNAer. This method considers the spatiotemporal features of virus transmission patterns and multidimensional features of objective risk factors in communities, enabling portrait-based exploration and comparison in epidemiological analysis. We applied +msRNAer to aggregate COVID-19-related datasets in New South Wales, Australia, combining COVID-19 case number trends, geo-information, intervention events, and expert-supervised risk factors extracted from local government area-based censuses. We perfected the +msRNAer workflow with collaborative views and evaluated its feasibility, effectiveness, and usefulness through one user study and three subject-driven case studies. Positive feedback from experts indicates that +msRNAer provides a general understanding for analyzing comprehension that not only compares relationships between cases in time-varying and risk factors through portraits but also supports navigation in fundamental geographical, timeline, and other factor comparisons. By adopting interactions, experts discovered functional and practical implications for potential patterns of long-standing community factors regarding the vulnerability faced by the pandemic. Experts confirmed that +msRNAer is expected to deliver visual modeling benefits with spatiotemporal and multidimensional features in other epidemiological analysis scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To review the application of telehealth guidelines developed by Bondini et al for clinicians to determine patient suitability for telehealth in an outpatient Chronic Wound Service, including the proportion of patients suitable for telehealth, type and mode of telehealth encounters. Retrospective, random convenience sample of patients attending the Chronic Wound Service in 2021. Fifty‐six patients were included, most with leg/foot wounds (93%), median age 74 [54–84], 64% male. Four patients at admission and 19 patients at review met criteria for telehealth. Six percent of encounters were telehealth; phone‐only (82%), unscheduled nursing reviews (77%) in patients with healing wounds. Thirty patients (54%) received at least one telehealth encounter. Telehealth occurred 35.6 days later in the admission than face‐to‐face encounters (p < 0.05, 95% CI 14.9–56.3). There was a significant relationship between patients receiving telehealth and meeting telehealth suitability criteria on reviews (X2 (1) = 19.6*, p < 0.001). Eighteen percent of patients required wound‐related hospitalisation during their outpatient admission. Telehealth guidelines identified patients suitable for telehealth, although the proportion of patients was small. Telehealth was mostly utilised for nurse‐led telephone calls in patients with improving wounds. Future research into use of telephone review for clinical standards of wound care is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The linkage of primary care, hospital and other health registry data is a global goal, and a consent-based approach is often used. Understanding the attitudes of why participants take part is important, yet little is known about reasons for non-participation. The ATHENA COVID-19 feasibility study investigated: 1) health outcomes of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Queensland, Australia through primary care health data linkage using consent, and 2) created a cohort of patients willing to be re-contacted in future to participate in clinical trials. This report describes the characteristics of participants declining to participate and reasons for non-consent. Methods: Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from January 1st, 2020, to December 31st, 2020, were invited to consent to having their primary healthcare data extracted from their GP into a Queensland Health database and linked to other data sets for ethically approved research. Patients were also asked to consent to future recontact for participation in clinical trials. Outcome measures were proportions of patients consenting to data extraction, permission to recontact, and reason for consent decline. Results: Nine hundred and ninety-five participants were approached and 842(85%) reached a consent decision. 581(69%), 615(73%) and 629(75%) consented to data extraction, recontact, or both, respectively. Mean (range) age of consenters and non-consenters were 50.6(22-77) and 46.1(22-77) years, respectively. Adjusting for age, gender and remoteness, older participants were more likely to consent than younger (aOR 1.02, 95%CI 1.01 to 1.03). The least socio-economically disadvantaged were more likely to consent than the most disadvantaged (aOR 2.20, 95% 1.33 to 3.64). There was no difference in consent proportions regarding gender or living in more remote regions. The main reasons for non-consent were 'not interested in research' (37%), 'concerns about privacy' (15%), 'not registered with a GP' (8%) and 'too busy/no time' (7%). 'No reason' was given in 20%. Conclusion: Younger participants and the more socio-economically deprived are more likely to non-consent to primary care data linkage. Lack of patient interest in research, time required to participate and privacy concerns, were the most common reasons cited for non-consent. Future health care data linkage studies addressing these issues may prove helpful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this research note is to investigate the drivers and market reaction to firms' decision to release general COVID-19-related announcements and to withdraw earnings forecasts and dividends during the COVID-19 pandemic in the continuous disclosure environment of Australia. Design/methodology/approach: The authors first tracked the market reaction of all firms in the Australian Securities Exchange All Ordinaries, Top 300, Top 200 and Top 100 indices during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic between 1 January and 21 September 2020. The authors then focus the investigation on the incidence of firms deciding to withdraw earnings forecasts and dividends and how the market responded to these incidences during that period. Findings: The market reacted negatively during the March/April 2020 period but then bounced back to the pre-March 2020 level. The market reaction is mainly driven by three industries, including consumer discretionary, health care and utilities. Firms in industry sectors such as consumer discretionary, materials, health care and information technology contribute to the highest percentage of COVID-19 announcements. It is interesting to document that firms issuing COVID-19 announcements and withdrawing earnings forecasts and dividends tend to be larger firms with stronger financial performance and higher financial leverage. Regarding the stock market reaction, while the market generally reacted positively to COVID-19-related announcements, the decision to withdraw earnings forecasts and dividends is significantly regarded as bad news. Originality/value: The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a unique natural event to examine firms' disclosure behaviour in the continuous disclosure environment of Australia during this period of extreme uncertainty. The incidences of earnings forecasts and dividend withdrawals are mainly driven by larger, better performing and higher leverage firms in the consumer discretionary, health care, materials and information technology industry sectors. The market generally reacted favourably to COVID-19-related announcements, despite a significant stock price drop during the March/April 2020 period. The findings provide important regulatory and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To explore the long‐term impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on nurse alcohol consumption. Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic has caused immense disruption to healthcare services worldwide, and nurses have not been immune, experiencing burnout, declining mental health and ultimately, attrition from the profession. Increases in alcohol consumption have been reported across subsections of society, including those with pre‐existing mental ill health and experiencing high stress, and exploring this phenomenon in nurses is essential for workforce well‐being and sustainability. Design: Qualitative descriptive study design. Methods: Secondary analysis of individual, semi‐structured interviews with nurses (N = 42) from diverse settings across Australia, including community, primary and hospital settings, conducted in July and August 2021. Data were analysed using structural coding and reported in accordance with the CORE‐Q guidelines. Findings Two key themes were found after analysis of the data: (1) factors influencing alcohol consumption (subthemes: workplace factors and external factors), and (2) the pandemic's influence on alcohol consumption (subthemes: increased consumption, moderation of consumption and alcohol as a reward). Conclusions: Several participants described increased alcohol consumption because of the COVID‐19 pandemic, particularly due to the stress of working in an environment where resources were scarce. Workplace factors such as overtime, missed breaks and heightened workload were all described as driving stress, and in turn increased alcohol consumption. Relevance to clinical practice: Increased alcohol consumption has been associated with burnout, absenteeism and intention to leave. The nursing profession is currently undergoing significant continuing stress providing care and management to patients with the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus, and increased alcohol consumption is a significant threat to personal and workforce well‐being, workforce sustainability and quality nursing care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to report on the cardiorespiratory assessments, interventions, and outcomemeasures used by physical therapists with critically ill patients and the impact of COVID-19. Design: An anonymous international online survey of practice (through Google Forms) of physical therapists was conducted. Setting: The study was conducted in adult intensive care units. Participants: A total of 309 physical therapists participated in the study. Interventions: A survey was used to determine current cardiopulmonary physical therapy practices in ICU. Results: Predominantly participants were female (74%), aged 31 to 40 years (40%), havingworked in intensive care unit (ICU) for either 0 to 5 years (38%) or 11 to 20 years (28%), andworked full time (72%). Most participants worked in the United Kingdom (36%), Europe (21%), or Australia/Oceania (18%). The 3most frequently reported assessment indicators for cardiopulmonary physical therapy interventions were lobar collapse/atelectasis, audible secretions, and decreased/added lung auscultation sounds. The 3 most commonly used outcome measures included lung auscultation, arterial blood gas analysis, and transcutaneous arterial saturation. The 3 most commonly used physical therapy interventions ("very often" in a descending order) included patientmobilization, repositioning to optimize gas exchange, and endotracheal suctioning. For the COVID-19 cohort, participants reported similar use of patient repositioning to optimize gas exchange and postural drainage, and lower use of patientmobilization and endotracheal suctioning, deep breathing exercises, active cycle of breathing technique, and oropharyngeal suctioning. Conclusion: This survey reports on the characteristics of physical therapists who work in ICU, and their cardiopulmonary physical therapy assessments, interventions, and outcome measures most commonly used, inclusive of patients with COVID-19. There were some differences in interventions provided to the COVID-19 cohort compared with the non-COVID-19 cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]