Search

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the diseases it causes remain a public health threat. Data describing health education campaigns for COVID-19 on university and college campuses are lacking, however. Purpose: This study explored college students' experiences of a USA campus COVID-19 campaign encouraging masking, social distancing and handwashing. Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 33 demographically diverse students. Questions focused on students' experiences during COVID-19, actions and beliefs, and reactions to the university's COVID-19 prevention campaign. Thematic analysis was used to evaluate responses to the campaign and identify suggestions for future interventions. Results: Students identified three areas of concern -- lack of enforcement for nonadherence, inequities and inconsistencies in messaging and failure to connect messages to students' daily experiences -- as problematic. Participants also said the campaign did not address their primary COVID-19 concerns, outlining four thematic content areas needing more attention -- learning in quarantine, missing the 'college experience', difficult social relationships and chaos and uncertainty. Discussion: COVID-19 prevention campaigns on campus may be best served by a holistic ecological model engaging with needed forms of support on multiple levels. Conclusion: Health education and promotion campaigns that speak to individual, relational, community and policy aspects of disease such as COVID-19 are more promising than campaigns that promote single prevention actions.

The widespread availability of health information and treatment for HIV in Southern Africa does not reach all populations. Few programs and materials are developed with middle-aged and older rural individuals living with HIV as the target audience, despite this being a growing population. This vacuum inevitably exacerbates the disjuncture between clinical and experiential knowledge. This study uses in-depth interviews from 2018 with middle-aged and older rural South Africans who self-report medication adherence to ART in order to explore experiences of living with HIV and beliefs about anti-retroviral treatment (ART). Participants revealed a general sense of vulnerability as a major motivation for HIV medication adherence. A majority of the participants believed that death was imminent if they defaulted on ART at any point in time. Although the availability of ART brought hope to many, HIV was still perceived as a death sentence, particularly if ART adherence was imperfect. The study findings suggest a need to examine the psychosocial component of community programs for middle-aged and older people living with HIV. For this growing population that experienced the full course of the epidemic, more research is needed on the burden of psychological and mental health issues emerging from the need for long-term HIV medication adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global health crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the necessity of swift vaccine development and distribution to curb virus transmission. However, discussions on vaccine acceptance and hesitancy have predominantly focused on pre-vaccination attitudes, often overlooking the significance of post-vaccination experiences in shaping individual and communal attitudes toward vaccines. This oversight is particularly critical among healthcare workers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), who play a dual role in combating the pandemic and influencing public vaccine sentiment. Using the theory of planned behavior, this study explores the post-vaccination experiences of healthcare workers in Sierra Leone and assesses how these experiences influence their attitudes toward vaccine safety, efficacy and their advocacy for vaccine uptake within their communities. Employing a qualitative design, the study interviewed 24 healthcare workers, 21 of whom were vaccinated against COVID-19. Semi-structured interviews, conducted in English or Krio, were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis to identify key themes. Three themes were identified: positive vaccination experiences exceeding initial expectations, strong belief in the vaccine's protective benefits and active roles in vaccine advocacy. Despite initial hesitations due to concerns over potential adverse effects, participants reported no significant issues post-vaccination, fostering trust in vaccine safety and effectiveness. Healthcare workers' positive post-vaccination experiences significantly bolster their vaccine advocacy, influencing their recommendations to patients, friends, families, colleagues and community members. This study highlights the importance of understanding and leveraging healthcare workers' experiences to enhance public trust and vaccine uptake, crucial for pandemic response efforts in LMICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While COVID-19 affected all segments of the population, vulnerable social groups, including international students, were disproportionately affected. The primary objective of this study was to explore COVID-19-related experiences of African international graduate students (AIGS). Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with 15 AIGS. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed. Participants reported experiencing fear of the virus and anxiety about their health and their family members (individual), feelings of isolation and depression because of reduced social engagement and lack of familial support (interactional), dealing with workrestrictive student visas, and loss of work opportunities (environmental/structural). The person-in-environment (PIE) and Ubuntu philosophy were useful lenses to understand the findings in the context of COVID-19 given its sociocultural connection to AIGS. Understanding the experiences of AIGS can help inform better approaches, including institutional and national policy changes, to support not only AIGS but also vulnerable international students during pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: As HIV shifts from "death sentence" to "chronic condition," disclosure of HIV status to intimate partners and family is a significant component of both prevention and treatment adherence. While disclosure is closely considered in many studies, few examine middle-aged and older persons' (age 40+) perspectives or practices. We trace older rural South Africans' views on HIV disclosure to their partners and family members in a high prevalence community over a period of extensive antiretroviral treatment (ART) rollout. Methods: Community focus group discussions (FGD) conducted in 2013 and 2018 show shifts in older persons' thinking about HIV disclosure. Findings: Our FGD participants saw fewer negative consequences of disclosure in 2018 than in 2013, and highlighted positive outcomes including building trust (partners) as well as greater support for medication collection and adherence (family). Discussion: Particularly as the epidemic ages in South Africa and globally, tracing changes in older persons' views on disclosure is an important step in developing messaging that could enhance treatment as prevention and ART adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: College students routinely visit their families due to geographic proximity and their financial dependence. Consequently, the potential of transmitting COVID-19 from campus to their families' homes is consequential. Family members are key sources of support for one another in nearly all matters but there is little research uncovering the mechanisms by which families have protected each other in the pandemic., Methods: Through an exploratory qualitative study, we examined the perspectives of a diverse, randomly sampled, group of students from a Midwestern University (pseudonym), in a college town, to identify COVID-19 prevention practices with their family members. We interviewed 33 students between the end of December 2020 and mid-April 2021 and conducted a thematic analysis through an iterative process., Results: Students navigated major differences in opinions and undertook significant actions in attempts to protect their family members from COVID-19 exposure. Students' actions were rooted in the greater good of public health; prosocial behavior was on display., Discussion: Larger public health initiatives could target the broader population by involving students as messengers., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Myroniuk, Teti, David and Schatz.)