'Never waste a crisis': a commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic as a driver for innovation in maternity care.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: van den Berg L
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8652457 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:ObjectiveDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of changes to maternity care were rapidly introduced in all countries, including Australia, to reduce the risk of infection for pregnant women and their care providers. While many studies have reported on the negative effects of these changes, there is a paucity of evidence on factors which women and their providers perceived as positive and useful for future maternity care.DesignData was analysed from the Birth in the time of COVID-19 (BITTOC 2020) study survey. Conventional content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data and examine which aspects of COVID-amended care women experienced as positive. Data from women were compared to data from midwives.SettingThis project took place in Australia in 2020-2021.ParticipantsThe survey was distributed to women who gave birth and midwives who worked in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 onwards).Measurements and findingsWomen reported a variety of positives from their maternity care during COVID-19. These included both care-related factors as well as contextual factors. The most commonly mentioned positives for pregnant and postnatal women were care-related, namely fewer visitors in hospital, having increased access to telehealth services. These were also the most commonly reported positives by midwives. Having midwifery continuity of care models, giving birth at home and having their partner work from home were also highlighted by women as positives.Key conclusionsDespite the negative effect of COVID-19-related restrictions on maternity care, a variety of changes were viewed as positive by both women and midwives, with strong agreement between the two groups.Implications for practiceThese findings provide evidence to support the inclusion of these positive elements of care and ensure that the lessons learned from the pandemic are utilised to improve maternity care in Australia going forward.
| S-EPMC9013427 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Coronavirus Diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has a huge impact on the plastic waste management in many countries due to the sudden surge of medical waste which has led to a global waste management crisis. Improper management of plastic waste may lead to various negative impacts on the environment, animals, and human health. However, adopting proper waste management and the right technologies, looking in a different perception of the current crisis would be an opportunity. About 40% of the plastic waste ended up in landfill, 25% incinerated, 16% recycled and the remaining 19% are leaked into the environment. The increase of plastic wastes and demand of plastic markets serve as a good economic indicator for investor and government initiative to invest in technologies that converts plastic waste into value-added product such as fuel and construction materials. This will close the loop of the life cycle of plastic waste by achieving a sustainable circular economy. This review paper will provide insight of the state of plastic waste before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The treatment pathway of plastic waste such as sterilisation technology, incineration, and alternative technologies available in converting plastic waste into value-added product were reviewed.
| S-EPMC9759681 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic led to rapid adaptations among palliative care services, but it is unclear how these adaptations vary in relation to their unique organizational contexts.AimUnderstand how the pandemic impacted the implementation of new and existing palliative care programs in diverse hospital systems using the Dynamic Sustainability Framework.DesignTwelve in-depth interviews with 15 key informants representing palliative care programs from seven hospital systems between April and June 2020.SettingPublic, not-for-profit private, community, and academic teaching hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area with existing palliative care programs that were expanding services to new clinical areas (e.g. new outpatient clinic or community-based care).ResultsSix themes characterized how palliative care programs were impacted and adapted during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: palliative care involvement in preparing for surge, increased emphasis on advance care planning, advocating for visitors for dying patients, providing emotional support to clinicians, adopting virtual approaches to care, and gaps in chaplaincy support. There was variation in how new and existing programs were able to adapt to early pandemic stresses; systems with new outpatient programs struggled to utilize their programs effectively during the crisis onset.ConclusionsThe fit between palliative care programs and practice setting was critical to program resiliency during the early stages of the pandemic. Reconceptualizing the Dynamic Sustainability Framework to reflect a bidirectional relationship between ecological system, practice setting, and intervention levels might better guide implementers and researchers in understanding how ecological/macro changes can influence interventions on the ground.
| S-EPMC9618919 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the economic, social, and psychological aspects globally. COVID-19 can possibly spread through municipal solid waste (MSW) if it is collected, bagged, transported, and disposed inappropriately. Such situation has posed significant challenges to MSW management (MSWM), which has led waste personnel under massive pressure. This study aims to examine the health-protective behavior of sanitation workers/MSW collectors (MSWCs) during the COVID-19 crisis. Quantitative data were collected by using a self-administered survey from 418 MSWCs working in Mainland China. The study extended the traditional health-belief model and proposed education and training as a facet of the behavioral model. Result showed that education and training were a significant predictor of health-protective behavior. Moreover, the moderating incremental influence of regulative assistance significantly affected the behavioral mapping of MSWCs. This study contributes to the literature by mapping the concerns, risks, and challenges experienced by MSWCs in times of a health crisis. Policymakers should specially consider the safety and hygiene concerns of frontline workforce in the whole chain of waste management (including the outsourced operations of MSWM). Lastly, the adoption of smart communication with the frontline workforce (i.e., MSWCs) is in dire need to maintain trust and avoid rumors and misconceptions during the time of a pandemic situation.
| S-EPMC8396142 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The Covid‐19 crisis has hit SMEs particularly hard. Numerous business models (BM) have been limited or rendered downright impossible due to decreased social contact. SMEs can respond to this exogenous crisis via temporary business model innovation (BMI). This empirical study investigates these temporary BMs using a multiple case study approach based on five SMEs in Austria, Germany, and Liechtenstein who within a short period of time applied their core competencies and networks to integrate new BMs, which were in some cases very different from existing ones. These had a positive effect on strategic flexibility, and if desired can also be incorporated into the firm long‐term. The paper contributes to SME crisis management during the Covid‐19 pandemic by pointing out and developing a successful management mechanism that allows to survive a crisis or even improve during this time. Moreover, we contribute to BMI literature by explaining temporary BMI as a new form of BMI. It also makes clear to managers that temporary BMs add value to firms and create new revenue streams.
| S-EPMC8662028 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPrior to the pandemic, Canada lagged behind other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries in the uptake of virtual care. The onset of COVID-19, however, resulted in a near-universal shift to virtual primary care to minimise exposure risks. As jurisdictions enter a pandemic recovery phase, the balance between virtual and in-person visits is reverting, though it is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels. Our objective was to explore Canadian family physicians' perspectives on the rapid move to virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic, to inform both future pandemic planning for primary care and the optimal integration of virtual care into the broader primary care context beyond the pandemic.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with 68 family physicians from four regions in Canada between October 2020 and June 2021. We used a purposeful, maximum variation sampling approach, continuing recruitment in each region until we reached saturation. Interviews with family physicians explored their roles and experiences during the pandemic, and the facilitators and barriers they encountered in continuing to support their patients through the pandemic. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed for recurrent themes.ResultsWe identified three prominent themes throughout participants' reflections on implementing virtual care: implementation and evolution of virtual modalities during the pandemic; facilitators and barriers to implementing virtual care; and virtual care in the future. While some family physicians had prior experience conducting remote assessments, most had to implement and adapt to virtual care abruptly as provinces limited in-person visits to essential and urgent care. As the pandemic progressed, initial forays into video-based consultations were frequently replaced by phone-based visits, while physicians also rebalanced the ratio of virtual to in-person visits. Medical record systems with integrated capacity for virtual visits, billing codes, supportive clinic teams, and longitudinal relationships with patients were facilitators in this rapid transition for family physicians, while the absence of these factors often posed barriers.ConclusionDespite varied experiences and preferences related to virtual primary care, physicians felt that virtual visits should continue to be available beyond the pandemic but require clearer regulation and guidelines for its appropriate future use.
| S-EPMC10072815 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC9321880 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A virtual hospitalist program expanded our ability to confront the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis at the epicenter of the pandemic in New York City. In concert with on-site hospitalists and redeployed physicians, virtual hospitalists aimed to expand capacity while maintaining high-quality care and communication. The program addressed multiple challenges created by our first COVID-19 surge: high patient census and acuity; limitations of and due to personal protective equipment; increased communication needs due to visitor restrictions and the uncertain nature of the novel disease, and limitations to in-person work for some physicians. The program created a mechanism to train and support new hospitalists and provide and expand palliative care services. We describe how our virtual hospitalist program operated during our COVID-19 surge in April and May 2020 and reflect on potential roles of virtual hospitalists after the COVID-19 crisis passes.
| S-EPMC7993080 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC7436615 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC7531590 | biostudies-literature