Activity and Physiological Trackers To Detect And Monitor Pandemic Effects Integration of high-precision laboratory data and computational modeling to inform quantitative microbial risk assessments of pathogen transmission under various conditions within indoor environments. Read more Pandemics, Emotion, and Social Upheaval Pandemics can have dramatic impact on society, affecting public health and economic behavior. Many emotions can play an important role in this connection. Frustration, anger, fear, anxiety, and regret, for example, may plausibly be felt in a pandemic, and could influence not only how people react to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) as regards social distancing, self-quarantining, or mask wearing, but also how they invest, vote, protest, attack, or look to the welfare of others. Kindness, compassion and reciprocity may also be felt and expressed. While the field of economics has many formal models of society, these models pay little attention to how emotions factor in. It is therefore important to develop relevant theoretical tools for social scientists to apply to behavior in pandemics. Read more Psychosocial Impacts of the Pandemic School Closures in Youth with Developmental Disabilities The COVID-19 Pandemic forced extensive social disruption that led to virtual communication and learning solutions, including widespread school closures (Gross, B., & Opalka, 2020). Virtual learning has been considered non-optimal for many school children, with research suggesting that many have demonstrated learning regression across the pandemic. Furthermore, over this transition, many school-age children have faced social isolation from peers and friends which has resulted in increased loneliness and potential for increased suicidal ideation particularly in teens (Hertz & Barrios, 2020). The impact of the pandemic school closures has disproportionately affected children with developmental disabilities and those with racial and economic disparity. In Arizona, we have seen some of the most severe time lengths for school closures, with some schools closed continuously since March. In order to address current issues voiced by teachers and parents and to be prepared for future pandemics, or subsequent lockdowns from COVID-19 and its variants, we need to better understand the impact of the pandemic on school delivery and how we may best support virtual educational solutions. Read more Schools as Vaccine Points of Distribution (PODs) Recent viral outbreaks of preventable diseases, including SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), and increasing levels of vaccine hesitancy among populations with health disparities, highlight the need to develop and evaluate strategies to increase vaccine completion. Both logistical challenges and vaccine hesitancy influence this disparity. Read more
Activity and Physiological Trackers To Detect And Monitor Pandemic Effects Integration of high-precision laboratory data and computational modeling to inform quantitative microbial risk assessments of pathogen transmission under various conditions within indoor environments. Read more
Pandemics, Emotion, and Social Upheaval Pandemics can have dramatic impact on society, affecting public health and economic behavior. Many emotions can play an important role in this connection. Frustration, anger, fear, anxiety, and regret, for example, may plausibly be felt in a pandemic, and could influence not only how people react to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) as regards social distancing, self-quarantining, or mask wearing, but also how they invest, vote, protest, attack, or look to the welfare of others. Kindness, compassion and reciprocity may also be felt and expressed. While the field of economics has many formal models of society, these models pay little attention to how emotions factor in. It is therefore important to develop relevant theoretical tools for social scientists to apply to behavior in pandemics. Read more
Psychosocial Impacts of the Pandemic School Closures in Youth with Developmental Disabilities The COVID-19 Pandemic forced extensive social disruption that led to virtual communication and learning solutions, including widespread school closures (Gross, B., & Opalka, 2020). Virtual learning has been considered non-optimal for many school children, with research suggesting that many have demonstrated learning regression across the pandemic. Furthermore, over this transition, many school-age children have faced social isolation from peers and friends which has resulted in increased loneliness and potential for increased suicidal ideation particularly in teens (Hertz & Barrios, 2020). The impact of the pandemic school closures has disproportionately affected children with developmental disabilities and those with racial and economic disparity. In Arizona, we have seen some of the most severe time lengths for school closures, with some schools closed continuously since March. In order to address current issues voiced by teachers and parents and to be prepared for future pandemics, or subsequent lockdowns from COVID-19 and its variants, we need to better understand the impact of the pandemic on school delivery and how we may best support virtual educational solutions. Read more
Schools as Vaccine Points of Distribution (PODs) Recent viral outbreaks of preventable diseases, including SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), and increasing levels of vaccine hesitancy among populations with health disparities, highlight the need to develop and evaluate strategies to increase vaccine completion. Both logistical challenges and vaccine hesitancy influence this disparity. Read more
