Background: Individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) are facing unprecedented challenges due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Congregate living, and conditions associated with NDD place increased challenges during infectious disease outbreaks and there is a need to understand evidence-based…

Introduction: In the USA, syringe services programmes (SSPs) provide a range of harm reduction services and have numerous benefits for communities. However, stigma, misconceptions about SSPs and changing policies/legislation remain a challenge to effective implementation. This study reviews the implementation of two digital interventions,…

Background: Chronic disease can lead to disability, reduced quality of life, reduced productivity, and increased medical costs. Common chronic diseases that develop due to unhealthy lifestyle factors include obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and stroke. An intensive lifestyle education program (ILEP) provides an opportunity to…

There is a reflection on people's behaviour in times of crisis. In this context, the importance of changing the use of the concept of traditional health to that of well-being as part of the development of a community consciousness and a global gaze of the human being is briefly addressed. The need for a socio-emotional education that promotes…

The Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) prepared this document to assist school officials working with public health officials in managing public health issues related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), while protecting the privacy of students' education records. Understanding the Family Educational Rights and…

The outbreak of COVID-19 has posed serious challenges to schools and teachers as it forced schools to close and traditional face-to-face teaching was suspended. How did Hong Kong geography teachers respond to these challenges in the first nine months of the outbreak? How did they adapt to the social distancing measures such as school closure? Why…

Protective face masks were one of the central measures to counteract viral transmission in the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior research indicates that face masks impact various aspects of social cognition, such as emotion recognition and social evaluation. Whether protective masks also influence social avoidance behavior is less clear. Our project…

Background: We aimed to better understand the impact of statewide legislation removing personal belief exemptions (PBEs) for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) school immunization requirement and factors associated with resulting health-seeking behaviors. Methods: We used chi-squared tests and logistic regression models to determine individual-…

Rural adolescents with asthma are a disparate group. Self-management is essential to asthma control. We describe asthma knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-management behaviors among 198 rural adolescents with poorly controlled asthma, exploring demographic differences; we also test the application of Social Cognitive Theory to asthma…

Background: While wearing masks during the pandemic poses communication and social challenges for people in everyday life, those with social anxiety might find them plausible, aligning with contemporary cognitive theories. Social anxiety involves fearing negative assessments and holding a negative self-image. Concealing anxiety symptoms during…

Background: With the introduction of face mask orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the general public may have turned to their state government or health department's website to find information on face coverings. Purpose: This study seeks to evaluate the readability, suitability, and content of masking guidance on state government or state…

Background: Conceptualisations of what it means to use evidence in policymaking often appear divided between two extremes. On the one side are works presenting it as the implementation of research findings - particularly evaluations of intervention effect. In contrast stand theoretically informed works exploring the multiple meanings of evidence…

This paper is a consideration of how the method/methodology of "talanoa" and "va," can be used online by Pacific researchers to respond to the current pandemic's effect on the traditional face-to-face physical spaces used for knowledge-sharing. The following discussion examines and explores the two concepts: "talanoa"…

Objective: During January 2016-June 2017, 75 mumps outbreaks occurred in US universities, despite high vaccine coverage among students. We evaluated universities' experiences with mumps outbreaks to inform policy deliberations on use of a third dose of MMR vaccine and CDC guidance. Participants: American College Health Association members in…

The purpose of this study was to explore and attempt to understand the experiences, along with the efforts and perceptions of those efforts, of teachers who implemented flexible seating during the COVID-19 pandemic. A semi-structured interview protocol was used and aligned with the theoretical framework, constructivist learning theory.…