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This paper addresses the experiences of US child welfare professionals during the COVID pandemic. Using an online survey, we report on a convenience sample of 444 child welfare workers. The majority reported receiving adequate guidance on staying safe; 86.3% were given access to face masks. Workers reported 75.8% of clients used masks; 10.7% reported contracting COVID through work. About 80% worried that child clients were more at-risk. Workers who felt the most supported and least at-risk were those with stay-at-home orders. Results are discussed in terms of supporting child welfare professionals during periods of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood (EC) education has usually involved in-person teaching and learning. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed remote teaching on EC practitioners and complicated practicum students' fieldwork experiences. This study explored EC practicum students' fieldwork experiences in the U.S. during the pandemic and their preparedness for online teaching and technology employment and integration. Participants included 28 students enrolled in Directed Field Experience in Spring 2021. A mixed-methods approach incorporating multiple sources of data, including reflection papers, interviews, and questionnaires, was used. The findings showed that the EC practicum students changed their perceptions of and attitudes toward a remote field experience course and online teaching with young children over the semester. Additionally, EC practicum students' challenges and professional and academic growth were evident in their reporting. These findings have implications for the development of effective strategies for alleviating EC practicum students' challenges, facilitating their professional growth, and providing resources to integrate digital technology in their teaching in developmentally appropriate ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major public governance issue in the United States since 2020. Public officials at all levels of government have provided important policies to control the spread of the pandemic and reduce its impact to society. This paper examines public value and ethical challenges that are related to the government's pandemic responses. The paper first provides a review of value and ethical studies in public administration and public health crisis. It then examines value concerns and ethical challenges in COVID management and policy cases and the influence of political polarization to the value challenges. The paper concludes with discussions about the pandemic's comprehensive challenges to the traditional professional management and suggestions of public value studies and trainings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated acceptance of learning from other countries, especially for high-income countries to learn from low- and middle-income countries, a practice known as global learning. COVID-19’s rapid disease transmission underscored how connected the globe is as well as revealed stark health inequities which facilitated looking outside of one’s borders for solutions. The Global Learning for Health Equity (GL4HE) Network, supported by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, held a 3-part webinar series in December 2021 to understand the current state of global learning and explore how global learning can advance health equity in the post-COVID-19 era. This paper reflects on these cutting-edge discussions about the current state of global learning, drawing upon the highlights, perspectives, and conclusions that emerged from these webinars. The paper also comments on best practices for global learning, including adapting for context, addressing biases, funding considerations, ensuring bidirectional partnerships, community engagement, and adopting a multidisciplinary approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feedback on neuropsychological assessment is a critical part of clinical practice, but there are few empirical papers on neuropsychological feedback practices. We sought to fill this gap in the literature by surveying practicing neuropsychologists in the United States. Questions addressed how they provide verbal and written feedback to patients and referral sources. Survey questions also addressed billing practices and training in the provision of feedback. A survey was developed using Qualtrics XM to survey currently licensed, independently practicing clinical neuropsychologists in the United States about their feedback practices. The survey was completed by 184 individuals. Nearly all respondents reported that they provide verbal feedback to patients, most often in-person, within three weeks following testing. Typically, verbal feedback sessions with patients last 45 min. Verbal feedback was provided to referrals by about half of our sample, typically via a brief phone call. Most participants also reported providing written feedback to both the patient and referring provider, most commonly via the written report within three weeks after testing. Regarding billing, most respondents use neuropsychological testing evaluation codes. The COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have had a limited impact on the perceived effectiveness and quality of verbal feedback sessions. Finally, respondents reported that across major stages of professional development, training in the provision of feedback gradually increased but was considered inadequate by many participants. Results provide an empirical summary of the "state of current practice" for providing neuropsychological assessment feedback. Further experimental research is needed to develop an evidence-base for effective feedback practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way time is allocated towards market and non-market activities. This paper looks at the effect of the pandemic on a key category of non-market activity – leisure. We use micro-data from the American Time Use Survey to see how the pandemic affected leisure in the United States. A seemingly unrelated regression system is deployed to examine how the pandemic affects various leisure activities such as television viewing, socialising, reading/writing, active sports, games, and computer use. Apart from socialising, which was actively discouraged during the pandemic, all major leisure activities saw an increase, which resulted in overall leisure going up in the Covid year 2020 by 5%, compared to 2019. However, the impact is statistically significantly different for different types of leisure activities. Active leisure is being consumed less while passive leisure is being consumed more – pointing towards an increased sedentarization of lifestyles. Since previous studies have shown passive leisure to be negatively associated with health, our result has important implications for the health and well-being of Americans, and if the trend continues, policymakers should actively incentivise the consumption of active forms of leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel, public behaviors, such as masking, should be susceptible to normative influence. This paper advances the theory of normative social behavior by considering a new set of moderators of normative influence — superdiffuser traits — and by clarifying the antecedents and consequences of exposure to collective norms. We use data from a two-wave survey of a cohort living in one U.S. county during the pandemic (N = 913) to assess normative effects on masking. We also used a bipartite network (based on people shopping for food in the same stores) to examine exposure to collective norms. The results show different superdiffuser traits have distinct effects on the relationship between perceived injunctive norms and masking intentions. Exposure to collective norms influences masking, but this influence depends on how people interact with their social environments. Network analysis shows that behavioral homophily is a significant predictor of selective exposure to collective norms earlier (but not later) in the pandemic. Implications for understanding normative influence in a context where opinion leadership matters are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]