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Purpose: The purpose of the study was to provide a comparative analysis on the psychological and socio-cultural impacts of COVID-19 on victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) in South Africa (SA) and the USA. Design/methodology/approach: The authors collected media and scholarly articles that dealt with IPV victims during the early phase of the pandemic. This study focused solely on SA and the USA because of their unique contexts and the fact that the authors are residents of these countries. The authors observed how both presidents dealt with IPV amidst the COVID 19 pandemic, especially when stay-at-home orders were in place. Aspects relating to the psychological and socio-cultural impacts amidst the pandemic were considered. Findings: The authors found that in both countries, many black women from low socio-economic backgrounds experience IPV. Being in isolated spaces with their perpetrators prohibits victims from reporting the abuse. As the world attempts to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections, effective strategies have been suggested for victims and perpetrators. The authors found the approaches of the two governments (until the Biden Administration in 2021) to be starkly different in terms of effective strategies and the neglect and downplaying of the extent of one or both pandemics (i.e. COVID-19 and IPV). Pro-safety, equality, gender and race-conscious embracing approaches to overcome IPV are urgently needed. Originality/value: The paper focused on IPV during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides relevant information about IPV in both countries, especially when stay-at-home orders are in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has tremendously caused significant health impacts leading to high load of ICU critical patients. Multiple Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission framework and triaging score have been adapted worldwide for admission of COVID-19 patients. The aim of this article is to review the COVID-19 ICU admission policy in five (5) countries, identify challenges and provide recommendations. Materials and Methods: Literature review was carried out through searching available literature from online databases such as EBSCO, PubMed, Research Gate, Google Scholar and Google search engine. The selected information used in this review is taken from any journal, article, report, thesis, national report, news update regarding the topic. Result: The ICU admission policy in 5 countries, namely South Africa, USA, UK, Hong Kong and Malaysia were reviewed. Different countries apply different guidelines to triage, prioritize and admit severe COVID-19 patients to ICU such as Color-coded Priority Scale in South Africa, Critical Care Triage Tool in USA, COVID-19 Critical Care Guideline in UK, COVID- 19 Critical Care Triage Tool in Hong Kong and ICU Admission Prioritization Criteria in Malaysia. The ICU admission decision-making is supported with multiple ICU scorings such as Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Clinical Frailty score and National Early Warning score 2 (NEWS2). Conclusion: The COVID-19 ICU admission policies in these countries are well established and have been practised appropriately despite challenges faced by the ICU practitioners. All five selected national guidelines in this paper correspond to the WHO framework on the ICU admission policy. Ethical issues and legal supports on the ICU practitioners in ICU admission decision-making requires great attention form government and relevant policy stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on working mothers from the United States and South Africa. This study sought to highlight both cross-cultural similarities and differences. American and South African working mothers took part in online interviews. Eighteen participants were included in the sample, ten participants lived in the United States, while eight participants currently resided in South Africa. The age range of the participants' children was from 0 to 21 years old. Each participant met individually with the researcher and answered a series of open-ended questions regarding their experiences of being a working mother during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers analyzed interviews using thematic analysis. Common themes emerged in the interviews with both American and South African working mothers. Mothers in the United States and South Africa both noted the need for flexible work schedules as well as expressed difficulty balancing roles as mothers and professionals during the pandemic. Increased motivation and resiliency as well as lack of representation of women leaders were themes specific to South African mothers in this study. Conversely, feelings of decreased interest in pursuing leadership opportunities was a theme specific to American mothers in this study. The current study adds to the growing body of literature documenting the effect of the pandemic on working mothers, and builds on this research by including a qualitative component to gain knowledge from working mothers themselves. The narratives collected in the current study highlight commonalities as well as differences in the experiences of working mothers in the United States and South Africa, which holds important implications for how workplaces and the broader community can best attend to the unique needs of working mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore 232 service providers' and policymakers' experiences of supporting children's well-being during the pandemic, across sectors, in 22 countries – including Kenya, the Philippines, South Africa, India, Scotland, Sweden, Canada and the USA, in the last quarter of 2020. Design/methodology/approach: A smartphone survey delivered via a custom-built app containing mostly open-ended questions was used. Respondents were recruited via professional networks, newsletters and social media. Qualitative content analysis was used. Findings: The findings reveal numerous system-level challenges to supporting children's well-being, particularly virus containment measures, resource deficiencies and inadequate governance and stakeholder coordination. Those challenges compounded preexisting inequalities and poorly affected the quality, effectiveness and reach of services. As a result, children's rights to an adequate standard of living; protection from violence; education; play; and right to be heard were impinged upon. Concurrently, the findings illustrate a range of adaptive and innovative practices in humanitarian and subsistence support; child protection; capacity-building; advocacy; digitalisation; and psychosocial and educational support. Respondents identified several priority areas – increasing service capacity and equity; expanding technology use; mobilising cross-sectoral partnerships; involving children in decision-making; and ensuring more effective child protection mechanisms. Practical implications: This study seeks to inform resilience-enabling policies and practices that foster equity, child and community empowerment and organisational resilience and innovation, particularly in anticipation of future crises. Originality/value: Using a novel approach to gather in-the-moment insights remotely, this study offers a unique international and multi-sectoral perspective, particularly from low- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]