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Public Health and Digital Technologies during Pandemic: A Multidisciplinary Perspective
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Public Health and Digital Technologies during Pandemic: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 29905

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Anita Kothari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Health Studies, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada
Interests: Supporting the use of research and knowledge in healthcare decision-making; Integrated knowledge translation or research co-production; The impact of research and evidence; Public health systems and services; Health equity
Dr. Lorie Donelle

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada
Interests: Digital Health; Health and Digital Health Literacy; Health Promotion
Prof. Michael Bauer

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Computer Science, Middlesex College, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada
Interests: Health informatics

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

The goals of public health are to protect the health of individuals and communities during pandemic events and to ensure equitable access to health services for all individuals. To accomplish these goals, a multi-sectoral (e.g., health, economic, education, legal) response is required to ensure an effective, coordinated response during infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19.  Digital technologies (e.g., websites, smart phones and apps, drones, virtual reality) are important health communication tools that have gained greater prominence within the COVID-19 context.  Digital technologies have been used for communicating public health messages (social media, PH websites), as an information resource (Google, interactive maps), for social support (video chats), and for citizen surveillance or enforcement of PH pandemic measures (physical distancing). Further work needs to be done, however, to understand how to leverage digital technologies for evidence-based decision-making by organizations and governments.  This Special Issue will compile 1) empirical articles, 2) review articles, and 3) digital methodological innovations about or closely related to the following topic areas to support decision-making:

  • Understanding trends and sources of misinformation.
  • Demonstrating effective strategies with which to communicate with the public.
  • Exploring the role of influencers in disseminating, supporting or refuting public health directives; understanding how a legitimate voice is created and maintained through social media.
  • Determining the effectiveness of digital monitoring of individuals during pandemics; appreciating related issues of surveillance and privacy from differing perspectives.
  • Unpacking health literacy and digital health literacy for sub-populations.
  • Gaining insight into issues related to equity, e.g., who has access and who doesn’t have access to digital technologies (older adults, long term care residents, the homeless).
  • Demonstrating how we use findings related to social media data analytics from different sub-groups (industry, public).
  • Revealing the stigmatized social media response among different disenfranchised groups (health care providers, immigrant populations).
  • Methodological insight into the use of data science methods (e.g., sentiment analysis, natural language processing, data visualization) for public health pandemic communication.

Dr. Anita Kothari
Dr. Lorie Donelle
Prof. Michael Bauer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pandemic
  • social media
  • digital technologies
  • public health
  • digital health
  • big data analytics

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 343 KiB  
Article
New Media Literacy, Health Status, Anxiety, and Preventative Behaviors Related to COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study in Taiwan
by Shih-Chieh Hung, Shu-Ching Yang and Yi-Fang Luo
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11247; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111247 - 26 Oct 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2774
Abstract
Internet media may exacerbate public confusion and anxiety about COVID-19. New media health literacy (NMHL) is considered to play a protective role against health-related misinformation from the media for individuals to maintain their health. The current study aims to examine the relationship among [...] Read more.
Internet media may exacerbate public confusion and anxiety about COVID-19. New media health literacy (NMHL) is considered to play a protective role against health-related misinformation from the media for individuals to maintain their health. The current study aims to examine the relationship among Taiwanese adults’ NMHL, health status, anxiety, and prevention behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey, and 342 responses were included in the analysis. The survey tools include Health Status, COVID-19-Related New Media Health Literacy, COVID-19 Anxiety, and COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors. The research showed that both functional and critical prosuming literacy had positive relationships with health status. Functional consumption literacy had a weak negative correlation with COVID-19 anxiety. Furthermore, critical consumption literacy had a positive relationship with COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Therefore, individuals’ health, anxiety, and prevention behaviors are affected by different aspects of COVID-19-related new media health literacy. Compared to their consuming media literacy, Taiwanese adults have insufficient prosuming media literacy in regard to COVID-19 health issues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health and Digital Technologies during Pandemic: A Multidisciplinary Perspective)
14 pages, 378 KiB  
Article
Examining Social Media Crisis Communication during Early COVID-19 from Public Health and News Media for Quality, Content, and Corresponding Public Sentiment
by Melissa MacKay, Taylor Colangeli, Daniel Gillis, Jennifer McWhirter and Andrew Papadopoulos
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(15), 7986; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18157986 - 28 Jul 2021
Cited by 35 | Viewed by 8874
Abstract
Rising COVID-19 cases in Canada in early 2021, coupled with pervasive mis- and disinformation, demonstrate the critical relationship between effective crisis communication, trust, and risk protective measure adherence by the public. Trust in crisis communication is affected by the communication’s characteristics including transparency, [...] Read more.
Rising COVID-19 cases in Canada in early 2021, coupled with pervasive mis- and disinformation, demonstrate the critical relationship between effective crisis communication, trust, and risk protective measure adherence by the public. Trust in crisis communication is affected by the communication’s characteristics including transparency, timeliness, empathy, and clarity, as well as the source and communication channels used. Crisis communication occurs in a rhetorical arena where various actors, including public health, news media, and the public, are co-producing and responding to messages. Rhetorical arenas must be monitored to assess the acceptance of messaging. The quality and content of Canadian public health and news media crisis communication on Facebook were evaluated to understand the use of key guiding principles of effective crisis communication, the focus of the communication, and subsequent public emotional response to included posts. Four hundred and thirty-eight posts and 26,774 anonymized comments were collected and analyzed. Overall, the guiding principles for effective crisis communication were inconsistently applied and combined. A limited combination of guiding principles, especially those that demonstrate trustworthiness, was likely driving the negative sentiment uncovered in the comments. Public health and news media should use the guiding principles consistently to increase positive sentiment and build trust among followers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health and Digital Technologies during Pandemic: A Multidisciplinary Perspective)
23 pages, 2816 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Role of Visual Design in Digital Public Health Safety Education
by Minzhe Yi, Defu Bao and Yifan Mo
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(15), 7965; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18157965 - 28 Jul 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2439
Abstract
In this research, the positive role of interface visual design in digital safety education was verified taking COVID-19 prevention and control knowledge as the content of public health safety education, where interface emotion (positive, negative, and neutral) and interface layout (waterfall typed and [...] Read more.
In this research, the positive role of interface visual design in digital safety education was verified taking COVID-19 prevention and control knowledge as the content of public health safety education, where interface emotion (positive, negative, and neutral) and interface layout (waterfall typed and juxtaposition typed) were regarded as independent variables, and readers’ understanding, course evaluation and system usability score were dependent variables. As revealed in the results of a 3 × 2 two-factor experiment in which 252 college students participated: first, different interface emotion can cause significantly different understanding, where negative emotion has the best learning transfer effect; second, due to the difference in interface emotion, participants may give certain courses significantly different evaluation scores, while positive emotional interface contributes to the obviously high scores of three course-evaluation items, “appeal of the lesson”, “enjoyment of the lesson” and “interface quality”; third, significantly different system usability can be caused by different interface layout, where waterfall-type layout enjoys higher appraisal from users; fourth, interface emotion and interface layout have a similar interactive effects in terms of “effort of the lesson” and “interface quality”, where waterfall-type layout is favored in terms of positive emotional interface, and juxtaposition-type layout is more advantageous in terms of negative emotional interface. These results are of vital significance for interface design and safety education. Further, the visual design method for interface emotion and interface layout were analyzed to determine the most suitable design principles so as to improve the effect of digital public health safety education and provide constructive ideas for fighting against COVID-19 at the educational level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health and Digital Technologies during Pandemic: A Multidisciplinary Perspective)
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14 pages, 9115 KiB  
Article
Effect of Infodemic Regarding the Illegal Sale of Medications on the Internet: Evaluation of Demand and Online Availability of Ivermectin during the COVID-19 Pandemic
by András Fittler, Latifat Adeniye, Zoltán Katz and Richárd Bella
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(14), 7475; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147475 - 13 Jul 2021
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4988
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic and the related infodemic generated confusion and increased demand of various pharmaceuticals, ushering in the opportunity for illicit online vendors to fill a gap in the marketplace using potentially dangerous products. The aim of our study is to provide evidence [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the related infodemic generated confusion and increased demand of various pharmaceuticals, ushering in the opportunity for illicit online vendors to fill a gap in the marketplace using potentially dangerous products. The aim of our study is to provide evidence regarding increased demand, online availability and consumer accessibility of ivermectin, an anthelmintic agent, without substantiated indications in reference to SARS-CoV-2. In our study, we combined infodemiology methodology aligned with search engine result assessment and website analytics to evaluate patient safety risks. Users’ Google queries regarding ivermectin were trending and peaked during the last week of November 2020 and March 2021. Consumers more likely found links leading directly or indirectly (via redirection) to illegal online retailers representing nearly half (53.3%) of search engine result links regarding the first three result pages in December 2020 and topped off at 73.3% by March 2021. Illicit medicine retailers outnumbered and outranked their legitimate counterparts and dominated the first search engine results page. A vast majority (77.7%) of the identified online pharmacies were characteristically rogue; more than half (55.5%) offered prescription-only products without a valid medical prescription. Our results illustrate connection between infodemic and its consequences on the illicit online pharmacy market Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health and Digital Technologies during Pandemic: A Multidisciplinary Perspective)
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11 pages, 1228 KiB  
Article
Psychological Well-Being and Home Conditions during COVID-19 Confinement. Internet Addiction and Nostalgia as Mediators
by Mario Del Líbano, Miguel Corbí, Aida Gutiérrez-García and Almudena Alonso-Centeno
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(14), 7386; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147386 - 10 Jul 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2880
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic posed a challenge for all confined populations, dealing with their home resources and suffering changes in their psychological well-being. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between home conditions (i.e., having children, square meters of the house [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic posed a challenge for all confined populations, dealing with their home resources and suffering changes in their psychological well-being. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between home conditions (i.e., having children, square meters of the house and square meters of the terrace or similar) and psychological well-being, and to test whether this relationship is mediated by Internet addiction and nostalgia. The sample was composed of 1509 people, aged between 18 to 78 years (67.6% women). Structural Equations Models and 2 × 2 ANOVAs were analyzed. It was found that better home conditions mean greater psychological well-being, and that this relationship is partially mediated, in a negative sense, by Internet addiction and nostalgia, especially after day 45 of confinement and with greater intensity in women. These results provide evidence about how psychological well-being can be preserved during a confinement situation, which may be useful for planning healthy strategies in similar circumstances in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health and Digital Technologies during Pandemic: A Multidisciplinary Perspective)
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18 pages, 928 KiB  
Article
Social Bots’ Sentiment Engagement in Health Emergencies: A Topic-Based Analysis of the COVID-19 Pandemic Discussions on Twitter
by Wen Shi, Diyi Liu, Jing Yang, Jing Zhang, Sanmei Wen and Jing Su
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(22), 8701; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228701 - 23 Nov 2020
Cited by 57 | Viewed by 5820
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when individuals were confronted with social distancing, social media served as a significant platform for expressing feelings and seeking emotional support. However, a group of automated actors known as social bots have been found to coexist with human users [...] Read more.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when individuals were confronted with social distancing, social media served as a significant platform for expressing feelings and seeking emotional support. However, a group of automated actors known as social bots have been found to coexist with human users in discussions regarding the coronavirus crisis, which may pose threats to public health. To figure out how these actors distorted public opinion and sentiment expressions in the outbreak, this study selected three critical timepoints in the development of the pandemic and conducted a topic-based sentiment analysis for bot-generated and human-generated tweets. The findings show that suspected social bots contributed to as much as 9.27% of COVID-19 discussions on Twitter. Social bots and humans shared a similar trend on sentiment polarity—positive or negative—for almost all topics. For the most negative topics, social bots were even more negative than humans. Their sentiment expressions were weaker than those of humans for most topics, except for COVID-19 in the US and the healthcare system. In most cases, social bots were more likely to actively amplify humans’ emotions, rather than to trigger humans’ amplification. In discussions of COVID-19 in the US, social bots managed to trigger bot-to-human anger transmission. Although these automated accounts expressed more sadness towards health risks, they failed to pass sadness to humans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health and Digital Technologies during Pandemic: A Multidisciplinary Perspective)
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