distancing

6Oct

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19

Are The Bonds That Keep Society Together Unraveling Due To Social Distancing?

Ilana Horwitz, Tulane University With birthday celebrations being downsized, religious services moving back online and indoor playdates getting canceled, millions of Americans are having fewer social interactions because of persistently high case numbers and high rates of transmission. It’s not just interactions with friends and families that are getting cut. Routine yet beneficial interactions with people at fitness and child care centers and volunteer organizations are also being eliminated. Social distancing is vital to combating COVID-19. But is it unraveling the social bonds that keep society together? Social capital adds up As a sociologist of religion and education, I study how Americans develop social ties, and how these social ties influence people’s lives. Scholars refer to re...

Honey bees can’t practice social distancing, so they stay healthy in close quarters by working together

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT, VIDEO REELS

Honey bees can’t practice social distancing, so they stay healthy in close quarters by working together

As many states and cities across the U.S. struggle to control COVID-19 transmission, one challenge is curbing the spread among people living in close quarters. Social distancing can be difficult in places such as nursing homes, apartments, college dormitories and migrant worker housing. The complex interactions that maintain group health inside a bee hive offer lessons for humanity during pandemics. Rachael Bonoan, CC BY-ND As behavioral ecologists who have studied social interactions in honey bees, we see parallels between life in the hive and efforts to manage COVID-19 in densely populated settings. Although honey bees live in conditions that aren’t conducive to social distancing, they have developed unique ways to deal with disease by collectively working to keep the colony healthy. Ra...

Workplaces are turning to devices to monitor social distancing, but does the tech respect privacy?

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

TECHNOLOGY

Workplaces are turning to devices to monitor social distancing, but does the tech respect privacy?

As we emerge from the coronavirus lockdown, those of us who still have a workplace may not recognize it. Businesses, eager to limit liability for employees and customers, are considering a variety of emerging technologies for limiting pandemic spread. These technologies can be loosely divided into two types: one based on cellphone technologies and the other using wearable devices like electronic bracelets and watches. Both approaches focus on maintaining social distancing, nominally six feet between any two workers based on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and supported by some modeling. Most workers will have little choice whether to participate in their employer’s risk mitigation. As a networking and security researcher, I believe that it is essential that...

Social distancing is no reason to stop service learning – just do it online

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION, Journalism

Social distancing is no reason to stop service learning – just do it online

At Troy University in Alabama, students went online to help a county with a high infant mortality rate in the state of Georgia to analyze health disparities and develop solutions. At Cornell University, where I teach, law students are providing legal services online to death-row inmates in Tanzania and children and young farmworkers in upstate New York. At five state universities in the U.S. heartland, students are helping Michigan towns create government websites. These are all examples of “e-service learning” – that is, service learning that takes place online. Service learning refers to a wide range of student experiences meant to help a community organization, local government or business. I am an education researcher and – along with my colleague Yue Li – I am investigating the b...

Ways to be neighborly and keep social distancing

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Ways to be neighborly and keep social distancing

“Won’t you be my neighbor?” Fred Rogers sang this song upwards of 900 times during 31 seasons of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” But how is being a good neighbor possible during this time of quarantines and social distancing? Tracy Kirby Harbold, executive director of the Upper Arlington Community Foundation in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, said its Good Neighbor Fund has experienced an increase in monetary donations and gift cards in the past month. “People want to do something to help neighbors,” said Harbold, pointing out that about 33,000 live in the community. “We will pay rent, car payments, insurance, back bills ... whatever is the need.” She added, “The silver lining in this is that people are looking at their neighbors and asking how they can help them. They are checking on seni...

We are all humanitarian negotiators now: 3 steps for planning your ‘please take social distancing seriously’ conversation

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19

We are all humanitarian negotiators now: 3 steps for planning your ‘please take social distancing seriously’ conversation

See if this sounds familiar. You have an older relative whom you believe to be at a serious health risk if they catch the coronavirus. You call, try to persuade them to take social distancing seriously. But your arguments fail to resonate. You both get angry and hang up, locked in a stalemate. The bad news is that these conversations are as important to get right as they are frustrating. The good news is that you – perhaps without realizing it – have stepped into a field that has already generated a great deal of useful wisdom. You have become a humanitarian negotiator. In my work at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, a research and education center aimed at advancing the science and practice of humanitarian response, I researched emergency relief responders who – every day, all acro...

6 things you can do to cope with boredom at a time of social distancing

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIETY

6 things you can do to cope with boredom at a time of social distancing

More and more of us are staying home in an attempt to slow down the spreading coronavirus. But being stuck at home can lead to boredom. Boredom is a signal that we’re not meaningfully engaged with the world. It tells us to stop what we’re doing, and do it better – or to do something else. But, as a social psychologist who studies boredom, I know that people don’t always make the best choices when bored. So if you’re stuck at home, dutifully practicing your social distancing, how do you keep boredom away? About boredom We can feel bored even with jobs and activities that appear to be meaningful. For example, researchers have found anesthesiologists and air traffic controllers find themselves bored on the job. What this research reveals is that just because something is objectively meanin...

Video: Why social distancing is one of the best tools we have to fight the coronavirus

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

Video: Why social distancing is one of the best tools we have to fight the coronavirus

Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. The Conversation US, CC BY This video is based on an article written by Thomas Perls, professor of Medicine at Boston University. Simply put, it means that people stay far enough away from each other so that the coronavirus – or any pathogen – cannot spread from one person to another. It helps us reduce the rate of new infections, so that new cases are spread over time and the medical care system does not get overwhelmed. Watch the video to find out more about what social distancing is, and why it’s one of the best ...