Open Access Kent State (OAKS)

This study provides initial insight into the infrastructure surrounding outdoor public librarianship, a term introduced in this article. Data from a Fall 2021 survey revealed many libraries moved programs and services outside during Summer 2021. Library workers predominantly used local infrastructure, supplemented by some extralocal infrastructure (primarily their peers within the profession), to develop and implement these programs and services. Data reveal these services are expected to continue, and possibly expand. Given this potential growth, future research to uncover effective practices is needed so that libraries can effectively help their communities benefit from being outside in nature.

Black women pursued graduate and professional school, post-degree options, and employment at a time when their economic future and livelihood were unknown. The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) complicated what many Black women were already experiencing. Guided by critical race feminism, the purpose of our exploratory study was to highlight how and to what extent COVID exacerbated Black women’s economic trajectories via their financial obligations, financial support, and financial stability. We offer two implications for practice: disrupting systemic oppression/inequities and developing a critical awareness of Black women’s economic precarity.

In schools today, student trauma and toxic stress may impact students' ability to learn. Therefore, this inquiry explored the experiences and knowledge of 27 physical education (PE) teachers in the United States related to trauma and trauma-informed practices. Teachers' experiences were examined through semi-structured interviews informed by the literature. Employing interpretivist philosophical assumptions, data analysis revealed that teachers utilized four general dimensions related to trauma-informed strategies in their gymnasiums: creating a physically safe and emotionally safe space, formulating positive and healthy relationships with students, developing student responsibility, and guiding students toward self-regulation. These strategies aligned with Souers and Hall's (2019) tenets of fostering resilient learners. Although the teachers did not have prior educational experiences with trauma and trauma-informed practices and minimal professional development, they demonstrated what is possible when working with students who experience trauma and/or toxic stress. By fostering resilient learners and engaging in trauma-informed practices, it is conceivable for P-12 students to have positive and inclusive experiences in PE.

According to the UNICEF, children between 0–14 years represent ~26% of the total global population (~45% in Africa; 22% in USA, of which 90% attend school; ranging from 85–100% across countries). With high case-fatality ratios between 4.5–7.5% (Germany/Iran/USA/Brazil/Canada) and 11.9–16.4% (Spain/Italy/UK/France/Belgium), there is a critical need to empower citizens, especially children (often asymptomatic carriers), with education strategies to control COVID-19. Especially, there is need to support facemask citizen science and experiential education among children and families as the globe exits from the current lockdown, and teachers and students desire and seek for safe strategies to return to densely-attended schools. COVID-19 is a pandemic respiratory disease that disseminates as infectious respiratory or saliva droplets are released into the environment as people talk, sneeze, and cough. Currently the most publicized methods to prevent local transmission of COVID-19 and promote “droplet safety” in hospitals and communities include hand washing, social distancing, and stay-at-home strategies. In contrast to established benefits for medical masks in hospitals, the benefits of wearing masks or face covers/coverings (hereafter, “facemask”) in the community have been inconsistently debated by the media, creating confusion, and misinformation. Furthermore, high-profile political leaders in countries heavily affected by the pandemic have given misleading signs regarding containment measures associated with COVID-19 increasingly polarizing local communities around arguments on the value of facemasks in promoting public health, which is critically important to incentivize during the emergence of citizens from their lockdowns and during the phase of reopening local economies.

First publication and copyright by Frontiers Media.

Objective The effectiveness of remotely delivered group interventions and treatments for individuals with more complex psychiatric presentations is understudied. Nevertheless, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic shifted such treatments from in-person to remote service delivery without the establishment of comparable effectiveness between in-person and remote delivery. The current study presents the results of a private practice's transition from in-person treatment delivery to a videoconference-delivered Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)-based intensive outpatient program (IOP) for individuals with comorbid mental health and substance use disorder diagnoses in response to the pandemic. Methods Change in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress following completion of the IOP was compared between the in-person and videoconference groups. Results Large reductions in symptoms were found following completion of the IOP for both the in-person and videoconference groups. Furthermore, no significant differences in symptom reduction were found between the groups. Conclusion Although large-scale replication is needed, these results suggest that IOPs and other intensive group therapies delivered via videoconference may be as effective as in-person therapies, even among individuals with more complex psychiatric presentations. Providers who have transitioned group therapies to videoconference formats or are considering creating remote groups can be more confident that they are not sacrificing treatment efficacy.