Abstract

The Interplay of COVID-19 and Intimate Partner Violence and their Impact on Women

Melissa Simon Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Women globally were impacted in profound ways during the Covid-19 pandemic. Intersecting systems of oppression including the intersectionality of racial and ethnic minority along with identity as a woman drove further inequities. Health indicators across the board in women’s health fared worse during the pandemic than compared with prior to the pandemic including maternal mortality and cancer screening rates. The goal of this talk is to review background data on the impact of Covid-19 on women’s health indicators including intimate partner violence. Social isolation and the profound health impact of what Covid-19 unearthed will be discussed along with options on what can be done in women’s health care delivery moving out of this pandemic to ensure health justice for women.

Abstract

Women in academic medicine: Don’t let the pandemic pause progress

Katherine Bline, MD Nationwide Children's Hospital

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Prior to the pandemic, physician-scientists were already an ever-shrinking minority, and women represented only a small percentage of this group. Physician-scientists are uniquely positioned to quickly translate discoveries made at the bench to the bedside and have a substantial positive impact on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Numerous studies over the past two decades have highlighted the importance of increasing representation of female clinicians and physician-scientists to improve patient outcomes, decrease gender-bias in clinical trials, and narrow gender health disparities. Despite programs and systems created to encourage women to pursue academic medicine and NIH-funded research, a significant gender gap persists.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has created additional barriers and threatens to erase the recent progress made in gender equity. Women in academic medicine tend to be responsible for the majority of child and household duties and report being more likely to leave or reduce their employment and turn down leadership opportunities. There is a great risk of the gender gap widening in the future as these changes in work productivity could delay pursuits of NIH-funding and missing the “tenure clock , making women less likely to be promoted or continue working in academic medicine. We desperately need to implement changes to workplace policies and infrastructure to continue to achieve progress in closing the gender gap.

Abstract

Impact of persistent COVID-19 symptoms on social life of female long haulers: A qualitative study

Atefeh Aghaei, Ran Zhang, Slone Taylor, Cheuk-Chi Tam, Chih-Hsiang Yang, Xiaoming Li, Shan Qiao University of South Carolina

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Background: Persistent COVID-19 symptoms (“long COVID ) may bring numerous challenges to long haulers' social lives. Women may have to endure more profound impacts given their social roles and existing structural inequality. This study aims to explore the impacts of long COVID on various aspects of social life among female long haulers.
Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews via Zoom meetings between April and June 2021 with 15 female long haulers in the United States, purposely recruited from Facebook groups, Slack groups, and organization websites. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim with consent. The interview data were managed and thematically analyzed using MAXQDA software.
Results: Persistent COVID-19 symptoms negatively affected female long haulers’ social lives in many aspects including physical function, financial security, social relationship, conflict of social roles, and social stigma. Physical limitations changed their body image. Social isolation and work-family conflicts caused huge stress. They experienced internalization of stigma and job insecurities. Shifting to new methods of communication, especially social media may buffer the negative effects of social isolation because of long COVID.
Conclusion: Existing policies and intervention programs need to be adapted to address the challenges and barriers that long haulers face in returning to normal social life, especially for females. Tailored social life-related recommendations and social support are needed for female long haulers.

Abstract

COVID-19 Exposure, Response, Physical and Mental Health Sequelae among Women Frontline Nurses in New York State

Marlene Camacho-Rivera, ScD MS MPH SUNY Downstate School of Public Health

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been over 81 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 1 million deaths in the United States. Simultaneously, the physical and mental health impacts of healthcare workers managing the COVID-19 pandemic has been increasingly documented, and include increased rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and COVID-19 infection. Associations between individual-level and organizational-level characteristics on risk of COVID-19 infection and mental health outcomes, as well as how associations are inequitably distributed across racial/ethnic and gender identities, are under explored among frontline nurses.

To address these gaps, this talk will provide an overview of the mental, physical, and social impacts COVID-19 structural and social stressors among women frontline healthcare workers as well as present preliminary findings from a mixed-method study of frontline nurses in New York State. This talk will explore associations between COVID-19 related burnout, coping strategies, on mental health symptoms 2) examine the impact of organizational-level factors on report of COVID-19 symptoms and diagnosis and 3) identify how individual and organizational-level protective factors may buffer adverse mental health outcomes. Lastly, this talk will discuss the translation of study findings to the development of multilevel organizational strategies to support women frontline workers by elucidating factors associated with COVID-19 stress and physical and mental health and identifying modifiable factors to improve well-being among structurally vulnerable occupational groups.