Sílvia Monteiro Fonseca, Sara Faria, Sónia Cunha, Márcio Silva, M. Joaquina Ramos, Guilherme Azevedo, Rui Campos, António Ruão Barbosa and Cristina Queirós
This study aims to explore patterns of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel's mental health, regarding their levels of anxiety, depression, stress, COVID-19 anxiety…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore patterns of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel's mental health, regarding their levels of anxiety, depression, stress, COVID-19 anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and well-being; and to explore variables that contribute to these patterns, among sociodemographic/professional and COVID-19 experience variables.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants were 214 EMS personnel, who answered the Patient-Health Questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale, COVID-19 Anxiety Scale, Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory, Well-Being Questionnaire and COVID-19 related questions.
Findings
EMS personnel showed an adequate psychological adjustment during COVID-19. Two clusters/patterns were found: the poorly (34%) and the well (66%) psychologically-adjusted. Personnel's age, COVID-19 fear and workplace security measures' adequacy contributed to which pattern they were more likely to belong to.
Research limitations/implications
Despite being cross-sectional and not controlling for pre-COVID-19 data, this study adds to the COVID-19 literature. Findings call for the need to explore: other COVID-19 fears; how personnel perceive workplace security measures; COVID-19 valid instruments; pre-COVID-19 data; and mental health patterns with different rescuers.
Practical implications
Findings explored EMS personnel's patterns of mental health during the COVID-19, as well as its covariates. Results allow to better prepare emergency management, which can develop prevention strategies focused on older professionals, COVID-19 related fears and how personnel assess security measures.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the scarce literature focused on COVID-19 mental health patterns instead of focussing on isolated mental health variables, as well as what contributes to these patterns. Moreover, it is one of the few studies that focused on EMS personnel rather than hospital staff.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
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Ethel Volfzon Kosminsky and Laura Daniel
When observing the work of Brazilian Sociology and Anthropology, it is apparent that the study of childhood, particularly concerning play and toys, has received little attention…
Abstract
When observing the work of Brazilian Sociology and Anthropology, it is apparent that the study of childhood, particularly concerning play and toys, has received little attention. A quick evaluation in this area shows that few existing works appear in the fields of Psychology and Education, the first mostly concerned with the psychology of development and the latter with the question of learning.1