Predicting public mental health needs in a crisis using social media indicators: a Singapore big data study.

Mental health issues have increased substantially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, health policymakers do not have adequate data and tools to predict mental health demand, especially amid a crisis. Using time-series data collected in Singapore, this study examines if and how algorithmically measured emotion indicators from Twitter posts can help forecast emergency mental health needs.

Exploring theory-based behavioral interventions promoting COVID-19 prevention and healthcare-seeking for migrant worker men in Singapore: a qualitative study.

Background: The first wave of COVID-19 during April to July 2020 in Singapore largely affected the migrant workers living in residential dormitories. A government taskforce working with dormitory operators, employers and non-government agencies came together to deliver behavioral interventions and health care services for migrant worker as dorms were imposed movement restrictions. To fill the research gap in understanding movement restriction experiences of migrant workers, this research seeks to describe dormitory contexts and explore behavior change related to both prevention of transmission as well as healthcare seeking for COVID-19 among male migrant workers.

Influence of public hesitancy and receptivity on reactive behaviours towards releases of male Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes for dengue control.

Singapore, a highly urbanized Asian tropical country that experiences periodic dengue outbreaks, is piloting field releases of male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with the aim of suppressing urban populations of the primary dengue vector Aedes aegypti. This study proposes and assesses a model to explain the roles of hesitancy and receptivity towards Project Wolbachia-Singapore in influencing reactive mosquito prevention behaviors (reactive behaviors) towards the release of Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes for residents living in the release sites. Interestingly, both hesitancy and receptivity predicted greater instances of reactive behaviors.

The Evolution of Public Sentiments During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Case Comparisons of India, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Background: Public sentiments are an important indicator of crisis response, with the need to balance exigency without adding to panic or projecting overconfidence. Given the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have enacted various nationwide measures against the disease with social media platforms providing the previously unparalleled communication space for the global populations.

Objective: This research aims to examine and provide a macro-level narrative of the evolution of public sentiments on social media at national levels, by comparing Twitter data from India, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States during the current pandemic.

A Household-Based Survey to Understand Factors Influencing Awareness, Attitudes and Knowledge towards Technology.

In 2016, Singapore introduced the release of male mosquitoes to complement vector control efforts and suppress mosquitoes in selected study sites. With ongoing expansion of Project Singapore to cover larger areas, a household-based survey was conducted between July 2019 to February 2020 in two Project study sites using a structured questionnaire, to evaluate current sentiments and assess the need for enhanced public messaging and engagement. The association of factors that influence awareness, attitudes, and knowledge towards the use of technology was analysed using Pearson's Chi-square test and binary logistic regression.

A Digital Mobile Community App for Caregivers in Singapore: Predevelopment and Usability Study.

Background: With increasing life expectancy and aging populations, the global prevalence of chronic diseases and the long-term care required for people with comorbidities is rising. This has led to an ever-growing need for caregiving. Previous literature has shown that caregivers face problems of isolation and loneliness.

Mainstream News Media's Role in Public Health Communication During Crises: Assessment of Coverage and Correction of COVID-19 Misinformation.

Public health crises like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic appear to be the perfect breeding ground for misinformation. As influential information sources, mainstream news media have a unique opportunity to use their platform to debunk and educate the public about misinformation. Despite evidence lending support to the potential for mainstream news media to play a larger role in combating misinformation in society, empirical explorations of how they have contributed to the management of misinformation remain scant.

Effectiveness of a Mobile-Based Influenza-Like Illness Surveillance System (FluMob) Among Health Care Workers: Longitudinal Study.

Background: Existing studies have suggested that internet-based participatory surveillance systems are a valid sentinel for influenza-like illness (ILI) surveillance. However, there is limited scientific knowledge on the effectiveness of mobile-based ILI surveillance systems. Previous studies also adopted a passive surveillance approach and have not fully investigated the effectiveness of the systems and their determinants.

Determinants of eHealth Literacy among Adults in China.

eHealth can empower patients to make informed health decisions. However, inaccurate and misleading health information is not uncommon on the Internet, which requires users' competencies to both utilize eHealth technologies and evaluate eHealth credibilities. Therefore, this study investigates the determinants of both self-efficacy in utilizing eHealth and frequency of eHealth information evaluation.

Developing a Digital Solution for Dengue Through Epihack: Qualitative Evaluation Study of a Five-Day Health Hackathon in Sri Lanka.

Background: Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that has increasingly affected Sri Lanka in recent years. To address this issue, dengue surveillance through increasingly prevalent digital surveillance applications has been suggested for use by health authorities and the general public. Epihack Sri Lanka was a 5-day hackathon event organized to develop a digital dengue surveillance tool.

Epihack Sri Lanka: development of a mobile surveillance tool for dengue fever.

Background: Dengue is a serious problem around the globe, with 3.9 billion people at risk of the disease. Sri Lanka has recently seen unprecedented rates of dengue with 4.

A Comparison between the Predictors of Vaccine Uptake Intentions for Influenza and Dengue.

Infectious diseases have a huge health and economic burden globally. Vaccination has been found to be a crucial health intervention for diseases. The study aims to compare the drivers of vaccine uptake for influenza and dengue, and to understand the key drivers within each of the diseases in predicting vaccine uptake intentions.

A Social Media mHealth Solution to Address the Needs of Dengue Prevention and Management in Sri Lanka.

Background: Sri Lanka has witnessed a series of dengue epidemics over the past five years, with the western province, home to the political capital of Colombo, bearing more than half of the dengue burden. Existing dengue monitoring prevention programs are exhausted as public health inspectors (PHIs) cope with increasing workloads and paper-based modes of surveillance and education, characterizing a reactive system unable to cope with the enormity of the problem. On the other hand, the unprecedented proliferation and affordability of mobile phones since 2009 and a supportive political climate have thus far remained unexploited for the use of mobile-based interventions for dengue management.

Social media-based civic engagement solutions for dengue prevention in Sri Lanka: results of receptivity assessment.

This article focuses on a novel social media-based system that addresses dengue prevention through an integration of three components: predictive surveillance, civic engagement and health education. The aim was to conduct a potential receptivity assessment of this system among smartphone users in the city of Colombo, the epicenter of the dengue epidemic in the island country of Sri Lanka. Grounded in Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and using a convenience sampling approach, the cross-sectional survey assessed perceived severity (PSe), perceived susceptibility (PSu), perceived response efficacy (PRE), perceived self-efficacy (PSE) and intention-to-use (IU) among 513 individuals.