Telemedicine perceptions and experiences of socially vulnerable households during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.

Background: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to decrease risk of viral transmission triggered an abrupt shift from ambulatory health care delivery toward telemedicine. In this study, we explore the perceptions and experiences of telemedicine among socially vulnerable households and suggest strategies to increase equity in telemedicine access.

Methods: Conducted between August 2020 and February 2021, this exploratory qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with members of socially vulnerable households needing health care.

The utterly unforeseen livelihood shock: COVID-19 and street vendor coping mechanisms in Hanoi, Chiang Mai and Luang Prabang.

Well before COVID-19, municipal governments in Vietnam, Thailand and Laos were enacting policies that made street vendor livelihoods increasingly challenging. Yet, vending continues to support tens of thousands of urban households in these three countries. Vendors are often rural-to-urban migrants lacking the formal education skills necessary to secure 'modern' urban employment, and despite ongoing government disapproval, vending provides a relatively low entry-cost opportunity for them to support their household's financial needs.

What is a bad flood? Local perspectives of extreme floods in the Peruvian Amazon.

The annual flood cycle is integral to rural life and livelihoods in riparian Amazonia. Livelihoods are built around the flood cycle, which facilitates transportation and affects soil fertility and fish migrations. Flood extremes, however, can have devastating impacts for riverine populations, yet there is minimal understanding of what distinguishes a 'normal' flood from a 'bad' flood, or flooding as integral to riverine settlement from flooding as environmental hazard.