Making sense of international faith-based disaster relief volunteer experiences: Barriers and contributors to successful operations.

This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of five deployed international disaster relief volunteers from a faith-based group in Thailand. This study explored what participants perceived as contributors and barriers to their successful operations and how they made sense of their roles in the disaster recovery process. Organizational and cross-cultural barriers were identified.

Media and interpersonal channels uses and preferences during the COVID-19 pandemic: the case of the United States, Thailand, and Croatia.

According to media systems dependency theory, increased dependence on media to meet individual needs is directly proportional to greater perceived media importance in one's life and subsequently stronger media effects on one's attitudes and behavior. This dependency relationship intensifies during times of uncertainty or crisis. Although several recent studies have focused on media dependence during health crises such as SARS and H1N1 influenza, insights from eastern countries may not be validated in other hemisphere.