It is known that the elderly population has weak immune functioning and is a susceptible and high-risk group with respect to the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. In this study, to understand the influencing factors of COVID-19-related risks and coping behaviors of elderly individuals with respect to COVID-19 and to provide a basis for taking corresponding protective measures, a questionnaire survey was applied to an elderly population. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and linear regression analysis were used to explore the influencing factors of the level of understanding of COVID-19 risks among the elderly population. Additionally, the chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to explore the influencing factors of the elderly population’s protective behaviors against COVID-19. This study found: (1) The sex, age, and self-care ability of elderly individuals were significantly correlated with their level of understanding of COVID-19, and that those who were female, were of a younger age, or had better self-care ability had higher levels of understanding; (2) The sex, place of residence, and level of understanding of COVID-19 among the elderly individuals were significantly correlated with their protective behaviors, e.g., those who were women, had high levels of understanding, and lived in cities were more likely to have good behaviors; (3) Elderly individuals’ assessments of COVID-19 information provided by the government were significantly correlated with their protective behaviors—those who had a positive evaluation of relevant information provided by the government were more likely to develop protective behavior. The conclusions of this study show that it is crucial to implement COVID-19 prevention and control measures in the elderly population. Society, communities, and families need to increase their concerns about the health and risk awareness of the elderly individuals.

Due to discrimination and media literacy, middle-aged and elderly individuals have been easily reduced to marginalized groups in the identification of rumours during a public health crisis and can easily spread rumours repeatedly, which has a negative impact on pandemic prevention and social psychology. To further clarify the factors influencing their behaviours, this study used a questionnaire to survey a sample of 556 individuals in China and used multiple linear regression and analysis of variance to explore influencing factors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We found that, first, in the COVID-19 pandemic, middle-aged and elderly adults’ willingness to re-spread rumours is positively related to their degree of believing rumours and to personal anxiety and is negatively related to their rumour-discrimination ability and to their perception of serious consequences to rumour spreading. Second, the degree of believing rumours plays an intermediary role in the willingness to re-spread rumours. It plays a partial mediating role in the path of anxiety’s influence on behaviour, suggesting that an anxious person will spread a rumour even if he or she does not have a strong belief in the rumour. Third, interpersonal communication has a greater credibility and a greater willingness to re-spread than does mass communication. This suggests the importance of increasing public knowledge expertise and of reducing public panic. This also has important implications for the future design of public health policies.

Introduction: The energy transition is now the focus of global attention. This transition will have a significant impact on the global energy system as well as the political and economic landscape. Research on the social impact of the energy transition can help us get a deeper understanding of the energy transition and propose suggestions for future development.Methods: This paper focuses on the history and characteristics of the social impact evaluation of the energy transition, using bibliometric methods and the Web of Science Core Collection database with the help of HistCite and VOSviewer analysis tools. This paper discusses what is energy transition, just energy transition and its social impact and how to assess social impacts of just energy transition. In order to reduce the negative impacts of energy transition, interdisciplinary research, social impact research and social impact assessment of construction projects are three directions to be discussed.Results: The study find that existing research mainly focuses on the connotation, pathways and different types of a just energy transition. There are three hot areas of research on the impact of a just energy transition: the sustainable development of energy, political economy and society. There is a general lack of research on the social impact of a just energy transition and an even greater lack of relevant research on social impact evaluation.Discussion: Based on the global goal of just energy transition, this paper makes specific recommendations on what developed and developing countries, as well as sectors and enterprises within countries, should do.

Development induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) projects should share their benefits with those affected by them. This paper shows that in the case of the Yangtze-Huai River Diversion Project in China perceptions of compensation received differs amongst different groups of resettled people even if levels of compensation are similar. Based on a survey with displaced people, a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation concludes that those with generic skills’ sets are the most satisfied, mainly because they are able to find new work and re-establish livelihoods after resettlement more quickly. On the other hand, those with only agricultural skills find it difficult to re-establish their livelihood and are often dissatisfied. Finally, those who did not have any work before resettlement were found to be satisfied overall as their life quality is said to have improved. The skills of those affected are therefore a key explanatory factor for satisfaction with compensation following resettlement.

Many scholars have considered the relationship between the government response to COVID-19, an important social intervention strategy, and the COVID-19 infection rate. However, few have examined the sustained impact of an early government response on the COVID-19 infection rate. The current paper fills this gap by investigating a national survey performed in February 2020 and infection data from Chinese cities surveyed 1.5 years after the outbreak of COVID-19. The results suggest that the Chinese government’s early response to COVID-19 significantly and sustainedly reduced China’s COVID-19 infection rate, and that this impact worked through risk perception, the adoption of protective action recommendations (PARs), and the chain-mediating effects of risk perception and the adoption of PARs, respectively. These findings have important practical value. In demonstrating how government response and infection rate at the macro level are connected to the behaviour of individuals at the micro level, they suggest feasible directions for curbing the spread of diseases such as COVID-19. When facing such public health emergencies, the focus should be on increasing the public’s risk perception and adoption of PARs.

Based on the customer satisfaction index model, we constructed an elderly care service satisfaction model that includes 5 latent variables and 16 observed variables. To analyze the degree of satisfaction of elderly individuals in nursing homes, we used structural equation model (SEM) to test the nursing service elderly satisfaction model. With the help of AMOS 22.0 software, we analyzed the degree of model fit and the behavioral relationships between the variables that affect the path. We found that the satisfaction of Chinese urban elderly individuals in nursing homes is at a moderate level, which is lower than the quality expected by elderly individuals. The customer satisfaction index model can be applied to assess satisfaction with nursing services. Furthermore, perceived quality and value have a significant impact on satisfaction.