Background: 21 million girls get pregnant every year. Many initiatives are empowering girls. Various studies have looked at girl empowerment, however, there is contradicting evidence, and even less literature from developing countries. Methods: We searched articles published between January 2000 to January 2019. We followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and registered our protocol on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews PROSPERO (CRD42019117414). Nine articles were selected for review. Quality appraisal was done using separate tools for qualitative studies, cohort and cross-sectional studies and randomized control trials. Results: Eight studies included educational empowerment, four studies included community empowerment, three studies included economic empowerment, while two studies discussed policy empowerment. Three studies were of fair quality; two qualitative and one cross-sectional study were of high quality, while three studies had low quality. Discussion. Studies showed a favorable impact of girl empowerment on adolescent pregnancies and risky sexual behaviors. Education empowerment came through formal education or health systems such as in family planning clinics. Community empowerment was seen as crucial in girls’ development, from interactions with parents to cultural practices. Economic empowerment was direct like cash transfer programs or indirect through benefits of economic growth. Policies such as contraceptive availability or compulsory school helped reduce pregnancies.

This study aims to evaluate acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines and the impact of risk perception on vaccine acceptance and personal health protective behaviors in Taiwan. A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted from 19 to 30 October 2020; 1020 participants were included in the final analysis; chi-square and logistic regression analyses were conducted. In total, 52.7% of participants were willing to receive COVID-19 vaccines, 63.5% perceived the severity of COVID-19 in Taiwan as “not serious”, and nearly 40% were worried about COVID-19 infection. Participants with higher perceived severity of COVID-19 had significantly higher odds of refusing the vaccine (OR = 1.546), while those worried about infection had lower odds of poor health protective behaviors (OR = 0.685). Vaccine refusal reasons included “the EUA process is not strict enough” (48.7%) and “side effects” (30.3%). Those who had previously refused other vaccinations were 2.44 times more likely to refuse the COVID-19 vaccines. Participants’ age had an influence on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. In general, the Taiwanese public’s acceptance of the vaccine was lower than that in other high-income countries. Elderly participants and those with college-level education and above who had previously refused vaccines had lower willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Risk perception was positively associated with personal health protective behaviors but negatively associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.

Aim/Purpose: The present study investigated and compared students’ attention in terms of time-on-task and number of distractors between using a touchscreen and a pen tablet in mathematical problem-solving activities with virtual manipulatives. Background: Although there is an increasing use of these input devices in educational practice, little research has focused on assessing student attention while using touchscreens or pen tablets in a mathematics classroom. Methodology: A qualitative exploration was conducted in a public elementary school in New Taipei, Taiwan. Six fifth-grade students participated in the activities. Video recordings of the activities and the students’ actions were analyzed. Findings: The results showed that students in the activity using touchscreens maintained greater attention and, thus, had more time-on-task and fewer distractors than those in the activity using pen tablets. Recommendations for Practitioners: School teachers could employ touchscreens in mathematics classrooms to support activities that focus on students’ manipulations in relation to the attention paid to the learning content. Recommendation for Researchers: The findings enhance our understanding of the input devices used in educational practice and provide a basis for further research. Impact on Society: The findings may also shed light on the human-technology interaction process involved in using pen and touch technology conditions. Future Research: Activities similar to those reported here should be conducted using more participants. In addition, it is important to understand how students with different levels of mathematics achievement use the devices in the activities.

A cluster, randomized control trial was conducted to assess the effects of social marketing approach on purchase rates and water treatment behavior of Klorfasil, a chlorine-based household water treatment product among seven villages in Thomassique, Haiti, from May to December 2016. Villages were randomized to the free-trial (257 households) or cost-sharing (240 households) group. Households in the free-trial group were allowed 30 days of free Klorfasil use before purchase decision. Households who purchased Klorfasil were then followed up for 30, 60, and 180 days. At the last follow-up, respondents were asked if they would like to repurchase Klorfasil. Questionnaire survey and water quality assessment by residual-free chlorine were conducted in each survey. Chi-square test, t-test, and logistic regression were applied. The first purchase rate of the cost-sharing group was significantly higher than that of the free-trial group (79.2% versus 67.3%). By contrast, the repurchase rate of the free-trial group was higher (82.9% versus 66.3%). However, the overall repurchase rate was 71.6% and the proportion of long-term users was significantly higher in the cost-sharing group (56% versus 47%). Water treatment rates in the cost-sharing group were significantly higher than those in the free-trial group in the first and final surveys (odds ratio [OR] = 0.15, OR = 0.32). Households with high and medium economic status both had significantly higher purchase rates than low economic status households (OR = 4.40, OR = 1.94). Households with higher educated respondents had significantly better water treatment practices (OR = 2.15). The free-trial approach did not increase the first purchase rate but increased the repurchase rate later. The cost-sharing approach significantly encouraged long-term usage.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the association between countries’ self-reported International Health Regulations (IHR) capacity and their COVID-19 control outcomes. Methods: Scores from the countries’ 2019 self-assessment report (State Party Self-Assessment Annual Reporting, SPAR) were used to represent countries’ core capacities. Two scales were used to represent countries’ COVID-19 control outcomes: “governmental response to COVID-19,” which included case public health (PH) measure intervals, case-PH measure speeds, government response stringency; and scale “COVID-19 outbreak progress within the country,” which included days between the first global and domestic cases, number of case growing weeks, and percentage of case growing weeks between 01 January 31 May, 2020. One hundred and seventy-four countries with COVID-19 data were included in the analysis. The human development index (HDI), health workforce density (HWD), health expenditure (HE), and international travel volume (ITV) were collected as controls. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses were carried out. Results: Countries with high SPAR scores responded significantly earlier, but 49.46% of countries with high and very high HDI implemented public health measures within a month of the first global case, whereas 20% of countries implemented PH measures after there was already a domestic case. Compared with low ITV countries, countries with high ITV had a 15 times greater risk of early importation of COVID-19 cases and a greater risk of having more weeks over which case numbers increased. However, countries with low HE and SPAR scores as health service provision were at significantly higher risk of community outbreak escalation. Conclusions: To some extent, countries’ COVID-19 control outcomes were reflected by their SPAR scores. However, SPAR do not measure the effectiveness of communication mechanisms between health professionals and political leaders in the activation of response systems. The country-based health expertise and health system is crucial to limiting further viral spread in the community.

(1) Background: Evidence on factors associated with purpose in life (PIL) among older adults in Taiwan remains limited. This study examined the variation in PIL and its demographic, relational, socioeconomic, health-related, and religious correlates among older adults in the community recruited in two districts of Taiwan (Kaohsiung and Taitung). (2) Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 294 adults ≥65 years of age recruited by convenience sampling from community day care centers and community centers in Kaohsiung and Taitung; no probability sampling frame was used. Participants completed the 20-item purpose-in-life test and questionnaires on sociodemographic characteristics and perceived health. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyzes were performed. The multivariate model adjusted for the recruitment district, and the p values for seven predictor domains were adjusted using the Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) procedure. (3) Results: The mean age was 72.9 years; 56.8% were women. Using conventional PIL categories, 82.0% had low PIL and 18.0% had moderate PIL; none had high PIL. Older age was associated with a lower PIL (adjusted B = <0.28/year, 95% CI: <0.42 to <0.14). Marital status was associated with PIL overall (global p = 0.0066); never-married participants had lower PIL than those with a spouse (adjusted B = 4.74, 95% CI: 8.52 to 0.96). Faith/religious belief was associated with a lower PIL (adjusted B = 3.01, 95% CI 5.25 to 0.78). Age, marital status, and faith/religious belief remained significant after the FDR correction (FDR-adjusted p < 0.001, 0.020, and 0.020, respectively). (4) Conclusions: In this two-district convenience sample, older age, marital status, and faith/religious belief were associated with PIL, and older age was the only correlate consistent across all sensitivity analyzes. Because the design was cross-sectional and the sample was not population-based, these associations should not be interpreted causally or as nationally representative, but they indicate that demographic, relational, and religious contexts warrant attention when purpose in life is studied in later life.