Background: The COVID‑19 pandemic and associated public health measures have disrupted the lives of people around the world. It is already evident that the direct and indirect psychological and social effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic are insidious and affect the mental health of young children and adolescents now and will in the future. The aim and objectives of this knowledge-synthesis study were to identify the impact of the pandemic on children’s and adolescent’s mental health and to evaluate the effectiveness of different interventions employed during previous and the current pandemic to promote children’s and adolescents’ mental health. Methodology: We conducted the systematic review according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and included experimental randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials, observational studies, and qualitative studies. Results: Of the 5828 articles that we retrieved, 18 articles met the inclusion criteria. We thematically analyzed them and put the major findings under the thematic areas of impact of the pandemic on children’s and adolescents’ mental health. These studies reported that pandemics cause stress, worry, helplessness, and social and risky behavioral problems among children and adolescents (e.g., substance abuse, suicide, relationship problems, academic issues, and absenteeism from work). Interventions such as art-based programs, support services, and clinician-led mental health and psychosocial services effectively decrease mental health issues among children and adolescents. Conclusion: Children and adolescents are more likely to experience high rates of depression and anxiety during and after a pandemic. It is critical that future researchers explore effective mental health strategies that are tailored to the needs of children and adolescents. Explorations of effective channels regarding the development and delivery of evidenced-based, age-appropriate services are vital to lessen the effects and improve long-term capacities for mental health services for children and adolescents. Key Practitioner Message: The COVID-19 pandemic’s physical restrictions and social distancing measures have affected each and every domain of life. Although the number of children and adolescents affected by the disease is small, the disease and the containment measures such as social distancing, school closure, and isolation have negatively impacted the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. The impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of children and adolescents is of great concern. Anxiety, depression, disturbances in sleep and appetite, as well as impairment in social interactions are the most common presentations. It has been indicated that compared to adults, this pandemic may continue to have increased long term adverse consequences on children’s and adolescents’ mental health. As the pandemic continues, it is important to monitor the impact on children’s and adolescents’ mental health status and how to help them to improve their mental health outcomes in the time of the current or future pandemics.

Introduction: Effective communication is key to a successful patient-doctor interaction and improved healthcare outcomes. However, communication skills training in residency is often subpar, leading to inadequate patient-physician communication. There is a dearth of studies exploring the observations of nurses – key members of healthcare teams with a special vantage point to observe the impact of residents’ communication with patients. Thus, we aimed to gauge the perceptions of nurses regarding residents’ communication skills expertise.Methods: This study employed a sequential mixed-methods design, and was conducted at an academic medical center in South Asia. Quantitative data was collected via a REDCap survey using a structured validated questionnaire. Ordinal logistic regression was applied. For qualitative data, In-depth interviews were conducted with nurses using a semi-structured interview guide.Results: A total of 193 survey responses were obtained from nurses hailing from various specialties including Family Medicine (n = 16), Surgery (n = 27), Internal Medicine (n = 22), Pediatrics (n = 27), and Obstetrics/Gynecology (n = 93). Nurses rated long working hours, infrastructural deficits, and human failings as the main barriers to effective patient-resident communication. Residents working in in-patient settings were more likely to have inadequate communication skills (P-value = 0.160). Qualitative data analysis of nine in-depth interviews revealed two major themes: existing status-quo of residents’ communication skills (including deficient verbal and non-verbal communication, bias in patient counselling and challenging patients) and recommendations for improving patient-resident communication.Conclusion: The findings from this study highlight significant gaps in patient-resident communication from the perception of nurses and identify the need for creating a holistic curriculum for residents to improve patient-physician interaction.

The vast majority (90%) of the world’s young people aged 10–24 years live in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Pakistan has one of the world’s largest populations under 30 years. Adolescents’ access to basic sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, such as family planning and sexuality education, remains low, especially in rural areas such as the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) province of Northern Pakistan. This study addressed these gaps by exploring the SRH priorities and health information needs of adolescents living in GB. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with adolescents and healthcare providers. A total of 216 adolescents and 22 healthcare providers completed the survey forms. The findings pointed out that adolescents in GB have unmet SRH needs and are more interested in learning about SRH, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and sexual abuse. The majority of the participants highlighted that their age, fear of being judged/stigmatized, and society’s attitude toward sex hinder them from opting for SRH services. The majority of healthcare providers reported that they are not well-equipped to tackle SRH-related issues and require training to better serve the adolescent SRH needs. The findings from this study have highlighted that there is a need to formulate robust interventions and strategies to raise knowledge and awareness about SRH needs among adolescents.

Objetivo: determinar el nivel de incertidumbre de las gestantes VIH en tratamiento antirretroviral y su relación con las variables edad, ocupación, estado civil, años de estudio y semanas de gestación. La experiencia de vivir con VIH enfrenta al individuo a ciertas situaciones o procesos complejos, en donde pueden presentarse implicaciones psicosociales. Por su parte, la gestación con VIH se ha descrito como una experiencia regida por el miedo y la incertidumbre relacionada con el riesgo de infección y el efecto de los antirretrovirales en el hijo por nacer, lo que podría representar un riesgo para la salud física y emocional de la diada. Materiales y Métodos: estudio observacional, descriptivo con componente analítico. La población estuvo conformada por todas las gestantes con diagnóstico de VIH y tratamiento antirretroviral, que asistieron a control en una IPS de la ciudad de Montería (Catorce). Resultados: 65% de las gestantes con VIH, en tratamiento antirretroviral, presentó un alto nivel de incertidumbre global, 14% regular y el 21% bajo. Conclusiones: las gestantes con VIH en terapia antirretroviral participantes del estudio presentaron un alto nivel de incertidumbre, especialmente frente al pronóstico, tratamiento y diagnóstico. De las variables analizadas, se evidenció relación de la incertidumbre con la edad y las semanas de gestación