Social resilience and trust are two major components of the mitigation of the spread of contagious diseases. Although measures such as the imposition of national lockdowns and self-quarantines have been proven to be effective in reducing morbidity, their efficacy is dependent on public trust and compliance. The purpose of this study was to assess public attitudes toward the COVID-19 outbreak over the course of a year. A cohort study of the adult population in Israel was conducted during three waves of COVID-19 morbidity in that country, with February 2020 as the baseline, March 2020 for the first wave, August 2020 for the second, and January 2021 for the third. The results suggest that there is a relationship between risk perception and compliance with health regulations. Moreover, trust is a major component in public compliance. Fluctuations in risk perception and trust were found to affect compliance with regulations. The failure of decision makers to appropriately address the economic constraints imposed on the public during prolonged disasters, such as the COVID-19 outbreak, is likely to lead to a reduction in public trust in the government and to a decrease in societal resilience.

Civilian populations that are more prepared for emergencies are more resilient. Ample research has been carried out over the last three decades to identify the factors that contribute to public readiness to emergencies and disasters and enhance societal resilience. However, the analysis did not achieve an in-depth comprehension of the types of contributing factors, namely, contextual vs. target aspects. A cross-sectional study that explored attitudinal factors among civilian populations took place during the months of January–February 2021. Diverse representative samples (N≥ 500 each) of adults from eight countries (Italy, Romania, Spain, France, Sweden, Norway, Israel, and Japan) were engaged. The primary outcomes of this study were individual and societal resilience as well as emergency preparedness. The results suggest that in most countries, levels of trust are relatively high for emergency services and health services, and relatively low for politicians. In the overall sample, the individual preparedness index, which delineates the compliance with general household adjustment recommendation for emergencies, averaged at 4.44 ± 2.05SD (out of 8). Some variability was observed between countries, with some countries (e.g., Spain, Norway, and Italy) reporting higher preparedness rates than others (e.g., Japan). In the overall sample, levels of individual resilience were mediocre. Multivariate analysis showed that the following variables are predictors of societal resilience: trust (β = 0.59), social norms and communality (β = 0.20), individual resilience (β = 0.05), individual preparedness (β = 0.04), risk awareness (β = 0.04), and age (β = 0.03). The results of this study show that there are commonalities and differences between societies across Europe and beyond concerning societal resilience at large, including preparedness, individual resilience, and risk perception. Despite socio-cultural driven differences, this study shows that societies share varied characteristics that may contribute toward a common model for assessing societal resilience and for explaining and predicting resilience and readiness.

Background: Errors in medication administration by qualified nursing staff in hospitals are a significant risk factor for patient safety. In recent decades, electronic medical records (EMR) systems have been implemented in hospitals, and it has been claimed that they contribute to reducing such errors. However, systematic research on the subject in Israel is scarce. This study examines the position of the qualified nursing staff regarding the impact of electronic medical records systems on factors related to patient safety, including errors in medication administration, workload, and availability of medical information. Methods: This cross-sectional study examines three main variables: Medication errors, workload, and medical information availability, comparing two periods– before and after EMR implementation based on self-reports. A final sample of 591 Israeli nurses was recruited using online private social media groups to complete an online structured questionnaire. The questionnaires included items assessing workload (using the Expanding Nursing Stress Scale), medical information availability (the Carrington-Gephart Unintended Consequences of Electronic Health Record Questionnaire), and medical errors (the Medical Error Checklists). Items were assessed twice, once for the period before the introduction of electronic records and once after. In addition, participants answered open-ended questions that were qualitatively analyzed. Results: Nurses perceive the EMR as reducing the extent of errors in drug administration (mean difference = -0.92 ± 0.90SD, p < 0.001), as well as the workload (mean difference = -0.83 ± 1.03SD, p < 0.001) by ∼ 30% on average, each. Concurrently, the systems are perceived to require a longer documentation time at the expense of patients’ treatment time, and they may impair the availability of medical information by about 10% on average. Conclusion: The results point to nurses’ perceived importance of EMR systems in reducing medication errors and relieving the workload. Despite the overall positive attitudes toward EMR systems, nurses also report that they reduce information availability compared to the previous pen-and-paper approach. A need arises to improve the systems in terms of planning and adaptation to the field and provide appropriate technical and educational support to nurses using them.

Background: The outbreak of a new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) poses dramatic challenges to public health authorities worldwide. One measure put in place to contain the spread of the disease is self-quarantine of individuals who may have been exposed to the disease. While officials expect the public to comply with such regulation, studies suggest that a major obstacle to compliance for self-quarantine is concern over loss of income or employment due to the prolonged absence from work.Methods: A cohort study of the adult population of Israel was conducted in two time points during the COVID-19 outbreak, the last week of February and the third week of March 2020, in order to assess public attitudes. In particular, public compliance rates to self-quarantine with and without State-sponsored compensation for lost wages were assessed.Results: The results suggest that public attitudes changed as the threat increased, making people more compliant with regulations. In February 2020, compliance rate for self-quarantine dropped from 94% to less than 57% when monetary compensation for lost wages was removed; however, in March 2020 this drop became more moderate (from 96 to 71%). The multivariate logistic regression revealed that older, non-Jewish, worried over COVID-19, and trusting the Ministry of Health were more likely than their counterparts to comply with self-isolation, even when monetary compensation was not assumed.Conclusions: Despite the effects of threat on people’s obedience with regulations, this study demonstrates that providing people with assurances about their livelihood during absence from work remains an important component in compliance with public health regulations.

Purpose: The study aims to examine the factors that impact vaccination uptake and additional protective behavior during the fourth wave of the pandemic in Israel, whereas the “pandemic fatigue” phenomenon has been identified as a hurdle to adherence to protective health behaviors against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19).Design: A cross‐sectional, structured questionnaire was utilized for this investigation in September 2021, during the fourth wave of the pandemic.Methods: A sample of the adult (18+) Israeli population was employed for the study. Recruiting participants for the study was conducted through an online internet panel company that consists of over 100,000 members, representing all geographic and demographic sectors of the Israeli population.Results: Our findings indicate that pandemic fatigue has begun to have cascading effects on vaccination efforts. In particular, this study found that at this stage of the COVID‐19 pandemic, trust in authorities, and even threat perception components, such as concern and fear of contracting the disease, are incapable of predicting vaccination uptake. Instead, perception of the importance of the vaccine and its effectiveness are predictive of vaccination uptake.Conclusion: The findings indicate that at this stage of the pandemic, focusing on the robustness of the science behind the vaccine is more important than trying to regain public trust. The findings also suggest that risk communication employing fear tactics is losing its capacity to generate motivation for vaccination.Clinical Relevance: The findings of this study reveal lessons learned from the COVID‐19 global pandemic. Specifically, the study reveals how in times of prolonged crisis, we can currently and, in the future, prepare improved strategies for public communication in order to promote uptake of protective health behavior, such as vaccination.