ULB, UCLouvain, Université de Montréal
" OBJ: 1) Observe interprofessional and interorganisational collaboration "in the making" in crisis situation: how professional groups organize and collaborate (within and between professional groups) in different organizational contexts (liberal practice, primary care delivery services, hospitals, nursing homes, etc.) especially for vulnerable groups. 2) Analyse the role of regulatory bodies governmental agencies, professional associations) in managing healthcare professions and interprofessional collaboration in crisis situations 3)Improving future care and the resilience of health systems METH: Collection and analysis of documents (instructions, tools, etc.), qualitative interviews, in situ observations. Developing Grounded theory "
Funding: Research team is part of BeHive - Interdisciplinary primary care Chair, funded by the King Baudouin Foundation (Fund Dr. Daniel De Coninck)
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULiège
" The objective of this study is to better understand children's experiences and understanding of this coronavirus crisis. Our purpose is to approach this experience through a drawing. According to Romano (2010), the child's drawing shows the state of his defence mechanisms and the achievement of his elaboration capacities. Several studies have highlighted the stress felt, or even the symptoms of acute stress and post-traumatic stress, in cases of confinement (Qiu et al., 2020; Brooks et al., 2020). Within this framework, we aim to study children's perceptions of the coronavirus and what it means for them. The guideline is intended to be relatively broad in order to allow the child to let go of his or her imagination and give us access to his or her experiences. In previous research, children were asked to draw their perceptions of the September 11, 2001 attacks. What emerges from this study is that most of the children draw elements characteristic of this event, namely...

Read more: Adélaïde Blavier, Professor - Alicia Gallo, Researcher

ULiège
" As the coronavirus epidemic progresses throughout the country, it imposes exceptional sanitary measures on undertakers in order to slow down its spread. In the event of a patient's death, the federal government has issued strict instructions to funeral staff for the care of the body of a patient who died as a result of a coronavirus infection. The body of the deceased must automatically be placed in a double biodegradable body bag before being transferred to the mortuary (The Royal Federation of Funeral Directors of Belgium a.s.b.l., 2020). It is then impossible for families to proceed with the placing. The body must be placed in a single coffin without delay. The coffin will be closed definitively without the possibility of an act of thanatopraxy. In view of these important changes in the care of the deceased, it is likely that funeral workers will develop difficulties or disorders in connection with the performance of their work. It is therefore necessary to investigate...

Read more: Adélaïde Blavier, Professor - Laetitia Di Piazza, PhD Student- Researcher

ULiège
" The objective of this study is to better understand the situation of families during this period of confinement and to analyze the relationship between the parents' and children's reactions. More specifically, the goal is to learn about the anxiety factors and stress management techniques used by parents and children during this particular period and their influence on their sense of parental competence. Several studies have highlighted the stress felt, and even the symptoms of acute stress and post-traumatic stress, in cases of confinement (Qiu et al., 2020; Brooks et al., 2020). Moreover, in previous studies, we have already demonstrated links between the stress felt by parents and that developed by children through intergenerational transmission in the case of traumatic situations (Gallo et al., 2019). In this framework, we wish to study the links between the stress felt by the parent and that felt by the child in the current confinement situation that we are familiar...

Read more: Adélaïde Blavier, Professor - Stéphanie Chartier, PhD Student- Researcher

ULB

Sphère publique, sphère privée : Impact du port du masque sur la reconnaissance des personnes et de l'expression émotionnelle de leur visage. " Le déconfinement approche. Bientôt la population belge sillonnera à nouveau les rues, les transports et l'ensemble de l'espace public mais munie de masques. Quels retentissements sur la capacité des personnes à en reconnaître d'autres sur base de leur visage et à en extraire l'expression émotionnelle ? Sera-t-on toujours capable de juger, de manière efficace, de l'intention d'autrui à notre égard même si cette dernière porte un masque ? A tous les âges ? Ou, au contraire, a-t-on raison d'avoir la suspicion que le port du masque pourrait nous empêcher de reconnaître quelqu'un sur base de son visage et d'en lire les émotions de manière efficace ? "
Publication References: de Heering, A., & Rossion, B. (2008). Prolonged Visual Experience in Adulthood Modulates Holistic Face Perception. PlosOne, 3(5): e2317. de Heering, A., &amp...

Read more: Adélaïde de Heering, Post-doctoral Fellow

ULB - Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
"The study is conducted within the framework of an international project on communication (production and reception of scientific, media, political discourse) on COVID-19. It aims to outline the role of semiotics in understanding the meaning of the social and cultural changeover the citizen is experiencing with the pandemic. A special attention is paid to the relationship between sign systems and axiologies.
Funding: Journal Degres ReSic (Research Center of ULB)."
Publication References: Special Issue of the journal DEGRES to be published in the summer 2020
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

UCLouvain
" The Covid-19 outbreak has exposed the world's population to challenging and long-lasting emotional conditions. While investigations of responses to tragic one-off events exist, studies on the evolution of collective emotions during a pandemic are missing. Collecting the time-sensitive data about the population's collective emotional state could improve the planning of mental health interventions and risk-communication. In a first phase, we analyzed the digital traces of emotional expressions on Twitter in the five weeks after the outbreak in 8.3 billion tweets in six different languages from 18 countries. Next, we keep monitoring the evolution of emotional responses with particular attention to lexical indicators of solidarity according to the different phases of the pandemic's evolution, the resumption of activities, and economic and social difficulties in these 18 countries. "
Funding: This is a collaboration with the Complexity Science Hub Vienna (Austria). (These...

Read more: Bernard Rimé

UCLouvain
" Confinement constitutes a particular life event involving multiple adaptations in daily life. The purposes of this study are (1) to analyze how adults manage these modifications concerning the possible practice of physical activities, (2) to better understand the changes in the practice of physical activities as a lifelong health behavior in adults. The principal models used are the Health action process approach model (Schwarzer, 2008), health literacy and the social support theory. 272 adults completed a questionnaire about their PA before and during confinement. Respondents who agreed to be contacted will complete a post-containment survey to evaluate the persistence of the modifications in term of adoption of APS as a health behavior "
Funding: In process
Contact: IACCHOS (Girsef) - FSM Cécile Delens Place Pierre de Coubertin, 1 bte L8.10.01 - 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULiège
" "La situation de confinement que nous traversons en raison de la crise sanitaire actuelle est une situation inédite, pouvant avoir un impact sur la charge mentale, la fatigue ressentie au quotidien ainsi que la qualité de notre sommeil. Le confinement modifie aussi plusieures dimensions susceptibles d'impacter la qualité des souvenirs autobiographiques. Le nombre et la variété des loisirs diminuent, le contexte des journées change peu et nous avons moins de contacts avec des personnes variées. Par ailleurs, la menace du virus peut modifier notre vision de l'avenir, avec l'impression qu'on pourrait avoir moins de temps à vivre qu'on le pensait (Cartensen, 2006). Nos souvenirs autobiographiques de la période avant le confinement et d'événements vécus pendant le confinement pourraient être modifiés en termes de degré d'épisodicité et de valence émotionnelle. Le projet est réalisé sous forme d'un questionnaire en ligne et vise généralement à explorer une association entre la...

Read more: Christina Schmidt, Chercheuse qualifiée FNRS - Christine Bastin, Chercheuse qualifiée FNRS -...

ULiège, Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies - FNRS
" Protecting the diaspora? COVID-19 and the emergency policy measures of European countries for their citizens residing abroad Abstract: In a context of increased migration and overexposure of mobile individuals to social risks, the social protection of diaspora populations has become an area of concern across Europe. However, there is still substantial variation in how EU Member States respond to the needs of their nationals residing abroad. Such variation is also observed in the emergency measures that European countries have adopted for their non-resident nationals in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the framework of the ERC-funded project "Migration and Transnational Social Protection in Post(Crisis) Europe" (MiTSoPro), researchers from the Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies of the University of Liege will collect data on EU states' policy (re)actions affecting their diaspora populations, from travel restrictions...

Read more: Jean-Michel Lafleur, FNRS Research Associate - Vintila Daniela, Doctor - Konstantinidou Angeliki -...

FNRS, UNamur, Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
" Modelling the Covid-19 with a view to showing the importance of contact habits for the choice of an appropriate lockdown exit strategy. "
Funding: Own funding
Publication References: "Because Culture Matters, There is No One-Size-Fits-All Strategy of Exit from Cov-19 Lockdown", VoxEU article, London.
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Comment: Main paper about to be submitted.

UMONS
" The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a public health emergency of international concern. Authorities and population are facing a global health crisis which pose a challenge to adapt quickly and effectively. The aim of this preliminary study was to survey the general public in Belgium to better understand their levels of psychological impact, anxiety and stress during the initial stage of containment. The data also explored tips and tricks immediately adopt by the population to manage containment. From 20 March to 28 March 2020, we conducted an online survey using snowball sampling techniques on social network. The online survey collected information on demographic data, stress level in the past 7 days, knowledge and concerns about COVID-19 and the impact of using technologies for taking information and stay connected to others, precautionary measures (tips and tricks) during the beginning of containment, and additional information required with respect to...

Read more: Jennifer Denis, PhD in psychology research and teaching associate

UCLouvain, UNamur
" The measures that governments have taken in response to the current COVID-19 outbreak differ substantially across countries. On the initiative of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, researchers of twelve universities worldwide have been working together to study the response to these measures. Data has been collected of the self-reported behaviour and perception of students related to the COVID-19 measures. How important do they think the Covid-19 measures are, how serious do they take the measures, and to which degree do they follow or violate them? Furthermore, the relationship with perceived risk of COVID-19 and several personality traits will be studied. The success of the approach of governments is entirely dependent on the compliance of the population with the prescribed measures. Therefore, gaining insight in the determinants of compliance is important. The study will improve our understanding of behaviour in times of crisis and advance the development of...

Read more: Marcus Dejardin, Professor - Frank Janssen, Professor

ULB (centre ACTE) et Fondation SUSA Mons
Confinement lié au Covid-19 : le vécu de la famille et de l'enfant avec autisme." For almost two months, Belgian families have been confined at home because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This lockdown dramatically changed the daily life of families, especially those living with an autistic child, because social life and relationships are at the very heart of the autistic functioning. In some cases, changing daily habits and routines, closing of schools, stopping interventions and outdoor activities led to an increase of behavioral disorders and significantly impaired the quality of life of autistic people and their family. But, on the other hand, some families report an improvement of their child’s behavior, potentially due to a decrease of usual social demands. In order to understand how families with an autistic child dealt during this lockdown period, we conducted an on-line survey. To date, more than 250 French-speaking Belgian families...

Read more: Marielle WEYLAND, Speech Therapist, PhD Student.

ULiège + Mesylab SRL
" How to securely return to normalcy at work? All countries consider to lift the lockdown, but few have executed it. There are no "best practices". Questions abound: What are the risks? What are the most effective measures? Will communities follow? What are the consequences for our individual lives? Who decides how to proceed? AIMS OF THE PROJECT GIGA aims at defining the best possible approach to opening up again by involving its members. Your opinion matters. GIGA has sought assistance in conducting this real time experiment from political scientists, philosophers, lawyers and medical doctors. "
Contact: This project is supported by the GIGA office and is coordinated by the ad hoc Advisory Committee made up of expert political scientists in participation (Dr. F. Thoreau, Dr. C. Parotte, Dr. P. Delvenne, Dr. C. Fallon), a political and ethicist philosopher (Dr. F. Caeymaex) and doctors (Dr. Y. Beguin, Dr. G. Darcis).