The Health Sciences research unit will be investigating the seroprevalence of Covid-19, as well as possible health consequences of the pandemic, in the “Corona Immunitas – Winterthur” project starting in September. This will involve around 600 school pupils (grammar schools, upper-secondary vocational schools) and also ZHAW students from the Winterthur area. Seroprevalence provides information on whether and how many of those examined have developed antibodies against the virus. The study will be carried out in two stages – in September/October 2020 and in February/March 2021. It will comprise a questionnaire to be completed by the participants, blood samples for antibody testing and other short surveys.

The project is part of the nationwide “Corona Immunitas” study, which was initiated by the “Swiss School of Public Health plus” foundation and is being financed by organisations including the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). The study aims to provide political decision-makers with important epidemiological data on the pandemic and on immunity of the Swiss population to the coronavirus. Until now, there has been a lack of representative data on seroprevalence and the health consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, both for the general population and for specific groups of people in certain settings. As part of “Corona Immunitas”, a wide range of age, professional and risk groups will be examined with respect to infection by the virus and the development of immunity. The study also aims to collect data on what effects protective measures have for particularly exposed professions or risk groups.

A further project of the Health Sciences research unit is focussing on the impact of the pandemic on the physical and psychological health of ZHAW students. The aim of the “Study on student health during the coronavirus pandemic”, which was started shortly after the lockdown in spring, is to support students’ health in the medium to long term. The project includes several surveys: three of these were conducted during the spring semester, while a fourth survey will follow at the beginning of the autumn semester.

Results of the study have so far shown that the measures taken during the lockdown between mid-March and mid-May aimed at containing the pandemic – for example, the discontinuation of class attendance at universities – had a massive impact on students’ everyday lives. In the first survey completed in April, in which around one-fifth of all ZHAW students took part, the vast majority of student participants stated that their daily structure and timetable had altered significantly; almost half also said that their workload in terms of hours per week had increased. While many valued the freedom that the extended independent study brought as part of home schooling, the vast majority of more than 80% of students missed social contact with their co-students. Almost one-third of students felt lonely during the lockdown, while approximately 40% agreed with the statement that they “felt locked in”. However, the lockdown also appears to have had its positive sides for students. Half of the participating students, for example, stated that they enjoyed the time with their family and/or partners, and one-third observed more neighbourliness.

It was not only everyday student life at the ZHAW that was turned upside down from one day to the next by the lockdown. As was the case for hundreds of thousands of other workers across Switzerland, the ZHAW’s employees had to work from home. Due to the changed workplace situation, the fear was repeatedly expressed in the media that home-office set-ups could lead to physical complaints. Reasons for this included the lack of office equipment in many households, as well as the tendency to work for longer at home with fewer breaks and less exercise. A study of the School of Health Professions was recently able to give the all-clear in this regard, at least with respect to the neck complaints that are widespread among the population. The study, whose participants included employees of the ZHAW’s School of Management and Law and School of Applied Linguistics, showed that there was no increase in neck complaints in home-office set-ups during the lockdown phase. However, the study also confirmed the hypothesis that frequently, the ergonomic workplace conditions in home offices were indeed worse than those in the employees’ usual office environment. To find out whether the intensity of neck pain and the neck limitations suffered by study participants changed during the lockdown, the researchers used comparative data from the already long-running NEXpro project. The four-year project is investigating for the first time the impact of an evidence-based, multi-part intervention aimed at improved neck health among Swiss office employees.

While students and employees did not have to completely forgo social contact, despite their home-schooling and home-office set-ups, many older people were completely isolated during this period. They had to go without visitors for weeks and were asked to leave their homes as little as possible. The lockdown thus intensified a problem that is already very pronounced in any case, especially among older people who also require care: social isolation.

Researchers at the Institute of Nursing, in cooperation with the ZHAW School of Engineering, are therefore now investigating how the isolation of older people can be countered using digital tools. In the “Digital Support Against Social Isolation [DASI]” project, the researchers are analysing whether and which digital tools are already used for communication and monitoring in care to reduce the social isolation of those affected. The goal of the project is to identify best practice examples, as well as gaps in “digital care”, and to explore possibilities for further developing devices and software. The project is one of a total of 27 ideas that look at themes relating to the currently accelerated digital transformation and which are being financially supported by the “ZHAW digital” initiative.

The coronavirus pandemic has dominated media reporting and communications from public health organisations in recent months. But have the rules of conduct and hygiene and the measures aimed at containing the pandemic been communicated to the various social groups in a manner appropriate for the addressees? This question is being examined in the Public COVID 19 pandemic discourses - A focus on vector populations (COVIDisc)” research project, a joint initiative of the ZHAW’s School of Health Professions and School of Applied Linguistics, as well as the USI in Lugano and the University of Trieste. The researchers are investigating whether the communication of political, administrative and economic players was appropriate for reaching the highly mobile population group of 15- to 34-year-olds. While this group is less affected by the coronavirus in health terms, society nevertheless demands solidarity from them. In order to contain the pandemic, it is therefore especially important that communications reach this group. The project, which is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation, includes the analysis of media and organisational discourses, as well as qualitative interviews with representatives of the 15- to 34-year-old age-group of in German- and Italian-speaking Switzerland.

• “Box of tricks for an ergonomic home office”
  Article on home-office ergonomics on the SRF programme “Puls”, 18 May 2020, with Andrea Aegerter, a physiotherapist and expert on ergonomic home offices at the School of Health Professions
• Other research news and projects of the ZHAW School of Health Professions