OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify types of image repair strategies utilized by the Malaysian government in their communication about COVID-19 in the media and analyze public responses to these messages on social media.
METHODS: Content analysis was employed to analyze 120 media statements and 382 comments retrieved from Facebook pages of 2 mainstream newspapers-Berita Harian and The Star. These media statements and comments were collected within a span of 6 weeks prior to and during the first implementation of Movement Control Order by the Malaysian Government. The media statements were analyzed according to Image Repair Theory to categorize strategies employed in government communications related to COVID-19 crisis. Public opinion responses were measured using modified lexicon-based sentiment analysis to categorize positive, negative, and neutral statements.
RESULTS: The Malaysian government employed all 5 Image Repair Theory strategies in their communications in both newspapers. The strategy most utilized was reducing offensiveness (75/120, 62.5%), followed by corrective action (30/120, 25.0%), evading responsibilities (10/120, 8.3%), denial (4/120, 3.3%), and mortification (1/120, 0.8%). This study also found multiple substrategies in government media statements including denial, shifting blame, provocation, defeasibility, accident, good intention, bolstering, minimization, differentiation, transcendence, attacking accuser, resolve problem, prevent recurrence, admit wrongdoing, and apologize. This study also found that 64.7% of public opinion was positive in response to media statements made by the Malaysian government and also revealed a significant positive association (P=.04) between image repair strategies utilized by the Malaysian government and public opinion.
CONCLUSIONS: Communication in the media may assist the government in fostering positive support from the public. Suitable image repair strategies could garner positive public responses and help build trust in times of crisis.
METHODS: A multidimensional survey instrument measuring attitudes to xenotransplantation, including the factors that predict such attitudes, was developed based on earlier studies and validated. It was then completed by 469 respondents who were stratified in accordance with stakeholder groups in Malaysia. A single-step SEM analysis was then conducted to estimate the measurement and create a structural model using IBM SPSS Amos version 20 with a maximum-likelihood function.
RESULTS: The attitudes of Malaysian stakeholders towards xenotransplantation were moderately positive (mean score of 4.20). The most important direct predictor of attitude to xenotransplantation was perceived benefit (β = 0.59, P
METHODS: Eleven databases were searched without date or language restrictions for systematic reviews of public and patient involvement (PPI) in clinical trials design. This systematic overview of PPI included 27 reviews from which areas of good and bad practice were identified. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of PPI were explored through use of meta-narrative analysis.
RESULTS: Inclusion criteria were met by 27 reviews ranging in quality from high (n = 7), medium (n = 14) to low (n = 6) reviews. Reviews were assessed using CERQUAL NICE, CASP for qualitative research and CASP for systematic reviews. Four reviews report risk of bias. Public involvement roles were primarily in agenda setting, steering committees, ethical review, protocol development, and piloting. Research summaries, follow-up, and dissemination contained PPI, with lesser involvement in data collection, analysis, or manuscript authoring. Trialists report difficulty in finding, retaining, and reimbursing volunteers. Respectful inclusion, role recognition, mutual flexibility, advance planning, and sound methods were reported as facilitating public involvement in research. Public involvement was reported to have increased the quantity and quality of patient relevant priorities and outcomes, enrollment, funding, design, implementation, and dissemination. Challenges identified include lack of clarity within common language, roles, and research boundaries, while logistical needs include extra time, training, and funding. Researchers report struggling to report involvement and avoid tokenism.
CONCLUSIONS: Involving patients and the public in clinical trials design can be beneficial but requires resources, preparation, training, flexibility, and time. Issues to address include reporting deficits for risk of bias, study quality, and conflicts of interests. We need to address these tensions and improve dissemination strategies to increase PPI and health literacy.
METHODS: Twenty semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted and analyzed through an inductive approach to analysis.
RESULTS: The findings were presented in three main categories which were coded: Reality vs. Conspiracy, Vaccination Concerns, and Public Worries. The majority believed that the Zika virus is a real problem and that authorities might be trying to hide the Zika cases in Pakistan. Moreover, they believed that health organizations are being incompetent by failing to take timely remedial measures to manage the Zika. However, 20% have an opposing view and believed that the Zika virus is a conspiracy against Pakistan from the West.
CONCLUSION: Overall, most participants were concerned about the lack of treatment and preventive methods and emphasized the need to create awareness among the public. It is observed that the participants' perceptions ranged from perceiving the Zika virus as real to as a conspiracy.
RECENT FINDINGS: The systematic review of the literature on decriminalization resulted in seven articles that discuss decriminalization as compared with 57 published articles on legalization. Decriminalization of drug use did not have an effect on the age of onset of drug use and the prices of drugs did not decrease after the implementation of drug decriminalization. Policy-based studies on decriminalization suggest shifting from criminal sanctions to a public health approach, which was endorsed by the United Nations (UN) that viewed drug addiction as a preventable and treatable health disorder. One study preferred decriminalization only for cannabis and cautioned against regulating cannabis like alcohol. Another study indicated that general medical practitioners in Ireland did not favour the decriminalization of cannabis.
SUMMARY: Scientific evidence supporting drug addiction as a health disorder and the endorsement by the UN strengthen the case for decriminalization. However, studies reporting on the positive outcomes of decriminalization remain scarce. The evidence needs to be more widespread in order to support the case for decriminalization. Furthermore, the endorsement by the UN needs to be acted upon by individual member states.
METHODS: review of thirty-nine public opinion surveys on the death penalty carried out in five Asian countries which retain the death penalty for drugs or are considering re-introducing it. The review was conducted by analysing and comparing design, methodology, findings, and the relationship between these elements.
RESULTS: all but two surveys recorded a majoritarian support for the death penalty, driven by beliefs in (a) deterrent effect of the death penalty, and (b) perfect justice - both disproven. Complex surveys found a low intensity of support, and a limited interest and knowledge by the public in capital punishment. Support for capital punishment is lower for drug offences specifically, and it decreases significantly when expressed with reference to real-life cases. Limited data suggest that the public in the focus countries has reservations on the effectiveness of the death penalty to reduce drug offences, and prefers a discretionary system of punishment. The analysis also revealed correlations between the framing of survey questions and their findings.
CONCLUSION: Public opinion surveys conducted in China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand suggest that the public knows little and has little interest in the death penalty. Although majoritarian, its support is based on a faulty understanding of key facts related to capital punishment, and an increase in knowledge is correlated to a decrease in support. More rigorous polling exercises demonstrate that public support for capital punishment - both in general and for drug offences specifically - is instinctive, abstract, elastic, and contextual.
METHOD: This study recruited Sundanese from Tasikmalaya and Minahasan from Manado using the Indonesian Public Attitudes Toward Epilepsy (PATE) scale. The results were compared to the Javanese and Malaysian data in previous studies.
RESULT: A total of 200 respondents, 100 from each ethnic group were recruited, with a mean age of 38.51 years. They were predominantly females (54%) and had secondary education level or lower (56.67%). The Javanese had a higher total mean score, indicating poorer attitudes toward epilepsy, as compared to the Minahasan and Sundanese groups. These differences were noted in the personal domain, but not the general domain. There were no significant differences in the mean scores in both personal and general domains between the Minahasan, Sundanese, and Malaysian populations. Subanalysis on the aspects of life showed that the Javanese had a significantly higher score in the aspects of education, marital relationship, and employment.
CONCLUSION: The attitudes toward epilepsy were similar between the Indonesian (Sundanese and the Minahasan) and Malaysian, except the Javanese with poorer attitude. These differences could be socioeconomically or culturally related.
METHOD: A total of 250 adults (mean age = 29 years; range = 19-60 years) completed the POSHA-S in English. We compared this sample's attitudes toward stuttering to POSHA-S data from other global samples. General linear modeling examined differences in overall stuttering score, beliefs, and self reaction subscores for demographic variables such as age, gender, marital status, parenting, education, employment status, prior exposure to a person who stutters, multilingual, race, and religion.
RESULTS: The Malaysian participants' overall stuttering score and the beliefs and self reactions subscores were all considerably lower (i.e., less positive) than the other samples around the world from the POSHA-S database median values. Being male, receiving a higher education, and knowing someone who stutters were linked to having more positive self reactions, but none of those factors was linked to positive or negative beliefs. Those who had previously been exposed to stuttering scored significantly higher than those who had not.
CONCLUSION: Malaysians may have less positive attitudes toward stuttering than Westerners. More needs to be done to make society more accepting of people who stutter. Future research should aim to find ways to educate and to raise public awareness about stuttering.